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AN ATTEMPT AT DATING THE SWANSCOMBE SKULL BONES USING NON‐DESTRUCTIVE GAMMA‐RAY COUNTING
Author(s) -
BARTON J. C.,
STRINGER C. B.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
archaeometry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.716
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1475-4754
pISSN - 0003-813X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-4754.1997.tb00799.x
Subject(s) - uranium , skull , gamma ray , radiochemistry , geology , mineralogy , physics , chemistry , astrophysics , nuclear physics , paleontology
A low‐background germanium spectrometer was used to measure the gamma‐ray spectra of the three parts of the Swanscombe skull. Detailed studies of the method showed that it was possible to make accurate measurements of the content of 226 Ra and 231 Pa but less accurate ones of 238 U and 235 U. Results from the three samples were inconsistent, showing that their exposure to radioactive ground water must have been very different, although they were found close together. The uncertainty in the ratio of 234 U to 238 U in the ground water and the lack of knowledge of the time at which the bones acquired the uranium also prevented the deduction of any reliable dates for these specimens.