Reckoning

Time in
Archaeology
DATING: RELATIVE DATING DIGEST

Victoria Twum Gyamrah(neé Aryee)

What is Dating in
Archaeology?
Methods archaeologist undertake to determine
the age of artefacts, ecofacts or features.
 Study cultural change
Cultural continuity
Why do Interrogate cultural dynamism
archaeologist
date Study environmental changes
materials? Study human evolutionary patterns
Understand trends and make
scientific predictions
Contextualise materials
Relative and Absolute(Chronometric) dating
defined
• Relative dating refers to any dating method that evaluates the
age of any class of archaeological data relative/in relation to
the age of other archaeological data sets
For example,artifact “A” is older than artifact “B”
Relative dating of archaeological materials cannot achieve
specific dates.

• Chronometric dating techniques produce a specific

chronological date or date range for some past event or past
material.(Next week class, week 9)
Relative dating
techniques
• Seriation
• Stratigraphy(refer to
notes on
stratigraphy/stratific
ation)
• Flourine Dating
Seriation
• It is a relative dating method that is based on the evolving
changes in style and design that occur in the production of
objects and features over time
• They do not provide an age in years. Before the advent of
absolute dating methods, nearly all dating was relative.
• Artifact styles such as pottery types are seriated by analyzing
their abundances through time. This is done by counting the
number of pieces of each style of the artifact in each
stratigraphic layer and then graphing the data.
• Manufacturing dates are cumulated to ascertain
production/use/discard
Seriation used in
Ghanaian Archaeology…
• One example of seriation dating using
artifact remains is found with ceramics.
• Ceramics recovered from colonial sites
These changes in form include the
material used to make the ceramics, the
glazes used, and the decoration applied.
• We will discuss three major ceramic
types have been identified by
archaeologists, and used to assign
relative dates to colonial sites
• Delftware: tin-glazed
earthenware first made
early in the 17th century at
Delft, Holland and
colorfully hand-painted
bowls and plates called
Delftware. Delftware
ceramics have a pale blue
cast to them due to their
tin enamel finish.
• Creamware: cream-coloured
English earthenware of the
second half of the 18th
century
• fine earthenware with a
cream-coloured body , a
hard-bodied clay ceramic
• Creamware items are often
plain but sometimes have
hand-painted blue, brown
and black decoration.
• Creamware items have a
yellowish cast produced by
the glazes used to make
them.
• Pearlware: 1779, is an
earthenware ceramic body
with a slightly bluish white
lead glaze. Other historical
names for this ware are Pearl
White and China Glaze.
• newer glazes were produced
for ceramics with harder,
denser clay bodies and
colorful decorative designs.
• Pearlware items have a
blueish cast to them as a
result of the glazes used in
their production.
 Fluorine Dating

