AbsoluteDating

Absolute dating can be achieved through the use of historicalrecords andthroughtheanalysisofbiological and geological patterns resulting from annual climatic variations, such as tree rings(dendrochronology) and varve analysis. After 1950, the physical sciences contributed a number of absolute dating techniques that had a revolutionary effect on archaeology and geology. These techniques are based upon the measurement of radioactive processes (radiocarbon potassiumargon, uraniumlead, thoriumlead, etc. fission track thermoluminescence optically stimulatedluminescenceand electronspinresonance),chemicalprocesses (aminoacid racemization and obsidian hydration), and the magnetic properties of igneous material, baked clay, and sedimentary deposits (paleomagnetism). Other techniques are occasionally useful, for example, historical or iconographic references to datable astronomical events such as solar eclipses (archaeoastronomy). When archaeologists have access to the historical records of civilizations that had calendars and counted and recorded the passage of years, the actual age of the archaeological material may be ascertainedprovided there is some basis for correlating our modern calendar with the ancient calendar. With the decipherment of the Egyptian hieroglyphics, Egyptologists had access to such an absolute timescale, and the age, in calendar years, of the Egyptian dynasties could be established. Furthermore, Egyptian trade wareswere used asa basis forestablishing the age of the relativechronologiesdevelopedfor adjoining regions, such as Palestine and Greece. Thus, Sir ArthurEvanswasable to establishan accurate absolute chronology for the ancient civilizations of Crete and Greece through the use of Egyptian trade objectsthatappearedinhisexcavationsatechniqueknownascrossdating. In dendrochronology, the age of wood can be determined through the counting of the number of annual rings in its cross section. Tree ring growth reflects the rainfall conditions that prevailed during the years of the tree's life. Because rainfall patterns vary annually, any given set of treering patterns in aregionwillform a relatively distinct pattern, identifiable with a particular set of years. Bycomparing the pattern oftree rings in trees whose lifespans partially overlap, these patterns can be extended back in time. By matching the tree rings on an archaeological sample to the master sequence of tree ring patterns, the absoluteageof a sample is established. The best known dendrochronological sequences are those of the American Southwest, where wood is preserved by aridity, and Central Europe, where wood is often preserved by waterlogging. The varvedclay method is applied with fair accuracy ondeposits upto 12,000 years old. Streams flowing into still bodies commonly deposit layers (varves) of summer silt and winter clay through the year. Those laid down during the fall and winter have a dark color because of the presence of dead vegetation those deposited during the rest of the year have a light color. Thestratigraphymay also reflectseasonalvariation inthevelocityofstreamflow.Bycountingeachpairofvarvestheageofthedepositcanbedetermined. The absolute dating methods most widely used and accepted are based on the natural radioactivity of certain minerals found in rocks. Since the rate of radioactive decay of any particular isotope is known, the age of a specimen can be computed from the relative proportions of the remaining radioactive material and its decay products. By this methodtheageof the earth isestimatedtobe about4.5billion yearsold.Some of the radioactive elements used in dating and their decay products (their stable daughter isotopes) are uranium238 to lead206, uranium235 to lead207, thorium232 to lead208, samarium147 to neodymium143, rubidium87 to strontium87, and potassium40 to argon40. Each radioactive member of these series has a known, constant decayrate,measured by its halflife,that isunaffected by any physical or chemical changes. Each decayelement has an effective agerange, includinguranium238(100millionto 4.5billionyears)andpotassium40(100,000to4.5billionyears). Other methods that depend on the effects of radioactive decay include fission track dating and

thermoluminescence. Fission track dating is based on the fact that when uranium238 atoms fission within a solid medium suchasamineral or a glass, theyexpelchargedparticles thatleave a trail of damage (known as fission tracks) preserved in the medium. The number of tracks per unit area is afunction of time and the uranium concentration. Thus it is possible to measure the timethathas elapsed since the material solidified. Thermoluminescence, used in dating archaeological material such as pottery, is based on the luminescence produced whena solidis heated that is, electronsfreed duringradioactive decay andtrapped in the crystal lattice are released by heating, resulting inluminescence.Whenlight isused rather than heat to free the accumulated electrons, the technique is known as optically stimulated resonance. Yet another technique measures the quantity of trapped electrons by detecting the amount of microwave radiation they absorb (electronspin resonance) it has the advantage that it can be utilized several times on a given sample. All of these techniques have proven somewhat unreliable. Museums sometimes use them to determineifaceramicisanantiqueoramodernforgery. The radioactive carbon14 method ofdating isusedtodetermine theage of organicmatterthat isseveral hundred years to approximately 50,000 years old. Carbon dating is possible because all organic matter, including bones and other hard parts, contains carbon and thus contains ascalable proportionofcarbon14 to its decay product, nitrogen14. The carbon14, along with nonradioactive carbon13 and carbon12, is converted to carbon dioxide and assimilated by plants and organisms when the plant or animal dies,it no longer acquires carbon, and the carbon14 begins to decay. The conventional method of measuring the amount of radioactive carbon14 in a sample involved the detection of individual carbon14 decay events. In the 1980s a new procedure became available. This technique involves the direct counting of carbon14 atoms through the use of the accelerator mass spectrometer and has the advantage of being able to use sample sizes up to 1,000 times smaller than those used by conventional radiocarbon dating. The accelerator mass spectrometer technique reduces the amount of statistical error involved in the process of counting carbon14 ions and therefore produces dates that have smaller standard errors than the conventionalmethod. Paleomagnetic dating is based on changes in the orientation and intensity of the earth's magnetic field that have occurred over time. The magnetic characteristics of the object or area (e.g., a section of the seafloor) in questionarematched to a daterange in which the characteristicsof the earth's magnetismwere similar. Paleomagnetic dating is also based onthefactthat the earth periodically reversesthe polarityofits magnetism. Different igneous and sedimentary rocks are rich in magnetic particles and provide a record of the polarity of the earth when they were formed. These patterns will be reflected in various geological contexts, such as stratigraphic sequences. Scientists date these changes in polarity through another technique,such as potassiumargonradioactive dating.This has resultedinthecalibration ofthe pattern of changes in the earth's polarity over many millions of years. Scientists can date a new profile by measuring for changes in polarity within the strataand thenmatching thesequence tothecalibrated master stratigraphic sequence of geomagnetic polarity reversals. In archaeomagnetic dating, oriented specimens are recovered from baked immobile archaeological features, such as the soil surrounding a hearth, inorder to determine the direction of geomagnetic field at the time they were formed. This procedure results in the plotting of a polar curve, which documents changes in the direction of the magnetic poles for agivenregion. The polar curve itselfdoes not providean absolute datebutmustbe calibratedby anindependent technique, suchasradiocarbondating. Chemical dating methods are based on predictable chemical changes that occur over time. Examples include aminoacid racemization, which is potentially useful in situations where no other technique is available to date an archaeological site, and obsidian hydration. The latter is applicable in areas such as Mesoamerica,whereobsidianisabundant.Manyinvestigators,however,consideritunreliable. Fluorine dating is useful to scientists dating early hominid remains. Buried bones take up fluorine from surrounding soils. The amount of fluorine taken up is proportional to the amount in the surroundingdeposit and the length of time the bone has been buried. Varying concentrations of fluorine in different deposits

preclude the method from being considered absolute, but it can be used to measure the relative ages of bonesfoundinthesamedeposit.