radiocarbon dating

本当ならすごい発見ですね。1万2000年前！気の遠くなるような数字です。考古学や人類学でしばしば登場するradiocarbon dating（「放射性炭素による年代測定」）は" A method of estimating the age of an artifact or biological vestige based on the relative amounts of the different isotopes of carbon present in a sample"とあります。英語の方がわかりやすい気がします。なお，vestigeは「痕跡」という意味でしたね。（GP）

12,000-yr old human bones, tools found in Okinawa
NAHA, Japan, Oct. 19, Kyodo

The Okinawa Prefectural Museum & Art Museum said Friday it has discovered human and animal bones as well as stone tools made of quartz, which are estimated to be about 12,000 years old using radiocarbon dating, at a cave in the city of Nanjo.

It is the first time that human bones and stone tools from the Old Stone Age have been found at the same site, the museum said.

"The findings could be a clue to learn about human culture in the Old Stone Age, as they show what and how people ate in those days," Shinji Yamasaki, senior researcher at the museum, said.
http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2012/10/188909.html