1. Dating the Past

2. 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

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

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

6. 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

7. Seriation
Technique for putting groups of objects into a relative sequence

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

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

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

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