• Is a method that measures the amount of

fluoride absorbed by bones in order to determine
their relative age. Unlike radiometric dating
methods, it cannot provide a chronometric (or
calendrical) date.
• Fluoride dating is based on a simple principle:
buried bones absorb fluoride ions from their
environment over time; thus, older bones tend to
have higher fluoride levels than younger ones.
• Fluorine dating provides only a relative date for
bone, revealing whether specimens are older or
younger than one another or if they are of the
same age
• Bones and teeth are the
hardest tissues in mammals or
the human body, they tend to
last the longest in the
archaeological record.
• Groundwater and soil in most
parts of the world contain
small amounts of fluoride,
• Thus bone mineral, calcium
hydroxyapatite, will absorb
fluoride ions if, during burial,
it is exposed to groundwater
that contains fluoride.
• The earliest application of fluorine dating is that by Carnot (1893)
which led Cook and Heizer to apply it to North American Indians in
1947. Perhaps the most celebrated use of this techniques was the
exposure of the Piltdown Hoax by Oakley (1948)
Piltdown
hoax?
Hint:Tell me
about it in your
exam!
•Please click on the link below to
read on the Piltdown man and the
hoax.
https://www.britannica.com/topic
/Piltdown-man
 What do the date
abbreviations mean?
• A.D. (Anno Domini-year of the Lord) and B.C.
(Before Christ) have long been used by
archaeologists; the reference point is the birth
of Christ Jesus.
• C.E. (Current Era) and B.C.E. (Before Current
Era) are sometimes used instead of A.D. and
B.C. these dates are exactly comparable to
dates expressed as A.D. or B.C. For example,
1080 C.E. is the same year as A.D. 1080, and
228 B.C.E. is the same year as 228 B.C.
• B.P. (Before the Present) is
the number of years before
the present. Because the
present changes every year,
archaeologists, by
convention, use A.D. 1950 as
their reference. So, 2000 B.P.
is the equivalent of 50 B.C.
• ka (kilo annum, thousand years) signifies
“thousand calendar years ago,” and it is used
most often in geological, paleontological, and
archaeological reporting to assign a general
date to events that occurred a very long time
ago. For example, the entry of humans into
the New World during the Pleistocene (Ice
Age) is thought to have occurred by about
15,000 years ago, or 15 ka (which is equivalent
to approximately 13,000 B.C).
Absolute Dating
Techniques
Chronometric Dating
• Absolute or chronometric dating refers to
dating methods that are able to place the age
of archaeological data on an absolute time
scale, usually on a calendrical system
• With absolute or chronometric dating,
archaeological data can be assigned ages in
years
• For example, artefact class “A” was made
between the 1200s – 1300s
• Or artefact class “B” was used by
Africans in the 2nd century BCE,
• Or the site of society “C” was inhabited
between the 1st and 2nd millennia CE
• Or the fossils of specie “D” is dated to 2.5
m. y. a.
•Absolute dating, however, does not give precise
dates. The ages of archaeological data are usually
given in ranges or close approximates
Lets explore some
examples…

• Dendrochronology (tree-ring dating)

• It is an approach that is based on
counting of the annual growth rings that
can be detected in the cross-section of
cut trees
• It is concerned with dating and interpreting past events,
particularly paleoclimates and climatic trends, based on the
analysis of tree rings.
• Dendrochronology, however, has several limitations Not all
tree species provide reliable evidence for
• As tree ring data piles up, researchers have realized how
valuable it can be. Tree ring patterns have recently been proven
to match up with historical drought records.
• and have revealed indigenous forest management practices in
the Central Amazon
• The tree or timber evidence to be analysed must have been very
well preserved in the archaeological record
Tree rings reflect both the age of the tree and the conditions under which it grew. This giant redwood
has more than one thousand tree rings—one ring for every year it was alive dating back to 909 A.D.
PHOTOGRAPH BY PAUL ZAHL, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
• In the tropics, for example, trees do not show distinct seasonal
patterns, which makes tropical dendrochronology challenging. Wood
must be well preserved to study effectively. And ancient people didn’t
necessarily build with wood, depriving archaeologists of a critical tool
for studying them.
Radiometric dating

• This form of dating or age determination technique

includes all methods that exploit the principle of
radioactive decay.
• Radioactive decay is the process in which unstable
radioactive isotopes are transformed into stable
elements
Examples of radiometric dating include

•Radiocarbon dating
•Thermoluminescence (TL) dating
•Potassium-argon dating
•Argon-argon dating
•Uranium-series dating
•Fission-track dating
 Radiocarbon dating (C14 dating)

