Dating methods used in archaeology

8.1: Introduction to Dating Methods

Chronological dating , or simply dating , is the process of attributing to an object or event a date in the past, allowing such object or event to be located in a previously established chronology. This usually requires what is commonly known as a "dating method". Several dating methods exist, depending on different criteria and techniques, and some very well known examples of disciplines using such techniques are, for example, history , archaeology , geology , paleontology , astronomy and even forensic science , since in the latter it is sometimes necessary to investigate the moment in the past during which the death of a cadaver occurred. Dating methods are most commonly classified following two criteria: relative dating and absolute dating. Relative dating methods are unable to determine the absolute age of an object or event, but can determine the impossibility of a particular event happening before or after another event of which the absolute date is well known. In this relative dating method, Latin terms ante quem and post quem are usually used to indicate both the most recent and the oldest possible moments when an event occurred or an artifact was left in a stratum , respectively. But this method is also useful in many other disciplines. Historians, for example, know that Shakespeare's play Henry V was not written before because Shakespeare's primary source for writing his play was the second edition of Raphael Holinshed 's Chronicles , not published until That means that the play was without fail written after in Latin, post The same inductive mechanism is applied in archaeology, geology and paleontology, by many ways.

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It is crucial to determine the age of every newly found fossil or archaeological artefact. In contemporary archaeology, overall research interest is less in the fossil or artefact themselves than in the data it might offer in response to whatever queries the researcher may have. How primitive the artefact and the location are is undoubtedly among the key inquiries archaeologists will make. In archaeology, dating the old has long been a major challenge and it holds essential significance today. Archaeologists would not be able to investigate cultural shifts and coherency across time without the dating methods in archaeology. We will examine the methods of dating archaeological sites, absolute method, relative method, and restrictions for the purpose of better understanding and preparation for the UGC NET History examination in this article. Throughout archaeology, dating is the practice of providing a historical incident with a sequential value.

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Dating Methods in Archaeological Studies.pptx

When museums and collectors purchase archaeological items for their collections they enter an expensive and potentially deceptive commercial fine arts arena. Healthy profits are to be made from illicitly plundered ancient sites or selling skillfully made forgeries. Archaeological scientists have two primary ways of telling the age of artefacts and the sites from which they came: relative dating and absolute dating. Relative dating in archaeology presumes the age of an artefact in relation and by comparison, to other objects found in its vicinity. Limits to relative dating are that it cannot provide an accurate year or a specific date of use.

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