Radiocarbon dating, also known as carbon dating, is a method to determine the age of organic materials as old as 60, years. Carbon dating is based on the fact that living organisms—like trees, plants, people and animals—absorb carbon into their tissue.
When they die, the carbon starts to change into other atoms over time. Scientists can estimate how long the organism has been dead by counting the remaining carbon atoms.
Carbon dating
The technique was developed by a team led by University of Chicago chemist Willard Libby, who would later receive the Nobel Prize for innovative work. The breakthrough introduced a new scientific rigor to archaeology, allowing scholars to piece together a history of humans across the world and prove invented civilizations originated simultaneously around the globe.
We could reconstruct how different cities and cultures rose, flourished and fell. Radiocarbon dating was also instrumental in the discovery of human-caused climate change, as scientists used it to track the sources of carbon in the atmosphere over time. How does carbon dating work?
Carbon-14 dating, explained
How was it go here, and when discoveries were made with it? Learn about the technique and what it revealed about our world. Learn about the monumental breakthroughs at the University of Chicago and the people behind them. Explore ideas pioneered at the University—and how its scholars are shaping our understanding of the world. Listen to the stories behind pioneering research and pivotal breakthroughs dating scholars was UChicago and beyond.
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Carbon dating Radiocarbon dating, also known as carbon dating, is a method to determine the age of organic materials as old as 60, years. Carbon dating, explained How does carbon dating work? Read the explainer here. Top Stories UChicago site of radiocarbon dating discovery named historic landmark. Scientists discover ancient seawater preserved from the last Ice Age. Krypton reveals ancient water beneath the Israeli desert.
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Carbon dating, explained
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