World history......help?

Question

1) why is radiocarbon dating so important?
2) what is home erectus?

Thanx

Answer 1

1. It enables objects from the past to be dated with a fair degree of accuracy, thus giving more precision to archaeology

2. I think you mean homO erectus. There could be a rude answer, but I shall merely say a scientific name for a creature - a hominid - that existed at that stage in the development of ape to homo sapiens (about 1.8 to 1 million years ago) which was the first to walk upright on two legs, as we do now

Answer 2

Radiocarbon dating is important when it deals with a few thousand years, not hundreds of thousands or millions. Please note:

*** ce chap. 7 p. 96 par. 39 “Ape-Men”—What Were They? ***

For example, the radiocarbon “clock.” This method of radiocarbon dating was developed over a period of two decades by scientists all over the world. It was widely acclaimed for accurate dating of artifacts from man’s ancient history. But then a conference of the world’s experts, including radiochemists, archaeologists and geologists, was held in Uppsala, Sweden, to compare notes. The report of their conference showed that the fundamental assumptions on which the measurements were based had been found untrustworthy to a greater or lesser degree. For example, it found that the rate of radioactive carbon formation in the atmosphere has not been consistent in the past and that this method is not reliable in dating objects from about 2,000 B.C.E. or before.
. Seattle Post-Intelligencer, “Radiocarbon Dating Wrong,” January 18, 1976, p. C8.

Chap. 7 p. 98 par. 41
Nobel prize winning nuclear physicist W. F. Libby, one of the pioneers in radiocarbon dating, stated in Science: “The research in the development of the dating technique consisted of two stages—dating of samples from the historical and the prehistorical epochs, respectively. Arnold [a co-worker] and I had our first shock when our advisers informed us that history extended back only for 5000 years. . . . You read statements to the effect that such and such a society or archeological site is 20,000 years old. We learned rather abruptly that these numbers, these ancient ages, are not known accurately.”57

I cannot find any reference in merriam webster to home erectus

Answer 3

radiocarbon dating ,is like measuring with a rubber ruler, its not accurate, you can have two different places to do the dating ,they will come with two different answers, some will be millions of years off with the same piece that they are dating. to me their is no homo erectus. you are being brainwashed in your school. an animal will always be an animal, and a human will always be a human. an animal cannot change into a human. a monkey will always be a monkey

Answer 4

1) it is the most accurate method of dating.
2) Homo erectus is a hominid in the direct line of the descent of homo sapiens (us).