The carbon dating controversy that changed how I look at excavation sites

I used to think dating was just about finding the oldest layer, but a colleague told me I was missing the big picture after I dismissed a 300 year old pottery shard in a 2000 year old layer. She explained how natural shifts and animal burials can mix everything up, and now I check the context around every sample before I even think about its age. Has anyone else had a mentor completely flip your approach on stratigraphy like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

tessa_carr16d ago

That article from the SAA about bioturbation really opened my eyes to how earthworms and roots can rearrange entire layers. Have you come across any personal examples of animal burials throwing off dates?

stella2216d ago

Honestly, my dog once dug up a site so bad we thought we'd found ancient burial pits but nope, just his leftover bones from last week.

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charles72014d ago

Did you carbon date the dog's leftover bones to see how they compared to the site's actual timeline?