Roca dels Bous (archaeological site) interesting archaeological site indeed. Furthermore, it is to be noted that the samples used for the 14C AMS dating were obtained from deep strata at the site. The oldest Neanderthal sites known in the nearby areas date back to around 40,000 BP. The first settlements attributed to “anatomically modern” Homo sapiens sapiens in Northern Spain are dated around 39,000-38,000 BP. All this would suggest that Neanderthals could have persisted in this particular area longer than previously believed, preceding the arrival of the first Homo sapiens to the area. Research work began in 1988. This wide period of time has contributed
Environmental isotopes of these decays are alpha or beta decays, meaning that they all follow first order rate equations of the form formula_2, where λ is the half-life of the isotope in question. This makes it simple to determine the age of a sample based on the various ratios of radioactive isotopes that exist. One way uranium isotopes are used is to date rocks from millions to billions of years ago. This is through uranium-lead dating. This technique uses zircon samples and measures the lead content in them. Zircon incorporates uranium and thorium atoms into its crystal structure, but strongly rejects lead.