medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture

Dear Martin,
Well, we did not understand the question in the same way then :)
I think the point of the original question was what people make of hard science "evidence" in the particular context where it goes against what they want to believe (especially given George's examples about relics of the True Cross).
Best regards, Marjorie

----- Mail original -----
De: "Martin Wallace" <[log in to unmask]>
À: [log in to unmask]
Envoyé: Samedi 21 Octobre 2017 19:37:47
Objet: Re: [M-R] carbon dating of dated medieval objects

medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture

Ah, but the Shroud is not a "dated" object, that is, one of which the age was known with relative certainty before carbon dating. Quite the contrary, really.

I think that the point of the original question is to know whether there are "controls", as it were ... medieval objects whose provenance is known with some certainty, so that the date obtained from carbon dating can be compared with the known date. In short, what is the empirical data about the accuracy of carbon dating over a 1,000 to 2,000 year period.

That is, I think, the point of the original question. - Martin

________________________________
From: medieval-religion - Scholarly discussions of medieval religious culture <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Marjorie Burghart <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: 21 October 2017 12:51:20
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [M-R] carbon dating of dated medieval objects

medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture

Dear George,
Surely you are aware of the carbon dating of the shroud of Turin:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiocarbon_dating_of_the_Shroud_of_Turin

Some will say "but it's not a medieval object"... Well, the carbon dating said it was, so it's kind of the point! ;)

Best,
Marjorie

----- Mail original -----
De: "George Ferzoco" <[log in to unmask]>
À: [log in to unmask]
Envoyé: Samedi 21 Octobre 2017 15:44:51
Objet: [M-R] carbon dating of dated medieval objects

medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture

Dear medieval-religion colleagues,

It is normal for medieval objects - e.g. relics - to be carbon dated in order to get an idea as to when that thing was originally in existence.

Is it the case that carbon dating is carried out only when people have no serious idea as to the date of its creation? Or are there dated documents (e.g.) that have been carbon tested in order to see if the test matches up with the date?

I'm interested to know this in the context the way people respond to carbon dating. I'm guessing that if, e.g., a copy of the Magna Carta were carbon dated and found to be from c.1215, nobody would bat an eye, whereas if, e.g., a relic of the True Cross were dated and found to be from c.30 CE, there would be people leaning toward doubting the accuracy of the test.

Just curious, really, as to the way people respond to 'science' and 'medieval religion' in this context - thanks for indulging me.

Best wishes, George

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