LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Radiocarbon Dating: Methods
built 672 days ago
Radiocarbon dating is a scientific process used to date specimens that were once alive by measuring the amount of carbon-14 remaining within them. This method is effective for dealing with items as old as 50,000 years.
Source:
Radiocarbon dating is one of the most common methods of dating used in archaeology. It relies on measuring the relative amounts of different types of carbon in the object being dated, as these change in a predicable manner through time.
Source:
The radiocarbon dating method recognizes that living plants and animals maintain amounts of the carbon isotope 14C, which are close to atmospheric levels. After death, the amount of 14C gradually declines, with a half-life of about 5,730 years. By measuring the amount of radiocarbon remaining in the material to be dated, the analyst can calculate the antiquity. Traditionally, radiocarbon dating has been applied to materials older than 300 years because in younger materials, minimal radiocarbon decline and other factors usually allow only a modern label to be applied.
Source:
The method of radiocarbon dating was developed from nuclear science research during World War II. Anything that contains carbon, that is—anything once living, such as wood, bone, shell, seeds—can be dated by reference to the amount of a radioactive isotope of carbon (Carbon 14) left in the object. Carbon 14 decays at a regular, known rate, so it serves as an atomic clock. Radiocarbon dates can be measured on objects more than a few hundred years old up to about 60,000 years old.
Source:
Radiocarbon dating is probably the most important scientific method used by archaeologists to date objects. It is ... an indispensable tool to researchers in other fields such as geology, geophysics and environmental science.
Source:
The radiocarbon dating method was developed in the 1940's by Willard F. Libby and a team of scientists at the University of Chicago. It subsequently evolved into the most powerful method of dating late Pleistocene and Holocene artifacts and geologic events up to about 50,000 years in age. The radiocarbon method is applied in many different scientific fields, including archeology, geology, oceanography, hydrology, atmospheric science, and paleoclimatology. For his leadership, Libby received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1960.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Methods