Dating the Past

Methods for Dating Remains Relative dating determines the age of objects relative to one another In archaeology and paleoanthropology, designating an event, object, or fossil as being older or younger than another

“absolute” or chronometric dates In archaeology and paleoanthropology, dates for archaeological materials based on solar years, centuries, or other units of absolute time

Methods of Relative Dating Stratigraphy In archaeology and paleoanthropology, the most reliable method of relative dating by means of strata

fluorine dating In archaeology or paleoanthropology, a technique for relative dating based on the fact that the amount of fluorine in bones is proportional to their age

Seriation Technique for putting groups of objects into a relative sequence

Palynology In archaeology and paleoanthropology, a method of relative dating based on changes in fossil pollen over time

Methods of Chronometric Dating Radiocarbon analysis measures carbon 14 that remains in organic objects

Potassium-argon analysis measures radioactive potassium that has decayed to argon in volcanic material

Dendrochronology based upon tree rings. Amino acid racemization based on changes from left to right-handed amino acids in organic materials