DATING TECHNIQUES

Absolute dating
Carbon dating

Age estimation in calendar years before the present; also known as numerical
dating, chronometric dating.
Using the known half-life of Carbon-14 and measuring the amount of undecayed
carbon-14 in animal or plant remains, an age bracket of the remains and an
associated artifact or feature can be determined.
A process that provides absolute dates by counting the radioactive decay of carbon
in the remains of once living plants and animals (i.e., charcoal, wood, bone, shell).
A method to ascertain the actual age of an organic object (bone, charcoal, seeds,
etc) based on the relative ratios of carbon 14 to non-radioactive isotopes of carbon
at the time of the analysis.

Dendrochronology

The scientific study of the annular growth of trees. Trees produce rings of various
thickness annually in response to rainfall. Tree-rings therefore, can be used to
reconstruct fluctuations in rainfall in the past, reflecting past climatic conditions.

Fission track dating

A method of dating an object that counts the number of tracks made by the
breakdown of radiocarbon elements. The older an object is the more tracks it leaves.
This method is used mostly on rocks, pottery, and glass.

Magnetic dating

A method of dating that compares the magnetism in an object with changes in the
earth's magnetic field over time. This method is used on baked clay and mud.

Obsidian Hydration

this technique involves the absorption of water on exposed surfaces of obsidian;

when the local hydration rate is known, the thickness of the hydration layer, if
accurately measured, can be used to provide an absolute date.

Radio-carbon dating Using the known half-life of Carbon-14 and measuring the amount of undecayed
carbon-14 in animal or plant remains, an age bracket of the remains and an
associated artifact or feature can be determined.
A process that provides absolute dates by counting the radioactive decay of carbon
in the remains of once living plants and animals (i.e., charcoal, wood, bone, shell).
A method to ascertain the actual age of an organic object (bone, charcoal, seeds,
etc) based on the relative ratios of carbon 14 to non-radioactive isotopes of carbon
at the time of the analysis.

Relative dating

the determination of chronological sequence without recourse to a fixed time scale;

e.g. the arrangement of artifacts in a typological sequence, or seriation (cf. absolute
dating).
Dating based on relative order in time.

DATING TECHNIQUES

Thermoluminescence

a chronometric dating method based on the fact that some materials, when heated,
give off a flash of light. The intensity of the light is proportional to the amount of
radiation the sample has been exposed to and the length of time since the sample
was heated. It has much in common with electron spin resonance (ESR).