Always thought radiocarbon dating was rock solid until I saw a lab report with a 500 year margin of error

A researcher from a dig in Turkey shared their data where organic samples from the same layer came back with wildly different dates, and it made me realize how much context and calibration actually matter. Has anyone else run into dating results that just didn't line up with the stratigraphy?

2 comments

2 Comments

ben_nguyen1mo ago

Wait, are you saying carbon dating isn't as simple as I always thought?

lindab491mo ago

Oh @ben_nguyen, a friend of mine once sent a piece of old wood to a lab and got back three different dates!