UNIT 4 DATING METHODS

Contents
4.0 Introduction
4.1 Relative Dating Methods
4.1.1 Stratigraphy
4.1.2 Fluorine Dating

4.2 Absolute Dating Methods

4.2.1 Non-Radiometric Dating Methods
4.2.1.1 Dendrochronology
4.2.2 Radiometric Dating Methods
4.2.2.1 Radioactive Carbon Method
4.2.2.2 Potassium/Argon Dating Method
4.2.3 Amino Acid Racemization
4.2.4 Palaeomagnetic Dating
4.2.5 Thermoluminescence Dating

4.3 Summary
4.4 References
4.5 Answers to Check Your Progress
Learning Objectives
Once you have studied this unit, you should be able to:
 Know about different dating methods that assist archaeological study;
 Know how these methods provide an understanding of the chronological order of
events; and
 Know about the human morphological and cultural evolution.

4.0 INTRODUCTION
Studies in Palaeoanthropology or archaeological anthropology have little meaning unless
the chronological sequence of events is reconstructed effectively. Whenever a new
fossil or a new archaeological artifact is discovered it is very important to find out how
old it is. In modern day palaeoanthropology or archaeology, the scientific interest rests
not so much in the fossil or the artifact itself but the information it can provide to the
questions that the scientist may be asking. One of the principal questions an archaeologist
will certainly ask is “how old the artifact and the site are”? In fact, without a chronological
framework, a fossil or an archaeological artifact loses its true scientific significance. It is
important to understand where a fossil or an artifact fits into the scheme of human
morphological or cultural evolution. For a specialist, finding out the age of rocks is
critical to reconstruct the history of the earth. To find out the age of fossils, artifacts or
rocks, the scientists depend upon several dating methods. These methods can be divided
into two broad categories: (a) relative dating methods and (b) absolute dating methods.

* Contributed by Prof. Rajan Gaur, Department of Anthropology, Panjab University, Chandigarh 51

Dating Methods and
Reconstruction Check Your Progress
of Past
1) What are the two types of dating methods?
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4.1 RELATIVE DATING METHODS

Relative dating is a technique of determining the relative sequence of past events or past
objects without actually knowing their absolute age. It is the stratigraphical or
archaeological age of a specimen or formation (Oakley, 1964). In an assemblage of
fossils or artifacts, these methods can be used to find out their relative age without
knowing their actual age in absolute terms. Employing these methods a palaeontologist
may be able to ascertain, which fossil is older than the other in an assemblage without
knowing their actual age in years. In other words, relative dating determines the age of
a fossil, an artifact or a site, as older or younger or of the same age as others, but does
not provide specific dates (in years). Before the discovery of radiometric dating
techniques, in the second half of the twentieth century, archaeologists, palaeontologists
and geologists had to mainly rely upon relative dating techniques. As a result, it was
difficult to chronologically compare fossils from different parts of the world. Though
relative dating technique can only provide information about the sequential order of
occurrence of events and not the actual time of occurrence of the events, it still remains
useful for materials that lack properties for absolute dating. Even now these can be
useful for relating palaeontological or archaeological finds from the same or nearby
sites with similar geological histories. Stratigraphy and fluorine dating are among the
common relative dating methods.

