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TRANSCRIPT
The time-depth of written history is about five thousand years, while that of artifacts is
about 2.5 million. Needless to say, a lot of human history happened before the invention of
the written word, and a lot afterwards that nobody had the time or inclination to write
about. Luckily, artifacts tell tales. It is the job of archaeologists to find ways to allow them
to speak; to tell the stories of human existence that were not written down. A fundamental
tool in this endeavor is carbon dating.
Carbon dating covers the last 50,000 years. This represents only the most recent 2% of artifact time-
depth. Nevertheless, that span covers the most recent one-third of Homo sapiens existence. It witnesses
the end of Neanderthals, and the end of the last Ice Age. It encompasses the peopling of the New World,
the origins of animal domestication and agriculture, and the rise of complex societies. Carbon dating
anchors artifacts in absolute time and this greatly enhances what they have to say. It helps order them
within the vast and confusing jumble of past human and natural events. If chronology is the backbone of
history, then carbon dating significantly increases the length of the tale.
This month’s presenter: Greg Hodgins is an Assistant Research Scientist in the
University of Arizona Department of Physics, and the same again in the Laboratory for
Tree Ring Research. He also is an Assistant Professor in the U of A School of
Anthropology. He has been a member of the National Science Foundation-Arizona
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Laboratory since 2003. He completed a doctorate at the
University of Oxford in 2000. He was a Kress Fellow while at Oxford and before that
he was a Mellon Fellow in Conservation Science at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in
New York City. Here in Arizona he specializes in bone dating, compound-specific
accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) carbon-dating methods, and the development of
forensic applications for radiocarbon measurement.
There is no entry fee. Donations will be requested to benefit Old Pueblo Archaeology Center’s educational efforts.
Guests may select & purchase dinner from the restaurant’s general menu.
RESERVATIONS ARE REQUIRED by 3 p.m. on the Wednesday before the program
because the meeting room capacity is limited by the fire code
and because the restaurant needs advance notice to schedule sufficient staff for our event.
* Please contact Old Pueblo at 520-798-1201 or [email protected] for your restaurant reservation or more information.
Razboinichya Cave dog skull profile photo by N.D. Ovodov, Beinicke Rare Book and Manuscript Library MS408 folio 78 verso manuscript (detail) photo from Yale University BRBML, and presenter/equipment photos were provided by Greg Hodgins. The charcoal illustration is from www.weiku.com.
World's Most Mysterious Manuscript
with Professor Greg Hodgins
February 20, 2014, 6 to 8:30 PM “Third Thursday Food for Thought” Dinner and Presentation
at Amber Restaurant & Gallery, 7000 E. Tanque Verde Road, Tucson
MAKE YOUR RESERVATIONS THROUGH OLD PUEBLO ARCHAEOLOGY CENTER*
Carbon 14 Dating,
from the
Earliest Dog
to the
Old Pueblo Archaeology Center presents: