radiocarbon dating
Isotope age measurement
Radiocarbon dating is a method for determining the age of organic materials by measuring their carbon-14 content.
Living things absorb this radioactive isotope from the atmosphere; after death, it decays at a known rate.
Scientists can date artifacts, fossils, and remains up to about 50,000 years old: Radiocarbon dating placed the wooden beam in the 12th century.
Atomic number twins
- half-lifePeriod for fifty-percent reduction
- beta particlesElectrons from radioactive decay
- mass spectrometryMeasures ionic weight ratios
- contaminationIntroduction of impurities
precision · accuracy · laboratory · dendrochronology · tree rings
Act of unearthing
- artifactsHuman-made historical objects
- fossilsPreserved ancient organism traces
- prehistoricBefore documented civilization
- stratigraphyStudy of rock layers
pottery · Neolithic · Paleolithic · Mesolithic · Bronze Age · Iron Age · dig · site
Ordered display of events
- epochsDistinct historical stretches
- agesExtended time spans
- millenniaThousand-year periods
- calendar yearsFull twelve-month periods
BP · date range · temporal · sequential
Unstable atomic nucleus variant
- neutronsUncharged subatomic particles
- protonsPositive nuclear particles
- cosmic raysEnergetic particles from beyond
- atomic numberProton quantity per nucleus
ionization · beta decay · radioactivity · equilibrium · decay rate · exponential decay
isotopes
Atomic number twins
- half-lifePeriod for fifty-percent reduction
- beta particlesElectrons from radioactive decay
- mass spectrometryMeasures ionic weight ratios
contamination · precision · accuracy · laboratory · dendrochronology · tree rings
excavation
Act of unearthing
- artifactsHuman-made historical objects
- fossilsPreserved ancient organism traces
- prehistoricBefore documented civilization
stratigraphy · pottery · Neolithic · Paleolithic · Mesolithic · Bronze Age · Iron Age · dig · site · burials
timeline
Ordered display of events
calendar years · BP · date range · temporal · sequential
radioisotope
Unstable atomic nucleus variant
- neutronsUncharged subatomic particles
- protonsPositive nuclear particles
- cosmic raysEnergetic particles from beyond
atomic number · ionization · beta decay · radioactivity · equilibrium · decay rate · exponential decay
- archaeology recordsfield notes, site plans, site maps, provenance records, burial records
- Archaeometrychemical analysis, lab analysis, spectroscopy, chromatography, mass spectrometry
- Dating Methodsgeochronology, thermoluminescence, luminescence, tephrochronology
- isotope scienceradioisotopes, isotope geochemistry, oxygen-18, nitrogen-15, uranium-238
- paleoclimatepaleoclimate, ice age, ice ages, ice cores, ice core
- Digital ArchaeologyGIS, photogrammetry, digital archives, 3D scanning, 3D modeling
radio, dating, carbon, carbonated, radioactive, carbonation, carbonate, carbon dating, carbonic