4.1.1 Stratigraphy
It is one of the oldest and the simplest relative dating methods. Stratigraphy is a branch
of geology that is concerned with stratified soils and rocks, i.e. soils and rocks that are
deposited as layers. Stratigraphy is basically the study of the sequence, composition
and relationship of stratified soils and rocks. If we go to the countryside where there
are some hills, we can see different layers of rocks which may be horizontal or inclined.
Each layer can be differentiated from the other layer on account of the difference in
colour, chemical composition or texture. Each layer represents a time period when the
process of deposition of sediments continued uninterrupted in one manner. The next
layer represents a change in the process of deposition. There are two fundamental
principles of stratigraphy: uniformitarianism and superposition.
Uniformitarianism is a fundamental unifying doctrine of geology, which was originally
conceived by British geologist James Hutton in 1785 and subsequently developed and
explained by Sir Charles Lyell in 1830 in his ‘Principles of Geology’. According to
this principle, the geologic processes now operating to modify the Earth’s crust have
acted in the same manner and with essentially the same intensity throughout geologic
time, and that past geologic events can be explained by phenomena and forces
observable today. In a nutshell the expression, “present is key to the past”, explains
uniformitarianism.
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Superposition is one of the principles of stratigraphy, which is commonly utilized in a Dating Methods
relative dating method. The principle was first given by a Danish scientist Nicholas Steno
in 1669, who is also considered to be the father of stratigraphy. According to this
principle, the oldest layer lies at the bottom and the youngest layer lies at the top, in
undisturbed strata. He also pointed out that beds of sediment deposited in water initially
form as horizontal (or nearly horizontal) layers. As layers accumulate through time,
older layers get buried underneath younger layers. This principle can be clearly seen in
Figure 1. The layer-A that was deposited earlier lies at a lower level and is, therefore,
older than the overlying layers-B to F which were deposited subsequently. Though we
may not know how old each layer is but, among the layers-A to F, we can tell which
one is older than the other. In this way the relative time relationship of rock layers and
the fossils or artifacts buried in them can be understood. But this principle should not be
applied blindly. The principle is applicable where the normal order of superposition of
the rock layers has not been disrupted by natural or human agencies. It is well known
that natural diastrophic movements can disrupt the normal order of superposition through
folding and faulting of the rock strata. As a consequence older rocks may come to lie
over younger rocks. Human or animal agencies can also disturb normal order of rock
layers through digging for burials where relatively younger artifacts may come to lie at
relatively older levels. Figure-2 shows the disturbance of original strata. In this case the
bone-A and bone-B may not be of the same age even though they both are buried in
the same layer, i.e., layer-2. Therefore, before applying the principle of superposition
for relative dating one must ensure that the original sequence of rocks layers has not
been disrupted.

Fig. 1: Diagrammatic Representation of a Sequence of Rock Layers Showing Superposition

where Lower Layer A is Older than Upper Layer F

53
Dating Methods and
Reconstruction
of Past

Fig. 2: Disturbance of Original Disposition of Rock Strata. Bone-A and

Bone-B, Though Lie in the Same Layer-2 but may not of the Same Age due
to Mixing of Strata. Under Such Situations Principle of Stratigraphy is not
Applicable
Check Your Progress
2) What do you understand by stratigraphy?
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4.1.2 Fluorine Dating

It is a relative (chemical) dating method that compares the accumulation of fluorine
content in bones. Fluorine dating method probably developed due to the collaborative
efforts of Emile Rivière and Adolphe Carnot in the 1890s (Goodrum and Olson, 2009).
But it was not until the 1940s and early 1950s that this method was improved and
widely implemented by Kenneth P. Oakley to resolve several problems in
palaeoanthropology (Goodrum and Olson, 2009).
Water soluble fluorides are found in trace quantities (parts per million-range) in ground
water around the world. The skeletal elements buried in the ground absorb fluorine
from the percolating ground water. In case of bones or teeth, fluoride ions replace the
hydroxyl-group of hydroxy-apatite, the main component of bones and teeth, and are
locked in place in the mineral matrix of these tissues principally composed of calcium
hydroxyapatite. Hydroxyl ions slowly are displaced with a form of soluble fluorides.
These ions form fluorapatite which is markedly less soluble and more stable. Once they
enter the bone substance they are not released, unless the whole bone becomes dissolved.
The process goes on continuously, and the fluorine-content of the bone or tooth increases
in course of time. The older a bone is, the more fluorine content it will accumulate.
Ca5 (PO4)3OH + Fluorine ion Ca5 (PO4)3F

