Okuzeka
History vocabulary · Archaeology Basics

Radiocarbon dating

Meaning in history, with examples

nounCommon term

In history, radiocarbon dating means: A scientific method that estimates the age of organic material such as wood, bone or seeds by measuring how much radioactive carbon-14 is left in it.

In Turkish: radyokarbon tarihlendirmesi, karbon-14 yöntemi, C14 tarihlendirmesi

How it is used

Developed in the late 1940s, it works for material up to about 50,000 years old. Results come with a margin of error and must be calibrated; calibrated dates are often written cal BC. Samples are sent to a laboratory for dating.

Example sentences

  1. Radiocarbon dating places the burnt grain between 7100 and 6900 BC.

  2. We sent three charcoal samples to the lab for radiocarbon dating.

Common collocations

  • radiocarbon dates
  • a radiocarbon sample
  • calibrated radiocarbon date
  • carbon-14 dating
  • stratigraphyThe study of the layers of soil and debris at a site, based on the principle that lower layers were usually laid down before the ones above them.
  • chronologyThe order in which events happened, or a list or table that sets out events and their dates in that order.
  • archaeologyThe study of the human past through the material remains people left behind, such as buildings, tools, pottery, bones and traces in the soil.
  • excavationThe careful digging and recording of an archaeological site to uncover buildings, objects and other remains in the order in which they were buried.

More terms: Archaeology Basics

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