Posted on 02/24/2015 2:46:06 AM PST by SunkenCiv
Hard water contains less Carbon-14 than the atmosphere, because dissolved carbonates are Carbon-14 free. A fish caught in hard water has thus a higher Carbon-14 age than contemporaneous terrestrial samples. If such a fish is then cooked in a ceramic pot, the radiocarbon age of the food crust will be higher than if a terrestrial animal was cooked in the pot.
This is known as the “reservoir effect” because the fish’s carbon actually comes from another “reservoir” than the carbon in terrestrial animals from the surrounding area. “Reservoir age” is the difference between the true age and the Carbon-14 date...
On examining freshly caught fish from the River Trave the results revealed not only a large reservoir effect, but also a dramatic variance from between 500 to 2100 years. In effect, this means that some of the fish swimming in the Trave today seem to be over 2000 years old, when radiocarbon dated...
It is worth noting that even charcoal from a camp fire could be another error source – the “old wood effect”: where the charcoal dated might be from the innermost ring of a 500-year-old tree which was felled 100 years before it finally ended up in the camp fire. Knowing what might cause an error is vital when it comes to dating...
The group, after making their own pots, boiled up the various ingredients – including a freshly caught fish with a Carbon-14 age of 700 years. They then succeeded in burning the meal onto the pot fabric, which was then taken for dating.
Even though the food crust was made only weeks before, Carbon-14 dating returned a 14th century date and thus provided evidence that food crusts on pottery take on the same age as the ingredients.
(Excerpt) Read more at pasthorizonspr.com ...
Are they going to scale back the time frame?
Dummies. You eat the fish after the date.
From this lofty perch, I don’t see it happening.
Hey, if you knew sushi like we know sushi...
The evening always ends poorly when I ask the gal “Do you smell fish?”
Right after those unfortunate words escape your lips, you find yourself hoping she’s hard of herring.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.