Fossil KNM-ER 1470 proves that radiometric dating methods are inaccurate.
the verdict
REFUTED
the evidence says no
refutedsupported
the weight of evidence
0 sources for · 2 against
AS REPORTEDno primary record reached; this is what the reporting says
Evidence indicates that initial uncertainty surrounding the age of fossil KNM-ER 1470 was successfully resolved and verified by multiple consistent dating methods, refuting the claim that it proves radiometric dating is inaccurate.
# Is the fossil KNM-ER 1470 evidence that other dating methods other than the fossil record are inaccurate?
Tags: evolution, archeology, paleontology, history-of-science
- Score: 15
- Views: 3775
- Answers: 3
- Answered: yes
- Asked by: user1873 (9079 rep)
- Asked: 2012-06-05
- Edited: 2020-06-17
- Site: skeptics
## Question
The skull was originally dated to be almost 3 million years old. This led Richard Leakey, the son of famed archeologist Louis Leakey to comment, "Either We toss out this skull or we toss out our theories on early man. It simply fits no previous models of human beginnings." (National Geographic, June 1973
This 2.6 million year old date was verified by many different testing methods.
Based on other fossils that were very similar. Vertebrate faunas -- Elephant, Suid (pig), Australopithicus, and tools (Maglio, 1972; Nature 239:379-85, Leakey, 1967-69, etc.)
On K-Ar and Ar40-Ar39 dating. Potassium-Argon dating -- selected crystals (K-Ar and Ar40-Ar39) (Fitch & Miller '70, Nature 226:226-8 and see 251:214)
Paleomagnetism. Paleomagnetism -- polarity data, based on 247 samples below KBS tuff (Brock & Isaac, 1974, Nature 247:344-48)
Fission Track Dating. Fissio
KNM-ER 1470 | The Smithsonian Institution's Human Origins Program
# KNM-ER 1470
Exhibit Item
Site: Koobi Fora, Kenya
Year of Discovery: 1972
Discovered by: Bernard Ngeneo
Age: About 1.9 million years old
One of four species
Louis Leakey saw KNM-ER 1470 only days before his death, and, believing the skull to be a million years older than it was, classified it as an “indeterminate species of Homo.” When scientists later dated the skull to 1.9 million years old, the same age to when Homo habilis lived, the scientific community thought KNM-ER 1470 must then belong to Homo habilis - but the mandible (jaw) and teeth just didn’t seem to fit within acceptable limits of variation or differences for H. habilis. Even if KNM-ER 1470 was considered a large H. habilis male, the size difference would be too great compared to KNM-ER 1813, an established H. habilis female, for the two to both belong to the same species. Over several weeks following its discovery, scientists Meave Leakey and Bernard Wood reconstructed KNM-ER 1470’s skull from more than 150 fragments, revealing a large cranium with a long, wide, flat face. While tooth roots show that this early human had large teeth, the skul
Everything we examined (2)
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