Scientists Provide a More Accurate Age for the El Sidrón Cave Neanderthals
Scientists Provide a More Accurate Age for the El Sidrón Cave Neanderthals
Apr. 2, 2013 — A study has been able to accurately determine the age of the Neanderthal remains found in the El Sidrón cave (Asturias, Spain) for which previous studies had provided inexact measurements. The application of a pre-treatment to reduce contamination by modern carbon has managed to lower the margin of error from 40,000 to just 3,200 years.
Spain) is one of the westernmost Neanderthal sites on the Iberian Peninsula and contains a large amount of this type of remains in addition to the flint tools they used. Now, thanks to the development of new analytical procedures, a research team co-ordinated by the University of Oviedo (Spain) has managed to provide a more accurate dating for these Neanderthal populations in Asturias.
The age of the El Sidrón remains could prove to be an important piece of information in the discussion about when the transition from Neanderthal to Homo sapiens took place in Europe. "Some previous datings that stated the remains were only 10,000 years old are inconsistent and cannot be considered credible. They would be highly disputed in the discussion about when Homo neanderthalensis became extinct," as explained by Marco de la Rasilla, co-ordinator of the research team.
In order to adjust the age of these Neanderthals, De La Rasilla and his team compared previous results from the French Climate and Environmental Sciences Laboratory (LSCE, its acronym in French), with new data obtained by the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit (ORAU). The datings provided by both laboratories have enabled them to confirm that the Neanderthals from the Asturian cave lived some 49,000 years ago.
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http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130402091145.htm?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+sciencedaily+%28ScienceDaily%3A+Latest+Science+News%29
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That's a pretty tight date they are claiming! 
