Castlepook’s Reindeer Enigma
Radiocarbon ages, calendar ages and BCE dates are not interchangeable. A radiocarbon measurement estimates the remaining carbon-14 in organic material; because atmospheric carbon-14 has varied, that result must be calibrated against internationally constructed curves. At more than 30,000 years ago, a laboratory determination commonly translates into a wide calendar range, not a single date. Stratigraphy adds another kind of evidence: it establishes that one deposit lay before or after another, but rarely supplies a precise calendar year.