While other methods of dating objects exist, radiocarbon dating has remained vital for most archaeologists. For example, it makes it possible to compare the ages of objects on a worldwide scale, allowing for indispensible comparisons across the globe.

How does radiocarbon dating help an archeologist?

Over time, carbon-14 decays in predictable ways. And with the help of radiocarbon dating, researchers can use that decay as a kind of clock that allows them to peer into the past and determine absolute dates for everything from wood to food, pollen, poop, and even dead animals and humans.

Why is radiocarbon dating so valuable?

His radiocarbon dating technique is the most important development in absolute dating in archaeology and remains the main tool for dating the past 50,000 years. How It Works: After an organism dies, the radiocarbon decreases through a regular pattern of decay. This is called the half-life of the isotope.