Feed the plot bunny

[justalurkr]

OK, as the author, I know the bone fragment is twelve thousand years old. As the characters who found the bone fragment:

1. Is carbon dating useful for non-fossilized organic material?

2. If something is old enough for carbon dating, can scientists still extract enough DNA to identify species?

3. What conditions would best preserve a non-fossilized bone fragment?

See, all I know about this is that I'm pretty sure 12k years isn't enough time to fossilize.

Comments

[nialla]

Regarding #2, I know in several documentaries they've said it's difficult to get DNA in even relatively recent bodies unless they have teeth or a thigh bone. Teeth are preferable, because the enamel protects the pulp longer than the bone protects marrow. But the thigh bone/pelvis area is the most likely to last longest, so they can drill into the bone to get DNA.

In several that I've seen, bodies a few hundred years old already had the DNA so degraded they either couldn't get a sample at all or only a partial DNA profile.

Sounds like a job for Ancient tech, then

[justalurkr.livejournal.com]

Every fanfic author should have at least one History Channel geek on their flist. ;)

Thanks!