Children of the Past: Archaeology and the Lives of Kids

Children of the Past: Archaeology and the Lives of Kids — page 5
For years archaeologists historians and others have admired ancient cave art found in countries such as Spain and France Radiocarbon dating of charcoal from the art shows that most were created between ten thousand and thirty thousand years ago What does it mean Some scientists think these paintings have to do with religion Others believe the art shows that early people needed to create One thing they didn't expect was that children had much to do with the art If children were involved at all they thought it was only as part of special ceremonies when boys symbolically became adults and joined the men as hunters RADIOCARBON DATING Radiocarbon is an element found in certain natural materials such as wood bone and shell Radiocarbon breaks down at a steady rate Scientists measure this rate to determine when the material was alive This helps establish the date of a sample and is a valuable tool for archaeologists A scientist takes a bone sample for radiocarbon