GEDS Lunchtime Seminar Series
When:
—
Venue:
Birkbeck 43 Gordon Square
No booking required
Constraining the environmental background to the Neanderthal-Modern human transition is very dependent on the radiocarbon technique, which is at its limits at this time period (c.3-40,000 years ago). Very old seeds are easy to contaminate, giving younger ages than would be expected. This talk reports findings from an experiment looking at the use of different pretreatments to try and better remove contamination. There is also a twist in the tail, as I try to track down the source and strength of additional unexpected contamination experienced in the last few years by some of my samples.