54
One can argue that since the fluorine content of bones increase with time why this Dating Methods
method cannot be used for absolute dating. This is simply because of the reason that
the fluorine concentration of ground water varies from place to place. Younger bones in
a fluorine rich area may accumulate more fluorine than even older bones in a different
area where ground water fluorine concentration is comparatively very little. It is therefore
not possible to date bones in terms of years.
However this method is very useful means of distinguishing fossilized bones of different
ages occurring at a particular place. If, however, one is interested in separating bones
of different ages at one locality, estimation of fluorine-content is helpful as it can provide
ages of bones at a site relative to each other based on their fluorine content. Older
assemblage would be distinguishable from the younger assemblage on the basis of their
fluorine content. Bones that have been buried at a place for some length of time will
have broadly comparable fluorine content. Moreover, contamination of the assemblage
by younger or older bones will be revealed by anomalously higher (older bones) or
lower fluorine (younger bones) contents.
Fluorine dating has been very successful in bringing to light the hoax of ‘Piltdown Man’,
one of the biggest hoaxes in paleoanthropology. Piltdown skull and jawbone were
subjected to fluorine testing (Oakley, 1950). The levels of fluorine in the skull and
jawbone were significantly lower than in other bone specimens collected from the same
area. Subsequently, with the help of fluorine test Weiner et al. (1953) proved the bones
to be a modern human braincase and an Orangutan jawbone that were chemically
stained to appear ancient.

4.2 ABSOLUTE DATING METHODS

Absolute dating methods provide the precise age of a fossil, artifact or a rock in years.
These are obviously more useful methods than the relative dating methods. Unlike relative
dating methods which provide only an order of events, absolute dating methods provide
a numerical age with reference to a calendrical system. There is a diversity of methods
that provide actual calendrical dates for fossils or artifacts. Most actually assign dates
to the strata the bones are in, or associated materials, and not the fossils themselves.
Absolute dating methods are frequently based on the physical or chemical properties of
the fossils or materials of artifacts or rocks themselves. These may be radiometric or
non-radiometric. Radiometric dating is based on the decay of radioactive isotopes into
their radiogenic daughter isotopes at a known and constant decay rate. Examples of
radiometric dating methods are Radiocarbon dating, Potassium/Argon dating, Fission-
track dating, etc. Non-radiometric methods are based on some chemical or physical
properties of the materials. Dendrochronology is one of the common non-radiometric
dating methods.
Check Your Progress
3) What do absolute dating methods provide?
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Dating Methods and 4.2.1 Non-Radiometric Dating Methods
Reconstruction
of Past Below we provide a description of a non-radiometric dating method which helps us in
identifying the archaeological age of beings.
4.2.1.1 Dendrochronology
Dendrochronology is the scientific method of dating based on the analysis of patterns
of tree ring variations. It is also known as tree ring dating. The method was devised in
1929 by A. E. Douglas, an astronomer at the University of Arizona, who intended to
use it for studying climatic variations. But its application in archaeology became
immediately apparent. It is common knowledge that a tree adds one ring of new wood
each year between the existing wood and the bark. In temperate and sub-polar climates,
cells added at the beginning of the growing season are generally large and thin-walled
and become smaller and thick-walled as the growing season comes to a close. When a
tree trunk is observed in cross-section, a boundary line is usually visible between the
small-celled wood added at the end of the previous year’s growing season and the
large-celled spring wood of the subsequent year’s growing season (Figure 3). By
counting the number of rings one can estimate the age of the tree when it was felled. The
annual growth rings are not of the same width. During years of favorable climate (wet
years) the rings are broad; during years of unfavorable climate (during drought) they
are narrow, since the trees grow less. In cold regions warmth may be a factor to influence
growth. This causes the development of patterns of tree rings of alternating wet and dry
seasons represented by thick and thin rings, which are unique for a period and not likely
be repeated in future. It is this variation and unique nature of patterning of seasonal
rainfall, depicted in patterns of tree ring thickness variations, which makes
dendrochronology possible. The rings are more visible in temperate zones, where the
seasons differ more markedly. This method may not be applicable in areas showing
little seasonal variations in rainfall, such as tropical areas.

