3 ms·
One technique is radiocarbon dating: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiocarbon_dating https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiocarbon_dating EDIT: For artefacts mad
by smilespray 3y ago
One technique is radiocarbon dating:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiocarbon_dating https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiocarbon_dating
EDIT: For artefacts made entirely out of stone, you can date objects in the sediment around them to get an approximation.
- phero_cnstrcts 3y agoBut that only works for organic material. Not stone.
- tootie 3y agoThe article says there were traces of pigment that could be dated. There are other techniques related to the layers of sediment or other clues. I think with a site like this they don't need to date every object. If they can gather enough data points they know when the site was in use. It's technically possible that the statue stone is older and was brought to the site and we might never know, but it's just highly unlikely.
- hnfong 3y agoI think the "highly unlikely" part is pure speculation. If the stone in TFA gets buried when _our_ civilization collapses, the stone would now probably date to 2020 AD instead of whatever it should have been.
- LennyWhiteJr 3y agoThere is organic matter buried in and around the site that can be used to date the point at which it was filled in.