ANT 101 Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Inert Gas, Radionuclide, Olduvai Gorge
Document Summary
Relative dating: the mineralized bone of an extinct animal. Isotopic technique: the relationship between items in an archaeological site. Items in association are found close together and/or in the same layer or deposit. A method of assigning archaeological dates in calendar years so that an age in actual number of years is known or can be estimated. One of several atomic states of an element, for example, carbon occurs as 12c, 13c, and 14c, also known as carbon-14 or radiocarbon. Potassium, uranium, calcium, etc. can also be used for dating purposes) Used to determine the age of early human ancestors and their remains. An absolute dating technique based on the principle of decay of the radioactive isotope potassium, 40k. also called potassium-argon dating. Crucial importance for determining age of the earliest human remains. Can date most of earth"s history, can measure age of the oldest rocks on our planet and even samples of moon rocks.