Fig. 3: Cross Section of a Tree Trunk Showing Clear Annual Tree Rings
Source: https://www.ltrr.arizona.edu/introdendro/

Trees from the same region will tend to develop the same patterns of ring widths for a
given period of time. These patterns can be compared and matched ring for ring with
trees growing in the same geographical zone and under similar climatic conditions.
Following these tree-ring patterns from living trees back through time, chronologies can
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be built up, for entire regions. Thus by matching the rings of successively older samples Dating Methods
of wood master tree ring variation charts for an area or a region are prepared going
back to several thousand years. Thus wood from ancient structures can be matched to
known chronologies and the age of the wood determined precisely. With the help of
dendrochronology, timber or wooden log samples of unknown age recovered from
archaeological sites can be dated by cross-matching their tree-ring patterns with tree-
ring patterns of the master tree ring pattern chronology of the regions. This is known as
cross-dating that is considered the fundamental principle of dendrochronology. Without
the precision given by cross-dating, the dating of tree rings would be nothing more than
simple ring counting. Initially cross-dating was done by visual inspection, until computers
were utilized to do the statistical matching.
Tree ring master chart of an area can be prepared by matching the patterns of a tree
living today with successively older tree logs. For example, beginning with a 200 year
old tree cut today pattern of tree ring variation of past two centuries can be plotted. A
wooden log cut for use in a house, stable or a ranch built in 1900 will match the rings of
the first tree for first hundred or so rings, but if this log was also 200 years old, the two
combined would provide a continuous sequence of rings back to 1700. This way the
tree ring chronology can be extended back in time as successively older wooden logs
are found and their tree ring patterns matched with that of younger trees of an area. An
example of matching of tree ring patterns of successively older trees, beginning with
recent, for making a master tree ring chronology of an area is given in Figure 4.

Fig. 4: Tree ring patterns of successively old trees can be matched to

prepare a master tree ring pattern chart of an area that can be used to date
wooden logs of unknown age
In some parts of the world, trees with exceptionally long life, such as Bristle Cone Pine
tree (Pinus aristata) and Sequoia tree (Sequoiadendron giganteum) have proved to
be very useful to develop tree ring chronologies. Some of the oldest living bristle cone
pine trees are 4,900 years old. Based on bristle cone pine tree a fully anchored chronology
extending back to 8500 years was developed by Ferguson and Graybill (1983) for
Southwest US or White Mountains of California. Tree ring chronologies which extend
back more than 11,000 years are available for river oak trees from South Germany and
pine from Northern Ireland (McGovern et al., 1995; Freidrich et al., 2004).

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Dating Methods and
Reconstruction Check Your Progress
of Past
4) Name a tree with a very long life which is useful to understand tree ring
chronologies.
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Limitations: At present, tree ring dating method has limited applications. This is because
one must be sure that the climate was practically the same over the entire region from
which the master chart was prepared before the method can be used effectively.
Dendrochronology is applicable in regions which show appreciable seasonal variation
in climate. Trees from regions which have little seasonal variation in climate or rainfall
are not suitable for dating with dendrochronology. The method has limited range because
as yet, master tree ring pattern chronology has been developed going back to up to
only 11,000 to 12,000 years before present.

