Carbon-14 Radiocarbon Dating Method in Archaeological Analysis

Unstable and radioactive carbon-14, called radiocarbon, is a naturally occurring isotope of the element carbon. When a living thing dies, it ceases to interact with the biosphere and the carbon-14 inside it is unaffected by the biosphere, but naturally decays. Carbon-14 takes thousands of years to decay. This makes carbon-14 analysis, which forms the basis of radiocarbon dating, a powerful tool for revealing the past.

The radiocarbon dating process begins with the analysis of the remaining carbon-14 in a sample. The carbon-14 ratio in the sample under study provides an indication of the time elapsed since the death of the sample source. Radiocarbon is a method that helps date ancient objects. For years, archaeologists have been measuring carbon-14 levels down to settlements and artifacts.

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

While plants are alive, they take up carbon through photosynthesis. Humans and other animals get carbon through plant-based foods or by eating other plant-eating animals. Carbon consists of three isotopes. The most abundant carbon-12 remains stable in the atmosphere. On the other hand, carbon-14 is radioactive and decays to nitrogen-14 over time. Every 5.730 years, the radioactivity of carbon-14 is halved. This half-life is critical for radiocarbon dating. Since carbon-12 is not degraded, it is a good measure to measure the inevitable death of carbon-14. The less radioactivity a carbon-14 isotope emits, the older it is. The radioactivity of the carbon-14 left behind reveals their age, as animals and plants stop absorbing carbon-14 as they begin to decay.

However, this method has limitations. Specimens may be contaminated with soil surrounding some bones or other carbon-containing materials, such as labels with animal-based adhesives. Inorganic materials cannot be dated using radiocarbon analysis, and the method can be extremely costly. Age is also a problem, as specimens older than about 40 years are difficult to date due to the very small carbon-14 levels. Those older than 60 thousand years cannot be dated in any way.

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