Dating methodologies in archaeology
As a dating or age determination methods are called, which determine the period of the emergence and use of archaeological, paleontological and geological discoveries or historical documents and art-historical objects such as paintings or sculptures. The various dating methods are suitable in each case for age determination within the time limited orders of magnitude. Here, in many cases serve each gained from a dating method timings for calibration or verification of another.
Objects
Be dated
- Certificates, see Certificate criticism
- Archaeological finds, see age determination (archeology)
- Fossil trees and historic woods with the help of dendrochronology, ie by measuring the annual rings and matching with comparison data from other findings and with climate data. This year a precise dating is possible.
- Rocks, see geochronology
Methods
Depending on the type and age of the find will find different methods were applied:
- Radiometric dating. Examples: Radiocarbon dating (also 14C - dating) at up to 50,000 years old finds that contain organic substances
- Potassium - argon dating and uranium - lead dating in geochronology for dating very old samples.
- Tritium method for wines, water samples or water-containing findings at not too high age
- Thermoluminescence in soil samples, minerals, ceramics, artifacts
- Index fossil chronology, temporal allocation of rock strata by fossils
- Tephrochronologie, temporal allocation of rock layers by identifying pyroclastic sediments.
- Münzdatierung with coins as Beifunden
- X-ray analysis of material structure and stratification
- Paleomagnetic studies of rocks and ceramics
- Watermarks, font characteristics, ink, paper be used for official dating
- Chemical - technical composition of colorants, varnishes or painting surfaces in art history
- Rehydroxylierung, a new study in which grade oxygen bridges broken in ceramics by water penetration. In this way it was Moira Wilson of the University of Manchester and her colleagues to determine ceramic objects up to the age 2000 years pretty accurately.
There are also in the interdisciplinary cooperation of modern research a wealth of other methods, such as balanced with air profiles from sediments data, pollen analysis of approaches to dissemination of recent - recently in an area of extinct ( in the geological sense) - plants, and more.
In art history, moreover, historical sources and style -critical methods are used.