4.2.2 Radiometric Dating Methods

A majority of absolute dates for rocks are obtained with the help of radiometric methods.
Radiometric dating methods are based on the fact that every radioactive element decays.
Radioactive decay is the process by which a “parent” isotope changes into a more
stable” daughter” isotope by emitting radiation and particles. The atoms of some chemical
elements have different forms, called isotopes. An isotope is an alternate form of an
element with the same atomic number but different mass number. For example when
‘parent’ Uranium238 atom decays it produces subatomic particles, energy and ‘daughter’
element Lead206. Each radioactive element decays at a known constant rate specific
to it. The rate of decay is described by the half-life of the isotope, which is the time
taken by an isotope to be reduced to half of its original amount. So if we can measure
the proportion of parent and daughter isotopes in rocks now, we can calculate when
the rocks were formed.
The nuclear decay of radioactive isotopes is a process that behaves in a clock-like
fashion and is thus a useful tool for determining the absolute age of rocks. Radiometric
dating has provided us a powerful tool for reconstructing the history of our planet. The
idea that radioactivity could be used as a measure of the age of geologic formations
was first suggested in 1905 by a British physicist, Lord Rutherford. However, it was
the invention of the mass spectrometer after World War I that led to the discovery of
isotopes and the calculation of their accurate radioactive decay rates. Several radiometric
dating methods have been developed since the beginning of the second half of the 20th
century such as radioactive carbon method, potassium/argon method, uranium/lead
method, fission track method, etc. All these methods utilize the radioactive decay of the
isotopes as a means of dating. These methods are better than other absolute dating
methods because the rate of decay of radioactive isotopes is least affected by variations
in temperature, pressure, alkalinity, humidity, etc.
4.2.2.1 Radioactive Carbon Method
Radioactive carbon or carbon-14 dating is probably one of the earliest and one of the
58
best-known radiometric dating methods. In certain respects, radiocarbon dating has Dating Methods
been one of the most noteworthy discoveries of the 20th century science. The method
was developed by a team of scientists led by the late Professor Willard F. Libby of the
University of Chicago in years immediately after World War II. Libby later received the
Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1960. Radiocarbon dating was the first chronometric
technique widely available to archaeologists and palaeoanthropologists and was especially
useful because it allowed researchers to directly date the organic remains often found in
palaeoanthropological and archaeological sites, which besides fossils also include artifacts
made from bone, shell, wood, and other carbon based materials. Its development
revolutionized palaeoanthropology and archaeology by providing a means of dating
fossils and artifacts, which allowed for the establishment of world-wide chronologies of
human biological and cultural evolution in the Pleistocene.
Radiocarbon dating is a radiometric dating method that makes use of the decay
of carbon-14 (an isotope of normal carbon) to estimate the age of organic materials,
such as bone, teeth, wood, etc. There are three principal isotopes of carbon which
occur naturally, viz. C12, C13 (both stable) and C14 (unstable or radioactive). The
concentration of these isotopes in the atmosphere is as follows: C12 - 98.89%, C13 -
1.11%, and C14 - 0.00000000010%. Thus, in nature, for every 1,000,000,000,000
normal carbon atoms (C12) in living material there exists one radioactive carbon atom
(C14). The radiocarbon method is based on the rate of decay of the radioactive or
unstable carbon-14 isotope (C14). The half-life of C14 is about 5,730 years, during which
C14 is reduced to half of its original amount. Thus, the concentration of C14 in the
atmosphere might be expected to reduce considerably over tens of thousands of years.
However, that is not the case. Because C14 is constantly being produced in the lower
stratosphere and upper troposphere of earth’s atmosphere by cosmic ray activity.
Therefore its concentration remains roughly constant in the atmosphere.
In the upper atmosphere the cosmic rays generate neutrons which strike nitrogen atoms
resulting in the creation of a radioactive carbon C14 atom, through loss of a proton and
subsequently an electron.

