Turkey: Archeological Dig Reshaping Human History

by purplesofa 37 Replies latest jw friends

  • PSacramento
    PSacramento

    Very cool indeed :)

    What is the variance in C14 dating?

  • moshe
    moshe

    Fascinating stuff!

  • snowbird
    snowbird

    Very interesting read.

    I love history.

    Just throwing it out there: Could this be the site of the Tower of Babel? A ziggurat?

    The location, the religious aspect, and the abandonment of the temple certainly fit the account found in Genesis chapter 11.

    Syl

  • james_woods
    james_woods

    Thanks OldLight - I had assumed it was dated by C14.

    What is the variance in C14 dating?

    Offhand, I would guess that they can fix it within a couple hundred years or so for something this old. Maybe I will go Wiki Carbon 14 for some background.

  • oldlightnewshite
    oldlightnewshite

    The greatest variance they are setting is (+-) ± 85. However I'm sure most critical stuff I've read is that It's + or - 10% margin of error. Even at that ratio, this site is pretty damn old. I'm not sure if the actual material that is dated makes a difference to the accuracy.

    This discovery has been kept pretty low-key for some reason, yet it's one of the most astonishing discoveries in years, and they haven't finished uncovering it by a long shot.

    I wonder if the WT$ will ever make reference to this in the future... Perhaps to make a swipe at the accuracy of C14 dating, maybe?

  • PSacramento
    PSacramento

    It is an interesting hypothesis, that religion superceeded culture rather than what many believe is the other way around, that culture created religion.

  • bohm
    bohm

    PS - about the variance, off the top of my head i would assume there was:

    • Errors in the actual C14/C12 measurements (random in nature and relatively well-estimated)
    • Errors in the correction curve for varying C14 levels in the atmospheare (systematic, somewhat well-estimated)
    • Errors in the samples (contamination, etc) - (everything goes here i think, but if the samples are taken from different materials i suppose it is not that bad to assume independence).

    My guess is that the +- years are only about errors of type 1 and perhaps 2 -- but give and take even a thousand years and the dig is still extremely impressive!

  • PSacramento
    PSacramento

    Indeed, of course C14 dating can be off BOTH ways, it can be earlier OR later too.

  • poppers
    poppers

    Let me help you with your spelling, Outlaw:

    I have`nt seen this yet..

    I haven't seen this yet.

    LOL!

  • james_woods
    james_woods
    I wonder if the WT$ will ever make reference to this in the future... Perhaps to make a swipe at the accuracy of C14 dating, maybe?

    Indeed. They have actually attempted to support their theory that mankind is not more than about 6,000 years old this way many times before.

    But, as they seem to be leaving behind the 7,000 year creative day by just not saying anything about it - maybe they will just ignore this and hope that the rank & file never see it anywhere else.

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