Dating Methods

DATING THE PAST - CHAPTER 4:

Note: This is part of an electronic companion that supplements Kevin Greene's book Archaeology: an introduction (1995); click on the title to start from the home page.

Virtual Dating

Isochron for rocks and minerals

Virtual Dating Radiocarbon (Carbon-14)

Virtual Dating Demo

If you just want to do a quick run-through of the activity, try the "Demo" version-- answer checking and other feedbacks are not implemented. System and technical requirements for Virtual Dating

Radio Carbon Web Information        BY: THOMAS HIGHAM

"Everything which has come down to us from heathendom is wrapped in a thick fog; it belongs to a space of time we cannot measure. We know that it is older than Christendom, but whether by a couple of years or a couple of centuries, or even by
more than a millenium, we can do no more than guess." [Rasmus Nyerup, (Danish antiquarian), 1802 (in Trigger, 1989:71)].

For Information on the Dating Techniques 

Fluoride Dating Service Center
From Mark Schurr at the University of Notre Dame, a
website announcing their new dating service; also includes
information about how the technique works. 

BCal
An on-line Bayesian radiocarbon calibration tool, developed
by the University of Cardiff (Wales). 

C14-L
An electronic discussion list for researchers and others
involved in radiocarbon and other radioisotopes used in
dating, and in scientific dating issues in general. To
subscribe, send email to listserv@LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU
and in the body of the message, put "subscribe c14-l". 

Closing the Gap
A look at the investigative insight of astronomer Andrew E.
Douglass, who with archaeologist Clark Wissler pretty much
invented dendrochronology; an article by Bill Rathje in
Discovering Archaeology. 

Dating Stone Henge
A team of archaeologists and other scientists working
together to make some scientific measurements on this
ancient monument in England. 

Dating Techniques from Mankato State University
An ongoing class project with summaries of different dating
types. 

Dendrochronology is the study which uses tree growth rings to date
archaeological sites. 

Dendrochronology in the Aegean Sea
from Peter Ian Kuniholm at Cornell University, a brief
summary of several projects in the eastern Mediterranean. 

Kevin Green's Introduction to Archaeology
This online textbook has a chapter on dating techniques. 

Human Colonisation of Australia From Archaeology World, a collection of recent papers on the thorny problem of dating the first occupations of
Australia. 

Obsidian Hydration
A text description of obsidian hydration dating methodology
used at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. 

Ox-Cal
By Christopher Bronk Ramsay of Oxford, a program to
provide radiocarbon calibration and analysis of
archaeological and environmental stratigraphy.