there is a site called Gobekli Tepe in Turkey that archeologists say is 12,000 years old, so far they have only discovered stone rings and pillars with no tools or signs of residence there. i was wondering how they got their info if it was only stone there. or can they still find traces of living things regardless if they were buried there or not. thank you.
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Yes it does. Or more technically, it has to be on something that is incorporating carbon from the environment (something living things are doing).
At a standard archaeological site, many different things can be found associated with the site: building materials, bones, pottery, and various ruins. In the case of Gobekli Tepe the carbon dating was performed on charcoal found there. Presumably this charcoal would have been from burning trees that had recently been alive.
This has been a problem with some of the recently discovered cave paintings in Europe. The paintings are not near any settlement evidence (so no charcoal), and the materials in the painting are all inorganic clays. So the paintings themselves cannot be dated directly.
At a standard archaeological site, many different things can be found associated with the site: building materials, bones, pottery, and various ruins. In the case of Gobekli Tepe the carbon dating was performed on charcoal found there. Presumably this charcoal would have been from burning trees that had recently been alive.
This has been a problem with some of the recently discovered cave paintings in Europe. The paintings are not near any settlement evidence (so no charcoal), and the materials in the painting are all inorganic clays. So the paintings themselves cannot be dated directly.
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"i was wondering how they got their info if it was only stone there."
Much archaeological dating doesn't involve carbon-dating, and often because it can't be done. However, you can frequently fit things into a wider cultural framework with dates that are already known, and sometimes gain information from the stratigraphy. If this locality happens to be at a lower stratigraphic level than another one in the general area (that's lower down in terms of sediment deposits), then it's older than that other one.
Those are general approaches. To find out how this particular place has been dated, however, would require looking at the relevant literature.
A quick check indicates there has been carbon-dating done at Gobekli Tepe. It's been performed on samples of charcoal; remains of burnt wood. That's one method that gave an age of 11,000 years for the lowermost settlement.
Much archaeological dating doesn't involve carbon-dating, and often because it can't be done. However, you can frequently fit things into a wider cultural framework with dates that are already known, and sometimes gain information from the stratigraphy. If this locality happens to be at a lower stratigraphic level than another one in the general area (that's lower down in terms of sediment deposits), then it's older than that other one.
Those are general approaches. To find out how this particular place has been dated, however, would require looking at the relevant literature.
A quick check indicates there has been carbon-dating done at Gobekli Tepe. It's been performed on samples of charcoal; remains of burnt wood. That's one method that gave an age of 11,000 years for the lowermost settlement.
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