Tried carbon dating a bone from my backyard and got a shock

I dug up what looked like a deer bone while planting tomatoes last spring. Sent a sample to a local lab for carbon dating, cost me about $150. Turns out it was from around 1640, way older than I expected. My yard sits near an old colonial settlement, so maybe it's from their livestock or hunting. Has anyone else found something way older than they guessed in their own backyard?

3 comments

3 Comments

ryan_gibson847d ago

Found a musket ball near my old shed that turned out to be from the Revolutionary War.

murphy.linda5d ago

My neighbor found a bayonet that way, turned out to be from a Civil War reenactment.

kim8197d ago

Found a musket ball near my old shed" - so what else is buried out there, a continental army uniform and some old letters from George Washington? Better start digging before the historical society shows up with shovels.