Dating
technique Issues | Relative Dating
Techniques | Absolute Dating Techniques
Tree Ring Dating | Radio Carbon Dating
| Faulty Assumptions
True Archaeology is considered to be a complete science that discovers, analyzes and defines historical artifacts. Archaeology includes the study of human cultures from discovered "artifacts“ - items that people in the past left behind. These artifacts are used to discover how those people lived, what they wore, when they hunted or farmed, how they built their homes, what toys their children played with, and what they believed in. In some cases archaeologists have discovered ancient treasures such as King Tut's tomb.
Biblical Archaeology is the specific study of biblical history and the customs of the people as related from both the Scriptures and their artifacts.
Technically, Archaeology is a segment of the anthropological study of past human culture. Archaeologists seek to describe the cultural behaviors of past humans, from our earliest ancestors who walked the on the earth to our recent ancestors, by studying their behaviors from the scarce clues discovered by analyzing materials left behind. The analysis factors the relationship between archaeological data (sites, features, artifacts, and ecofacts), and the people who occupied the site and left data. Archaeologists must interpret this data to reconstruct the culture and behaviors of the past humans to the best of his or her capabilities.
Paleolithic archaeologists use varying dating techniques to establish a sequence of historical events with an associated timeline. An Important point to remember is that man’s recorded history is about 6,000 years. This is substantiated by both Biblical and secular history. We find ourselves again having to make a choice. Are The Scriptures “True,” and do we use them as our “sole” source of Truth, or do we believe scientific suppositions at face value with their timelines set forth based on a supposed human evolution? It is very important to understand the known sequence and events of life. There are NO “missing” links! There IS absolute law and order in the creation. There IS a law of Biogenesis…kind after it’s kind. Life DOES EXIST with it’s millions of unique varieties of species, all with complete life supporting systems! Scientists have found that the mathematical probabilities are beyond imagination that creation could have occurred without an Intelligent Creator. The bottom line is, either we believe that Scripture was given by inspiration from an Intelligent Creator, and is true literally, or we have to reject all of the absolute natural laws that sustain life. This precise point mandates the need for each individual to prove the veracity of Scriptures for themselves! The message from the ancient prophet Elijah as recorded in 1 Kings 18:21 rings in our ears, “And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt you between two opinions? If Yahweh be Elohim, follow Him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.” The results of Elijah’s challenge and recorded testing that proved that indeed Yahweh is The Elohim of Creation as can be read in subsequent verses.
There are many proofs of the Bible obtainable through creation itself, archaeological evidence, through secular history and through fulfilled prophesy. Understanding these truths center on the objectivity and sincerity of the one searching for TRUTH! Scripture promises that anyone who sincerely searches for Truth, will find it.
Matthew 7:7-8 [7] “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: [8] For every one that asks receives; and he that seeks finds and to him that knocks it shall be opened.”
The Creator of man made promises He WILL keep.
Remember, the Bible records itself to be TRUTH, and challenges each to prove it’s veracity.
We now need to look at some of the issues associated with modern archaeological dating methods.
Dating artifacts has been
one of the leading deceptive methods that the “god” of this world
(2 Cor. 4:4) has used to cloak the TRUTH. If Scripture is TRUE, then all dating
MUST fit within the timeline of this TRUE historical record!
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Relative dating can sometimes be obtained by putting things into a time sequence through the use of three major grouping categories used in archaeology. These groups are defined as:
Understanding the shortcomings
each of these categories is necessary before they can be used effectively. The
known facts that upheavals frequently turn stratifications upside down, that
typological information often is very speculative and that the recorded knowledge
of earth’s climate is very sparse all give us an insight that relative
dating can be very deceiving. On the contrary, where a site is localized within
a known climate and the strata has been contained, these categories can be used
very effective in providing relative dating.
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There are also fourteen individual modern scientific techniques available to the archaeologist to obtain “absolute” dating. The term “absolute” is the term used in textbooks; however, this is where the rub comes. If Scripture is TRUE, then we have a major contradiction in dates established from these “absolute” scientific techniques. Scripture records that Adam was the FIRST man created on the earth and that was about 6000 years ago. The evolution of man, as “determined” by using one or more of these scientific techniques, has been established loosely as beginning about 4.5 million years ago. WE can begin to see the major problem that exists and also begin to understand why the world is in such a turmoil.
The first major contention is from intellectual theories about an evolutionary process. This has provided modern science with a distorted perspective from which each of these dating methods must fit. If they are believed and if this “science” is correct, then the Bible is in error. Information contained in this website will disprove both the theory of evolution, and the accuracy of some of these existing scientific dating techniques.
So that there is NO misunderstanding and to be redundant, this website categorically believes “ONLY” in the TRUTH as revealed in Scripture. Also, that TRUE science NEVER contradicts that which is revealed in Scripture.
We need to clearly understand
that not all of the “absolute” dating techniques are in error. We
also need to understand that not all are used in establishing dates for a chronology
of events or time settings by archaeologists. By far the most common direct
dating techniques are “Radio Carbon” dating and “tree-ring
(dendrochronology) dating.” We will examine specific information for each
of these techniques. We will find major problems with both these techniques
which are responsible for most of the inaccuracies in dating man’s tenure
on the earth.
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Tree-Ring (Dendrochronology) Dating
This venerable science began in the early part of the twentieth century when A.E. Douglas (mid 1920’s) began to apply tree ring dating to archaeology. He developed a methodology to use tree growth ring variations with a cross-identification system to match patterns in tree of the same age.
