[MrB]

Wouldn’t every bit of carbon 14 be gone after, say, 10000 years?

How can they state with certainty that this skeleton is 12000 years old?

[stremba]

The half life of carbon 14 is 5730 years. Given that, after 12000 years, it’s a pretty easy calculation to determine the amount of C-14 left in the sample. Doing so gives about 23% of the original C-14, which is quite easily measurable.

In any case, C-14 is not the only radioisotope used for dating, but in this case it’s the likely method used.

[stremba]

BTW,

The upper limit for C-14 dating is generally accepted to be around 50,000 years.

[miliantnutcase]

Wouldn’t every bit of carbon 14 be gone after, say, 10000 years? How can they state with certainty that this skeleton is 12000 years old? They had other methods of finding the approximate age in the article. They knew this had to have happened prior to 10,000 years ago. There were mineral formations growing on the skeleton from when it was a dry pit with moisture dripping from the ceiling.