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    "story_id": "mp-2026-07-28-004",
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    "headline": "The Black Pigment Was Keeping Time",
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    "dek": "Trace charcoal inside mineral-looking cave pigment gave direct radiocarbon dates to a bison and a repeatedly altered mask at Font-de-Gaume.",
    "summary": "Trace charcoal inside mineral-looking cave pigment gave direct radiocarbon dates to a bison and a repeatedly altered mask at Font-de-Gaume.",
    "body_text": "French researchers used Raman microspectrometry and hyperspectral imaging to find charcoal distributed through two black figures in Font-de-Gaume cave. Tiny authorized samples dated the bison to roughly 13,461-13,162 calibrated years before present, while three sections of the mask fell into widely separated ranges, suggesting repeated episodes of work. The PNAS method may make other supposedly undatable black cave art accessible, although the dates apply to sampled pigment rather than every image in the cave.",
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    "tags": [
      "cave art",
      "radiocarbon dating",
      "Font-de-Gaume",
      "archaeology"
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      "source_id": "source-2026-07-28-004",
      "title": "CNRS via ScienceDaily: Direct dating of Font-de-Gaume cave paintings",
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      "accessed_at": "2026-07-28T08:31:00.000-04:00",
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