The contention with this
technique is in the assumption that the rate of ring formation is consistent.
According to Harold Gladwin (1978), the growth rings are both erratic and inconsistent.
Also, some people are better at pattern recognition than others. Simply put,
because two rings look alike does not necessarily mean that they fit together.
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Radio-carbon dating has been the preferred method of obtaining age estimates on organic materials. Each sample type has specific problems associated with its use for dating purposes, including contamination and special environmental effects.
Radioactive carbon, produced when nitrogen 14 is bombarded by cosmic rays in the atmosphere, drifts down to earth and is absorbed from the air by plants. Animals eat the plants and take Carbon 14 into their bodies. Humans in turn take Carbon 14 into their bodies by eating both plants and animals. When a living organism dies, it stops absorbing C14 and the C14 that is already in the object begins to disintegrate. Scientists use this fact to measure how much C14 has disintegrated and how much is left in the object. Carbon 14 decays at a slow but steady rate and reverts to Nitrogen 14.
To determine how long an
organism has been dead, or how much C14 is left in the organism, we count the
number of beta radiations given off per minute per gram of material. So we only
have to know TWO things, the half-life of Carbon 14 and how much C14 the object
had absorbed before it died. The half-life of Carbon 14 has been determined
to 5,730 years. Whether this is exactly accurate or not is another point. However,
knowing how much C14 the object had before it died can only be guessed at. The
dating technique assumption is that the proportion of C14 in any living organism
is constant. It is also deduced that when a particular fossil was alive, it
had the same amount of C14 as the same living organism today.
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Faulty Assumptions Used in all Radiometric Dating
This assumption is wrong. It has been proven that the amount of C14 in the atmosphere is still increasing. It has been estimated that the C14 in the earth’s atmosphere would reach equilibrium (the formation rate would be equal to the decay rate) in about 30,000 years. Research indicates that the amount of C14 is still increasing and has not yet reached equilibrium. This indicates a young earth (less than 10,000 years). This also modifies ALL dates obtained by C14 decay. As the earth’s magnetic field decays, more cosmic radiation is allowed to penetrate into our atmosphere, 16 clicks (on a Geiger counter) per minute per gram (16 DPM/Gc) is typical in living objects today. Plants and animals that lived on the earth four thousand years ago would have had much less C14 in their body to start with. This would make them appear to be thousands of years older than they really are.
A major problem with this assumption is the environmental changes associated with the world wide flood in Noah’s time. But, as we already know, scientist reject this information. If indeed there existed a great “expanse” of water above before the flood, then the dispersion of C14 on the earth would again be greatly reduced.
Decay Rate Remains Constant
This assumption has been shown to be uncertain many times. Several factors
can effect the rate of C14 decay. The 11 year solar sun spot cycle is one
such factor. Since the rate of decay may not be constant, dates obtained
by C14 must be accepted only with caution.
Initial Amount Of C14 Can Be Known
This assumption has been demonstrated to be wrong many times. Different parts of the same sample often yield different rations. Various living samples give very different rations. Some items cannot be tested with carbon dating even though they contain carbon.
This assumption is very difficult, if not impossible to prove. Parent of daughter products may have leached in or out of the sample. Many lab tests have confirmed that this can happen.
This is NOT rational. The oldest sample of independently known age is Hemaka, the mummy dated from 2,700-3,100 BCE. To base such an assumption on such a small section of the curve is not wise, particularly knowning that the Biblical flood occurred about 2,348 BCE according to recorded history. Also, archaeological evidence of intact mamouth finds in the Artic region prove that the environment of the earth was vastly different before the flood.
It is estimated that cosmic radiation striking the upper atmosphere converts about 21 pounds of nitrogen each year into C14. That produces about a one to one trillion ration of C14 to C12. Most of this C14 combines quickly with oxygen to form radioactive CO2, which then spreads throughout the atmosphere. There are no studies that show how long this spreading is supposed to take on average or how thoroughly it is taking place. Is there more along the jet streams and less in the polar regions? C14 then moves up the food chains to enter organic organisms in about the same ratio C14 has to C12 in the atmosphere. This is where the C14 clock begins to tick.
In more recent tests, using the new atomic accelerator technique which consistently detects minute amounts of C14, material previously thought to have been millions of years old, like coal, still release detectable C14. If specimen were really millions of years old, virtually no C14 would remain in them. Some time ago eleven human skeletons, remains of the earliest humans in the western hemisphere, were dated by this new accelerator mass spectrometer technique and found to be about 5,000 radiocarbon years or less. [R.E.Taylor, ‘Major Revisions in the Pleistoncene Age. Assignments for the North American Human Skeletons by C14 Accelerator Mass Spectrometry’, American Antiquity, Vol. 50, No. 1, 1985, pp. 136-140]
In using this new accelerator
mass spectrometer technique, it has been found that today radiocarbon is
forming 28% - 37% faster that it is decaying. This proves the out-of-balance
condition is even worse that previously thought. Measurements were done
on organic sedimentary layers worldwide showing that radiocarbon ages do
not increase at a steady rate as one goes down layer by layer, but instead,
they increase at an accelerated rate. That means that the concentration
of C14 decreases rapidly with depth. This show that the atmospheric concentration
of C14 was not constant in the past.
These faulty assumptions have skewed the time line of history dramatically
and there seems to be no movement from scholars to correct the errors. Doesn’t
this ring a bell? Remember the verses recorded in 2 Thess. 2? Where there
is no love of the Truth, Yahweh will give them over to believe a lie!
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* Dating techniques discussed