Dating Techniques
Archaeological science has particular value when it can provide absolute dates for archaeological strata and artifacts. Some of the most important dating techniques include:
- radiocarbon dating — especially for dating organic materials
- dendrochronology — for dating trees; also very important for calibrating radiocarbon dates
- thermoluminescence dating — for dating inorganic material (including ceramics)
- optically stimulated luminescence (OSL)/optical dating — for absolutely dating and relatively profiling buried land-surfaces in vertical and horizontal stratigraphic sections, most often by measuring photons discharged from grains of quartz within sedimentary bodies (although this technique can also measure feldspars, complications caused by internally induced dose-rates often favor the use of quartz-based analyzes in archaeological applications)
- electron spin resonance, as used (for example) in dating teeth
- potassium-argon dating — for dating (for example) fossilized hominid remains by association with volcanic sediments (the fossils themselves are not directly dated)
Read more about this topic: Archaeological Science
Famous quotes containing the words dating and/or techniques:
“We go on dating from Cold Fridays and Great Snows; but a little colder Friday, or greater snow would put a period to man’s existence on the globe.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“It is easy to lose confidence in our natural ability to raise children. The true techniques for raising children are simple: Be with them, play with them, talk to them. You are not squandering their time no matter what the latest child development books say about “purposeful play” and “cognitive learning skills.””
—Neil Kurshan (20th century)