Researchers report that a revised calibration curve between radiocarbon ages and calendar ages over the past 55,000 years shows a time dilation, in which the radiocarbon clock runs faster than expected, between 48,000 and 40,000 years ago, likely due to a geomagnetic field minimum 41,000 years ago; in consequence, the results revise, for example, the overlap between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens from more than 6,000 years to less than 4,000 years, according to the authors.
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Article #20-12307: "Extended dilation of the radiocarbon time scale between 40,000 and 48,000 y BP and the overlap between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens," by Edouard Bard et al .
MEDIA CONTACT: Edouard Bard, College de France, Aix-en-Provence, FRANCE; e-mail: bard@cerege.fr
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences