Carbon Dating Project.
Examine the artifact. Be careful not to break anything.
This is an actual casting of a skull found on a ranch in Chama, New Mexico. No other parts of the skeleton were found, and there were no indications of a deliberate burial. The bones of the skull are consistent with a large male of European ancestry. The axe blade is typical of Spanish ironwork of the 16 th
and 17 th
century.
1.
Read pages 1053 –1055 in your text, about the kinetics of radiocarbon dating.
The radioactive decay of C-14 follows first order kinetics.
In 2000, archaeologists conducted a radiocarbon dating of a small fragment of the skull found the following results:
295 mg of carbon fixed from the atmosphere in 2000 gave 1320 counts
295 mg of carbon from skull gave 1270 counts.
2.
Use the first order kinetics law and the data above to find the number of years which have elapsed since the individual died. The first order rate constant for the decay of C-14 is 1.21 X 10 -4 yr -1
3. From the years elapsed, calculate the date when this individual died. Look up the history of New Mexico and see if you can create a plausible scenario for his death.
Turn in a short paper and your calculations. Give citation for the source of New Mexico history.