Dating

Question 1

What is absolute dating? Provide three examples.

Answer 1

uses scientific techniques to date an artifact based on its compositions

• radiocarbon
• thermoluminescence
• dendrochronology

Question 2

What is relative dating? Provide three examples.

Answer 2

uses an artifact’s location or physical appearance

• stratigraphy
• seriation
• typology

Question 3

What is another name for radiocarbon dating?

Answer 3

Carbon-14 dating

Question 4

What requirements must an artifact meet for radiocarbon dating to work?

Answer 4

must be organic

Question 5

How does radiocarbon dating work? (8)

Answer 5

• C14 produced in upper atmosphere where neutrons and N14 react to produce C14
• C14 is oxidized to create 14CO2, 12CO2, and 13CO2
• CO2 is used by plants for photosynthesis, C isotopes are absorbed, continued along food chain
• therefore, all organic life has both C12 and C14; while alive, ratio is C12:C14
• when living things die, tissue is no longer being replaced, and the radioactive decay of C14 becomes apparent
• in 5,730 years, only half of the C14 will be present
• if we know the ratio of C12:C14 at time of death, and measure the current ratio, we can calculate how much time has passed based on the above half life
• measured ‘before present’

Question 6

What are four major drawbacks of radiocarbon dating?

Answer 6

• cannot date artifacts older than 55kya
• amount of C14 in the atmosphere varies over time
• extremely low abundance of C14 on earth and therefore in organic matter
• mostly irrelevant for historical archaeology

Question 7

What is thermoluminescence? Provide two examples.

Answer 7

measures energy emitted after an object has been exposed to temperatures between 400-500 degrees Celsius

• firing of ceramics
• lava

Question 8

What is optically stimulated luminescence? Provide an example.

Answer 8

• measures energy emitted after an object has been exposed to daylight
• anything buried that was at one point in direct sunlight

Question 9

What is the most useful form of absolute dating for historical archaeologists?

Answer 9

dendrochronology

Question 10

What are three drawbacks of dendrochronology?

Answer 10

• not all trees create one ring annually
• climates with little variation in seasons may not produce distinct patterns
• most importantly, even though we can potentially match up until the date the tree was felled, we cannot determine this was the date of its use at any given archaeological site

Question 11

What are three examples of natural deposition processes?

Answer 11

• alluvial
• colluvial
• aeolian

Question 12

What are three examples of human deposition processes?

Answer 12

• abandonment
• construction
• farming/gardening

Question 13

What is the principle of superposition?

Answer 13

newer things will be deposited on top of older things

Question 14

What is the principle of original horizontality?

Answer 14

assuming that originally, the layers and deposits were deposited in a horizontal way

Question 15

What is the principle of lateral continuity?

Answer 15

if horizontal layers have been disturbed, that vertical slice does not interrupt horizontality on either side

Question 16

What is a Harris matrix, and how does it work? (4)

Answer 16

recognizes three possible relationships between units of archaeological stratification

• no direct stratigraphic connection
• superposition
• correlated as parts of a once whole deposit or feature now separated

Question 17

What are two examples of typological sequences?

Answer 17

• black-figure pottery: ~700 BC

- red-figure pottery: ~530 BC

Question 18

What does terminus post quem mean?

Answer 18

limit after which

Question 19

What does terminus ante quem mean? Provide two examples.

Answer 19

limit before which

• anything buried in the ash of Pompeii, buried by a volcano in 79 AD; the ash fell at this date, and is therefore the terminus ante quem
• Port Royal, Jamaica sunk several feet into the water during an earthquake in 1692; the terminus ante quem is 1692

Question 20

What is seriation, and how does it work? (2)

Answer 20

• uses typologies to date a site

- artifacts are arranged according to the frequencies of their co-occurrence in specific contexts

Question 21

How do seriation and formula dating help to interpret a site?

Answer 21

establishes a ‘mean date’ for a site

Question 22

How did J.C. Harrington utilize seriation, and what did his studies reveal? (3)

Answer 22

noticed a relationship between pipe stem bore and age

• the earliest pipes had stems with 9/64” diameter bore by 1600, which decreased to 4/64” bore by 1800
• in other words, bore size decreased with time

Question 23

How did Lewis Binford contribute to Harrington’s pipe stem bore study?

Answer 23

recognized the possibility of creating a formula to express this relationship

Question 24

In addition to Binford, who has utilized formula dating?

Answer 24

Stanley South applied formula dating to ceramics at British North American sites

Question 25

What formula did Stanley South employ to interpret British ceramics?

Answer 25

(median date of ceramic type x number of sherds of that type)/number of sherds of that type