Re: Problems with the radio carbon dating of the Newport Tower

On Fri, 30 Nov 2007 09:01:26 +0000, Doug Weller
<dweller@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Fri, 30 Nov 2007 10:10:16 +1300, in sci.archaeology, Eric Stevens
wrote:

Problems with the radiocarbon dating of the Newport Tower were
extensively discussed in this news group ca 1999~2000. Google has come
to life and I have carried out a search on <mortar penetration> for
the group sci.archaeology and author Eric Stevens. The result can be
found at http://tinyurl.com/yudnao There is much more to be found
using other search terms.

One problem which has concerned me is the time it takes for
atmospheric CO2 to penetrate to the level where the mortar samples
were taken for radiocarbon dating. The second to last (indented) URL
in the search results discusses this in a reasonably coherent manner
and I have quoted it in full below. Please ignore the part which deals
with Suzanne Carlsonns concerns. She is known to have been confused
about the exact mechanics of radiocarbon dating.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I have recently received a copy of Suzanne Carlson's article ‘Tilting
at Windmills: The Newport Tower', published in the NEARA Journal
Volume XXX, 3&4. This raises many points which I will cover later.
However, it also contains the most coherent presentation of the C14
dating of the concrete that I have seen so far. I have previously
mentioned my doubts about the method used and the arrival of this
article has enabled me to examine the matter more closely.

I'm glad you made that comment on Suzanne Carlson. As you know, she is
not an expert on radiocarbon dating and anyone who relies on her article
is going to be badly misled.

What neither of you have done (and Suzanne certainly should have done and
I am sure could have done and that she didn't reflects very badly on her)
is relay your concerns to the original authors. Or have you tried?

H&J ?

At the time, I tried emailing Heinemeier but for some reason I have
forgotten there was some complication which meant I never succeeded in
making contact.



Eric Stevens
.

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