12th October 2011, 07:33 PM
P Prentice Wrote:there is no point calibrating to BP if you work in archaeology and as far as i know only palaeontologists who work with quarternary scientists and geologist do so.
Calibrated BP is the standard for Near Eastern Prehistory where many of us work with Quaternary scientists.
Quote: ...the majority of dates in older publications are pretty much useless because they were taken from dumps of burnt looking 'stuff' which may have been from a multiple burning episode and when calibrated now usually produce a date range often over half a millennium or more. some people used to be able to guess the real date from the uncalibrated BP date but nowadays it is better to use the most uptodate calibration programme
Again, as mentioned in several threads, using Cal BP is relative. What you're suggesting may apply here in the UK, but it is simply not the case for the Near East.
A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.