A bit off-topic for the Pali list, but someone here may know the
answer.
I had always thought there were several methods for dating the
lifetime of the Buddha. One gives 623 BC to 543 BC (the traditional
dates, used to determine for example that AD 2005 = 2548 BE). All
the others give approximately 563 BC to 483 BC (generally quoted in
scholarly and historical works). See for example the discussion in
H. W. Schumann, The Historical Buddha, pp. 10-13.
However, recently I've come across references to a book I don't
have, Heinz Bechert, The Dating of the Historical Buddha. Bechert
proposes much more recent dates, up to a century later than
previously thought. But then a review by L. S. Cousins in the
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society for 1996 says that Bechert has
overstated his case.
Does anyone know what is the current scholarly consensus for the
dates of the Buddha?