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🇪🇸 Spain /Health & Science

How new scientific techniques are revealing more about the past through archaeological objects

From La Vanguardia · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Context piece
  • The National Archaeological Museum exhibition ‘Mysteries of Matter’ examines how modern science can establish when archaeological objects were made, where their materials came from and how people used them.
  • Radiocarbon dating transformed archaeology by allowing researchers to estimate when organic material came from, rather than relying only on written records or stylistic comparisons.
  • Recent dating indicates that some baskets from the Cueva de los Murciélagos are about 9,500 years old, while its sandals date to between 7,200 and 6,200 years ago.

For decades, archaeology relied heavily on chronicles, inscriptions and comparisons of style. Then, in the late 1940s, the American chemist Willard Libby tested an idea that changed the field: organic remains might preserve a clock capable of measuring the time since a living thing died.

The experiment succeeded. Radiocarbon dating made it possible to estimate when an organism had died by measuring the carbon-14 remaining in its organic remains. The method freed archaeologists from depending exclusively on written sources and visual comparisons.

Almost 80 years later, the scientific revolution continues. Scientists and engineers now work alongside archaeologists to investigate when an object was made, where its materials came from, what its users ate and which diseases they suffered. These questions form the focus of ‘Mysteries of Matter’, an exhibition at Madrid’s National Archaeological Museum running until October 18.

The scientific and technological advances produced over the past twenty years are offering us fascinating discoveries about the past.

· Nayra GarcíaThe museum curator explains the value of modern scientific methods in archaeology.

The exhibition’s curator, Nayra García, says scientific and technological advances from the past two decades have produced “fascinating discoveries” about the past. She argues that the high-level scientific and technical work behind each find should receive greater public visibility.

One example comes from the Cueva de los Murciélagos in Albuñol, Granada. Baskets, mats, ropes and esparto sandals survived there for millennia, despite normally disappearing after being abandoned. Specialists once questioned their authenticity, but the first radiocarbon tests in the 1970s confirmed it. More recent dates show that some baskets are about 9,500 years old, while the sandals date from between 7,200 and 6,200 years ago.

Behind every discovery and study there is work of the highest scientific and technical level. We need to make the scientific contribution visible so society can know about it and appreciate it.

· Nayra GarcíaGarcía calls for greater recognition of the scientific work behind archaeological research.
About this summary

Originally published by La Vanguardia in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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