Chronometric dating (also called absolute dating) is a set of scientific methods used in archaeology, geology, and anthropology to assign calendar ages to artifacts, fossils, or geological events. Unlike relative dating (which only establishes sequence), chronometric techniques provide actual numerical ages, often with ranges of error.
🌍 Definition
- Chronometric Dating: Methods that yield a specific age or date range for materials, expressed in years.
- Purpose: Establishes absolute timelines for human evolution, cultural phases, and geological events.
🔑 Major Techniques
Radiometric Methods
- Radiocarbon Dating (C-14): Measures decay of carbon-14 in organic remains (up to ~50,000 years).
- Potassium-Argon (K-Ar) & Argon-Argon (Ar-Ar): Used for volcanic rocks, dating millions of years.
- Uranium-Series Dating: Applied to calcium carbonate deposits (cave formations, bones, teeth).
Other Scientific Methods
- Dendrochronology: Tree-ring dating, precise to the year, up to ~10,000 years.
- Thermoluminescence: Measures trapped electrons in ceramics or burnt stone.
- Electron Spin Resonance (ESR): Dates tooth enamel and minerals.
- Obsidian Hydration: Measures thickness of hydration layer on obsidian artifacts.
📚 Anthropological & Archaeological Significance
- Human Evolution: Establishes ages of hominin fossils and stone tool industries.
- Cultural Chronologies: Dates settlements, burials, and artifacts to reconstruct social development.
- Comparative Studies: Aligns timelines across regions, showing migration, trade, and cultural diffusion.
- Funerary Architecture: Chronometric dating of tombs and monuments reveals ritual sequences and cultural change.
In short: Chronometric dating provides numerical ages for artifacts and fossils, anchoring human and geological history in absolute time.
