A strange manuscriptfoundinside and the unusually age-worn chest coupled with its noticeably unique design prompted them to conduct a radiocarbontestof the timber with which the chest was made.
Radiocarbon test results from two laboratories show that the flutes are over thirty-five thousand years old.
VOA: special.2009.08.18
Butz contacted scientists at a laboratory in Miami that specializes in radiocarbon dating who suggested he first conduct a simple test to determine if the soot stains occurred from more recent fires.
My quest took me to three continents, from the US, to Italy, to Jerusalem and the radiocarbon dating laboratory in Oxford, which was part of the original test 20 years ago.