Modern dating methods

One important answer lies in the way they date these formations.

This method has given a different date than previously accepted for the earliest Mayan civilization.

However, there are many problems with the dates obtained through this method. Carbon-14 dating methods are obviously affected by the environment.

For example, dating living mollusks by the carbon-14 method often yields clearly errant results—for instance, finding the mollusks to be up to 2,300 years old (“Radiocarbon Dating: Fictitious Results With Mollusk Shells,” , Vol. Archaeologist John Mc Ray notes: “Unfortunately, several recent discoveries combine to indicate that carbon 14 is not as valuable as was once hoped: (1) radioactive carbon atoms may not have existed in the earth’s atmosphere before 2000 B.

The new technique can date carbon samples weighing only a few milligrams; a specimen the size of a match head will do” (“Oldest Known Maya: Not Quite So Old,” , November 1990).

Here a new dating method has changed by 1,000 years the earliest accepted date of Mayan civilization. Radiometric dating methods (those measuring geologic time by rate of radioactive decay) have been used to date formations that could be associated with Noah’s Flood.