Mel Gibson on science: what the evidence says · JRE #2254

What the evidence says 01 / RECORD

Radiocarbon (carbon-14) dating measures the decay of a radioactive carbon isotope with a known half-life of approximately 5,730 years and is one of the most extensively validated dating methods in archaeology and geoscience. Since the 1960s, radiocarbon measurements have been calibrated against independent, annually-resolved records, including tree rings, ice cores, and cave formations, producing the internationally maintained IntCal calibration curve, most recently updated (IntCal20) using data from nearly 14,000 years of tree rings plus additional archives extending back 55,000 years. At Gobekli Tepe specifically, the site's Pre-Pottery Neolithic age of roughly 11,000 to 9,000 years before present has been established through radiocarbon dating of charcoal and organic sediment samples, cross-checked across multiple laboratories and sample types. While radiocarbon dates carry statistical error margins and require calibration adjustments for factors like past atmospheric carbon-14 fluctuations, these are well-characterized and routinely accounted for rather than being grounds for rejecting the method outright. Scientific consensus, reflected in peer-reviewed methodology reviews, holds that radiocarbon dating is reliable within its known margins of error; there is no credible scientific basis for wholesale rejection of the technique.