Radiocarbon Dating

archaeology · carbon · time travel · science

How old is it?. Radiocarbon dating helps archaeologists and scientists figure out exactly how old bones, wood, plants, and other once-living things are, sometimes going back tens of thousands of years.

Radioactive carbon works. All living things contain a tiny amount of radiocarbon (called carbon-14) in their bodies. When a plant or animal dies, this radiocarbon slowly disappears over time, like a ticking clock that scientists can read.

Measuring the clock. By measuring how much radiocarbon is left in an old object, scientists can calculate exactly when that plant or animal stopped living, the same way you could figure out when an alarm clock started by how much time has passed on it.

Solving ancient mysteries. Radiocarbon dating has helped scientists discover the true age of famous artifacts like Egyptian mummies, ancient manuscripts, and dinosaur fossils, revealing secrets hidden for thousands of years.

Not forever useful. Radiocarbon dating works best on things that are less than about 50,000 years old, because after that, there's so little radiocarbon left that it becomes too tricky to measure accurately.