• This form of dating is regarded by many as the most

important radiometric technique for archaeologists
• First developed in the late 1940s at the University of
Chicago by Willard Libby. He merged chemistry and
physics to develop a scientific method that can
accurately determine the age of organic materials as old
as approximately 60,000 years.
• By means of photosynthesis, carbon dioxide enters the
chemistry of plants, which are also eaten by animals.
This means that all living things constantly take in both
ordinary carbon 12 (C12) and radioactive carbon 14
(C14) throughout their lifetime
The proportion of C12
and C14 in an organism
remains constant until
death.
At that point, no further
C14 is absorbed and the
radioactive carbon14
present undergoes its
normal decrease
through the process of
radioactive decay
(based on the principle
of half-life – 5730yrs)
• The measurement of the amount of C14 still present (and
emitting radiation) in a plant or animal remain, enables us to
determine the time elapsed since death
• The age of any organic archaeological material can be
determined using radiocarbon dating. These include;
• Charcoal from burned materials such as those found in
ancient hearths or fire pits
• Organic materials such as bones, wood, seeds, shells, leather,
etc
Limitations of C14
• Radiocarbon dating requires samples of 10 to 100 grams , depending on the
material in question. Although some can use much smaller amounts, 20 to 50
milligrams.
• The material is destroyed during the test.
• Radiocarbon samples are easily contaminated by touching with the fingers or
encountering other organic matter. Gloves must be worn, wrapping must be
intentional.
• To provide accurate dates, they must be clean and well-preserved.
• The atoms available are so few to count; a little extra carbon from contamination
will throw off the results significantly.
• Samples that are older than about 40,000 years are extremely difficult to date due to
tiny levels of carbon-14, and samples over 60,000 years old, and cannot be dated at
all.
• Dates inaccuracy, plus or minus,1950 present cap.
 Thermoluminescence (TL)
dating
• Thermoluminescence is the process in which a
mineral emits light while it is being heated
• Crystalline solids are constantly subjected to
ionizing radiation from their environment, which
causes some energized electrons to become
trapped in the molecular crystal structure
• When a specimen is reheated (at 500°C or
higher), the trapped energy is released in the form
of light (thermoluminescence) as the electrons
escape
• The amount of light that is produced is measured
to determine the date of production firing or
heating, or exposure to substantial sunlight.
• Some materials and objects of
archaeological interest that can be
dated by TL dating include;
• Ceramics
• Bricks
• Hearths
• Fire pits
• Terracotta
• Adobe and Daub (if fired)
• TL dating can be used to date materials
from a few hundred years to about
500,000 years
Limitations: Minimal lmitations

• Samples must be collected with care of

exposure to direct sunlight
• And moisture of the sample must be
reatained and not introduced to
increased moisture.-Done by wrapping
the sample in a foil/ collected with a TL
sample tube.
• The sample must not be in close
proximity to significant rock structures
as this can affect the reading in the lab.
• Samples should be taken from an
undisturbed site.
Potassium-argon dating (K-Ar)

• This method is based on the radioactive decay of a rare

isotope of potassium (40K) to form argon (40Ar) gas
• The technique is used mainly to determine the ages of
geological formations (such as rocks and minerals) that
contain potassium
• Potassium-argon dating can provide ages of materials
100,000 years and older, materials younger than this age
cap cannot be dated.
Significant find
with K-Ar
• The Laetoli footprints were most likely made
by Australopithecus afarensis, whose fossils
were also recovered in the same sediment
layer.
• The entire footprint trail is almost 27 m (88 ft)
long and includes impressions of about 70 early
human footprints.
• Laetoli, Tanzania, three early humans walked
through wet volcanic ash. When the nearby
volcano erupted again, subsequent layers of
ash covered and preserved the oldest known
footprints of early humans. These volcanic
sediments have been dated by K-Ar to 3.6
million years ago
• Team members led by palaeontologist Mary
Leakey stumbled upon tracks cemented in the
volcanic ash in 1976,
• 1978 ,Paul Abell joined Leakey’s team and
found that the 88ft (27m) long footprint trail
referred to now as “The Laetoli Footprints,”
includes about 70 early human footprints.
With heidelbergensis/Rhodensiasis included

• The early humans that left these prints were

bipedal and had big toes in line with the rest of
their foot.
• This means that these early human feet were
more human-like than ape-like, as apes have
highly divergent big toes that help them climb
and grasp materials like a thumb does.
• The footprints also show that the gait of these
early humans was "heel-strike” the way
modern humans walk.
• Their study is an important source of information regarding
hominin body size, anatomy, positional behavior, and locomotion
biomechanics.
• The shape of the feet, along with the length and configuration of
the toes, show that the Laetoli Footprints were made by an early
human.
• Fossils of Au. afarensis were found nearby to the footprints and in
the same sediment layer, telling scientists that Au. afarensis was in
the area at the same time the footprints were left.