Cosmic rays Neutron + Proton

Carbon-14 spreads evenly throughout the atmosphere and reacts with oxygen to get
oxidized into carbon dioxide (C14O2). It also dissolves in the ocean. Radiocarbon present
in molecules of atmospheric carbon dioxide enters the biological carbon cycle. It is
absorbed from the air by green plants during photosynthesis and then passed on to
animals through the food chain. Radiocarbon decays slowly in a living organism, and
the amount lost is continually replenished through food and air. After the death of the
organism, the absorption of carbon-14 ceases and there is no replenishment of
radioactive carbon (Figure 5). As a consequence, the amount of the radiocarbon in its
tissues steadily decreases. Because carbon-14decays at a constant rate, an estimate of
the date at which an organism died can be made by measuring the amount of its residual
radiocarbon and comparing it to available levels in the atmosphere. The carbon-14
eventually beta-decays into nitrogen with a half- life of 5730±40 years.
Radiocarbon dating works by accurately measuring the ratio of radiocarbon to stable
carbon in a sample. This can be carried out in any one of the following three ways:
1) Gas Proportional Counting, 2) Liquid Scintillation Counting, and 3) Accelerator
Mass Spectrometry. The purpose in each of these methods is to find out the ratio of
radiocarbon to stable carbon in a sample. From this measurement the age in radiocarbon
years is calculated. This method can normally provide useful age estimates up to 50,000
years after which the amount of radiocarbon is too little to be accurately measured. 59
Dating Methods and However, using the latest sophisticated techniques this range can at the most be extended
Reconstruction to 70,000 years.
of Past

Fig. 5 : Diagrammatic Representation of Carbon Cycle in Food Chain

(Modified from: http://www.theenergylibrary.com/node/11296)

