The collagen thus records the atmospheric carbon-14 concentration of that specific period — the specific few months or year during which the dentine was mineralizing — rather than any later period.

The result of the analysis was 8,085 plus or minus 40 radiocarbon years before present.

The “before present” convention in radiocarbon dating uses 1950 CE as the reference point — a historical quirk of when the technique was standardized.

The plus or minus 40 figure represents the analytical uncertainty: the measurement indicates that the true radiocarbon age of the sample falls within a range centered on 8,085 with a statistical confidence of approximately 68 percent, or within twice that range (approximately 8,005 to 8,165) with approximately 95 percent confidence.

But radiocarbon years before present are not the same as calendar years before present.