Lecture 4

Question 1

What are the different types of Dating

Answer 1

Absolute dates and Relative dates:
Absolute dates are expressed as specific units of scientific measurement

Relative dates express relationships or comparisons (comparing older artifacts to figure out the age)

Question 2

What are the keys to relative dating

Answer 2

The law of superposition (dirty laundry)
The index fossil concept
(Strata indentured by contents)
-must be distinctive or easily recognizable, abundant, and have a wide geographical distribution and a short range of time

Question 3

What are time markers (Diagnostic artifacts

Answer 3

Artifact forms that research shows to be diagnostic of a particular period

Question 4

Relative dating (seriation)

Answer 4

Looks at culture style replaces an earlier style over time (looking at what is trendy at different times during a sites occupation and uses the info to place it within a chronology

The corrugated ware- used for cooking propped right in the pit
Was popular 10-9 on Nelson’s level but was less used during 7-2 then got popular during 2-1

Ex: cave paintings

Question 5

Absolute dating: Dendrochronology

Answer 5

use of time series of annual growth rings of trees (find the age of tree using rings and the environmental change)
It was pioneered by Andrew E. Douglass

Question 6

Radio carbon dating (radiocarbon dating)

Answer 6

Calculating the age of a once living organisms by measuring its radiocarbon
Only reliable for things that are 50,000 years of younger

Question 7

Radiocarbon dating: problems

Answer 7

Photosynthetic pathways
-C3,C4,CAM

-Reservoir Effect: carbon consumed by organisms in the water are much older than on land
(The carbon in the deep ocean is much older than the carbon dioxide on land)

-Old wood problem: radiocarbon determinations from wood charcoal to be significantly older than the contents in which the charcoal is found.
Can’t confirm when the tree was cut down being used it could’ve been stored

Question 8

What are the three types of Trapped Charge Dating

Answer 8

-Thermolhninescence (TL)- target material: ceramics, burnt stone
Perhaps back to 100,000years

-Opticaly Stimulated luminescence (OSL)-target material: Quartz, feldspars in William sands
Perhaps back to 300,00 years

-Electron Spin Resonance (ESR)- using magnets (ABSOLUTE DATING)
Long the tooth longer electrons which can be exposed by magnetic field
Target material: Tooth enamel, burned stone tools, corals, shells (MInERALs)
Accuracy: older than 10,000 to 500,00

Question 9

Techniques for dating the formation of a layer of rock

Answer 9

Argon-argon (Ar/ Ar) (ABSOLUTE DAting)
(To see Potassium 40 in rocks for the age )
Heating up the rock to see how much potassium it lost
-half life is 1.3 billion years ago
Target material: volcanic ash

Potassium- argon dating (K/Ar)
>80,000 years

Question 10

Dating in Historical Archaeology

Answer 10

-Documented changes in form and manufacture
-pipe stem dating
-terminus Post Quem dating

Question 11

Carbon-14 Target material and name the accuracy

Answer 11

Any organic material; carbon is the most common
Accuracy: to 45,000-50,000BP

Question 12

Stratigraphy

Answer 12

Relative dating
Layers (strata) younger fossil above and older below get an age for the layer of artifacts