Limitations:
1) Since the method is applied directly to organic material, fossils of any value cannot
be subjected to this method as it involves partial or complete damage to the
specimen.
2) The range of this method is ordinarily 50,000 years; therefore it is not suitable for
older fossils.
3) The assumption that the amount of radioactive carbon in atmosphere is constant is
not exactly true because it is known that it was more than 6000 years old . Solar
cycles leading to changes in intensity of cosmic radiation or changes in earth’s
magnetic field may be responsible for these changes. Variations can also occur
due to the fossil fuel burning effect (also called Suess effect after its inventor Hans
Suess who reported it in 1965) and the nuclear testing above ground that created
extra C14 (also sometimes called as ‘bomb carbon’).
4) There is always chance of contamination of the sample with modern materials,
such as through rootlet intrusion, and handling of the specimens in the field or lab
(e.g., accidental introduction of modern organic material such as tobacco ash,
hair, or fibers) can potentially affect the age of a sample.
Despite these limitations radiocarbon remains a very useful technique to date later
Pleistocene or younger organic materials.
4.2.2.2 Potassium/Argon Dating Method
Potassium/Argon dating method is one the most widely used radiometric dating methods
for dating rocks, especially igneous that have solidified from molten lava. It is an invaluable
tool for geological, archaeological and palaeoanthropological investigations. This
technique is very useful to archaeologists and paleoanthropologists when lava flows or
volcanic tuffs form layers that overlie strata bearing the evidence of human activity.
60
This method is based upon the decay of radioactive potassium-40 (40K) to argon-40 Dating Methods
(40Ar) in minerals and rocks. By comparing the proportion of K-40 to Ar-40 in a
sample of volcanic rock, and knowing the decay rate of K-40, the date when the rock
was formed can be estimated.
Potassium (39K) is one of the most abundant elements in the Earth’s crust. There are
three naturally occurring isotopes of potassium namely 39K (93.2581%), 40K (0.0117%)
and 41K (6.7302%). Out of these isotopes, 40K decays into two ‘daughter elements’:
stable 40 Calcium and 40Ar in an approximate ratio of 89:11. Simply stated, for every
100 40K atoms that decays, 11 become 40Ar. Argon is a noble gas. When 40K decays
the 40Ar that is produced remains trapped in the crystals of the minerals of volcanic
rocks. When the magma is molten whatever argon is produced boils off into the
atmosphere. However, after the cooling and solidification of lava into rock, the argon
produced due to the decay of 40K accumulates within the rock and the radiometric
clock of rock begins. As the rock ages, it accumulates more and more 40Ar atoms. The
amount of 40Ar atoms is measured and used to compute the amount of time that had
elapsed since the solidification of volcanic rock sample.
The half-life period of 40K is 1,300 million years or 1.3 billion years, i.e. in this time the
amount of radioactive potassium-40 is reduced to half of its original quantity. Due to its
long half-life, this method is very suitable to estimate the age of even planets. However,
it may not be suitable for measuring age of rocks younger than 100,000 thousand years
as the quantity of argon produced by this time is too little to be accurately measured.
The method involves the melting of the rock samples in a vacuum system in an electric
arc at temperatures from 1500 to 2000 °C. The quantity of 40Ar is measured with a
mass spectrometer. However some atmospheric argon can contaminate because it is
difficult to create an absolute vacuum. Argon roughly forms 0.93 % of the atmosphere.
However, we can find the number of contaminating atmospheric Argon atoms because
there is a naturally occurring isotope of argon 36 Ar that occurs in a ratio of 99.6% 40Ar:
0.34 % 36 Ar. By counting the number of 36 Ar atoms we can estimate the number of
contaminating atmospheric 40Ar atoms which are then deducted from the total number
of Argon atoms to arrive at the actual quantity of40Ar atoms released by the melting of
the rock sample. This figure is then used to calculate the age of the rock.
This method has been most widely used for dating early hominid sites where hominid
activity is recorded stratigraphically between two lava flows, particularly in East Africa.
The most famous of these sites is perhaps Bed I of Olduvai Gorge, which probably
represents one of the earliest applications of this method. The method was also used to
date the site at Hadar in Ethiopia, which is famous for the discovery of Australopithecus
afarensis, popularly known as ‘Lucy’.
Limitations:
1) This method is applicable on rocks and not on fossils themselves.
2) This method is more suitable for rocks of volcanic origin and inapplicable to non-
volcanic regions.
3) It has to be assumed that all the argon produced due to the decay of 40 K has
remained trapped within the rock.
4) The method works well for almost any igneous or volcanic rock, provided that the
rock gives no evidence of having gone through a heating-recrystallization process
after its initial formation.
5) Rocks younger than 100,000 years cannot be dated with this method. 61
Dating Methods and In addition to radiocarbon and potassium/argon methods there are other absolute dating
Reconstruction methods such as amino acid racemization, fission-track dating method, palaeomagnetic
of Past
dating method and thermoluminescence dating method, which can be used to find out
the age of archaeological or palaeoanthropological sites.

4.2.3 Amino Acid Racemization

It is based on the fact that amino acids, such as isoleucine, present in bones, teeth or
other organic remains undergo gradual change (racemisation) from L-form to D-form
over time after the death of an organism. The ratio of the two is measured to indicate
age.

4.2.4 Palaeomagneting Dating

The earth’s magnetic field varies through time, therefore, the magnetic north pole changes
position. At the time of deposition, the ferro-magnetic particles acquire the magnetic
field of the day and also align in its direction. The method involves the measurement of
the direction of the palaeomagnetic fields of the rock layers of a stratigraphic column
and then matching the pattern with a palaeomagnetic reversal patterns of a stratigraphic
section whose time relationships are better understood. Usually one absolute date is
required to match the undated column with a well-dated column.

