Cottage roof timber from Ireland. Date: 906 ± 35 years. What is the BP Date?
Cottage roof timber from Ireland. Date: 906 ± 35 years
To determine the BP (Before Present) date for the cottage roof timber from Ireland, you need to understand the concept of radiocarbon dating.
Radiocarbon dating is a method used to determine the age of organic materials by measuring the amount of carbon-14 (C-14) remaining in the sample. Carbon-14 is a radioactive isotope of carbon that is continually formed in the atmosphere and taken up by plants during photosynthesis. When an organism dies, it no longer takes in new carbon-14, and the remaining carbon-14 gradually decays over time.
The date you provided, 906 ± 35 years, is likely obtained through radiocarbon dating. The number represents the number of years before the present. The "± 35 years" represents the margin of error associated with the dating technique and indicates the range within which the true age is likely to fall.
To convert the date to BP, you need to subtract the number of years from the present year. Since the present year is constantly changing, it's best to use the current year as a reference. Let's assume the current year is 2022:
Present year - Date of the timber = BP date
2022 - (906 ± 35) = 1116 ± 35 BP
So the BP date for the cottage roof timber from Ireland, based on the information provided, would be 1116 ± 35 BP.