London: Researchers have designed a new archaeological tool which could answer key questions in human evolution.
The new calibration curve, which extends back 50,000 years, is a major landmark in radiocarbon dating -- the method used by archaeologists and geoscientists to establish the age of carbon-based materials. It could also help determine the effect of climate change on human adaptation.
The curve called INTCAL09 not only extends radiocarbon calibration but also considerably improves earlier parts of the curve.
It has taken nearly 30 years for researchers to produce a calibration curve this far back in time. Since the early 1980s, an international working group called INTCAL has been working on the project.
The project was led by Queen`s University Belfast`s Paula Reimer and Gerry McCormac, professor at the Centre for Climate, the Environment and Chronology (14CHRONO) at Queen`s and statisticians at the University of Sheffield.
Ron Reimer and Mike Baillie, professor emeritus from Queen`s School of Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology, also contributed to the work.
Reimer said: "The new radiocarbon calibration curve will be used worldwide by archaeologists and earth scientists to convert radiocarbon ages into a meaningful time scale comparable to historical dates or other estimates of calendar age," according to a Queen`s release.
"It is significant because this agreed calibration curve now extends over the entire normal range of radiocarbon dating, up to 50,000 years before today."
"Comparisons of the new curve to ice-core or other climate archives will provide information about changes in solar activity and ocean circulation," Reimer concluded.
These findings have been been published in Radiocarbon.
PTI