4.2.5 Thermoluminescence Dating

Thermoluminescence dating is based on the assumption that the alpha particle radiation
from naturally occurring radioactive elements, such as U238 and Th 232, present in clay
and rocks as trace elements release electrons which settle at a higher energy level in
crystal lattice defects of minerals that can be freed from their binding by applying energy
in the form of sudden controlled heating. This causes the release of electrons that is
seen in the form of visible light or thermo luminescence, which can be measured. The
older a specimen is, the more are the trapped electrons and greater is the thermo
luminescence. It is very useful to date archaeological specimens such as fired pottery.
Check Your Progress
5) Name some of the radiometric dating methods.
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4.3 SUMMARY
Dating methods play a significant role in archaeological and palaeoanthropological
investigations by placing the fossils and artifacts in a chronological framework. A fossil
or an artifact is much more useful from a palaeoanthropological or archaeological
viewpoint if we can find out how old it is. Several dating methods are now available that
can be used to date fossils, artifacts or the rocks from which these were recovered.
These can be broadly grouped into relative and absolute dating methods. Relative dating
methods, such as stratigraphy and fluorine methods, can help us to determine the relative
62 sequence of past events or past objects without actually knowing their precise age.
Absolute dating methods on the other hand provide us exact age of a specimen or an Dating Methods
event in years before present. Absolute dating methods can be non-radiometric or
radiometric. Dendrochronology, palaeomagnetic dating and amino acid racemisation
are some of the commonly used non-radiometric absolute dating methods. The
radiometric methods, such as radiocarbon, potassium/argon, fission track methods,
are based on the decay of the radioactive isotopes of some elements. Radiometric
methods have been effectively used to find out the age of some important hominid sites
in Africa.

4.4 REFERENCES
Blatt, H., Berry, W. B., & Brande, S. (1991). Principles of Stratigraphic Analysis.
Boston: Blackwell Scientific Publications.
Ferguson, C. W., & Graybill, D. A. (1983). Dendrochronology of Bristlecone Pine.
Radiocarbon, 25 (2): 287–8.
Friedrich, M., Remmele, S., Kromer, B., Hofmann, J., Spurk, M., Kaiser, K. F., &
Küppers, M. (2004). The 12,460-year Hohenheim oak and pine tree-ring chronology
from central Europe—a unique annual record for radiocarbon calibration and
paleoenvironment reconstructions. Radiocarbon, 46(3), 1111-1122.
Goodrum, M. R., & Olson, C. (2009). The quest for an absolute chronology in human
prehistory: anthropologists, chemists and the fluorine dating method in
palaeoanthropology. The British Journal for the History of Science, 42(1), 95-114.
Harland, W. B., Armstrong, R. L., Cox, A. V., Craig, L. E., Smith, D. G., & Smith, A.
G. (1990). A Geologic Time Scale 1989. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
McGovern, P. E., Sever, T. L., Myers, J. W., Myers, E. E., Bevan, B., Miller, N. F., ...
& Bowman, S. G. E. (1995). Science in archaeology: a review. American Journal of
Archaeology, 99(1), 79-142.
Oakley, K. P. (1950). Relative Dating of the Piltdown Skull. Advancement of
Science. (6): 343–344.
Oakley, K. P. (1964). Frameworks for Dating Fossil Man. USA: Transaction
Publishers.
Noller, J. S., Sowers, J. M., & Lettis, W. R. (Eds.). (2000). Quaternary
Geochronology: Methods and Applications (Vol. 4). Washington, DC: American
Geophysical Union.
Walker, M., & Walker, M. J. C. (2005). Quaternary Dating Methods. England: John
Wiley and Sons.
Weiner, J. S., Oakley, K. P., & Clark, W. E. L. G. (1953). The Solution of the Piltdown
Problem (Vol. 2, No. 3). British Museum (Natural History).

4.5 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

1) The two types of dating methods are Relative Dating Method and Absolute Dating
Method.
2) Stratigraphy is basically the study of the sequence, composition and relationship
of stratified soils and rocks.
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Dating Methods and 3) Absolute dating methods provide a numerical age with reference to a calendric
Reconstruction system.
of Past
4) Bristle Cone Pine tree (Pinusaristata) has an exceptionally long life and has proved
to be very useful to develop tree ring chronologies.
5) Some of the radiometric dating methods are radioactive carbon method, potassium/
argon method, uranium/lead method and fission track method.

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