Dating methods in archaeology are used to determine the age of artifacts, fossils, and other items considered valuable by archaeologists. Various methods are employed by scientists who are interested in understanding the age of items. It is possible to determine the number of years ago a particular rock or archaeological site was formed. Two broad categories of classification methods are relative dating and absolute dating. Although they use similar methods, these two techniques differ in certain ways, which will be discussed in this article.
As the name suggests, relative dating can determine which of the two artifacts is older. This method does not find the age in years but is an effective technique for comparing the ages of two or more artifacts, rocks, or even sites. It implies that relative dating cannot say conclusively about the true age of an artifact. Absolute dating, on the other hand, is capable of telling the exact age of an item using carbon dating and many other techniques that were not available in earlier times.
Key Takeaways
- Relative dating is a method that compares the ages of artifacts, rocks, or sites, but cannot determine their exact age.
- Absolute dating can determine the precise age of an item using various techniques such as carbon dating and atomic clocks.
- The most popular method of radio dating is radiocarbon dating, which uses the unstable isotope C-14 to determine the age of fossils and other items.
