Dating methods
At a glance:
- Series: American Indians Ready Reference
- Categories: Technology, Inventions, Archaeology
- Subcategories: Native Americans, American Indians, Anthropology, Anthropologists
- Curriculum: American Indian History, Canadian History
- Geographical Location: Canada, United States
Article abstract: A variety of methods, both absolute and relative, are used by scholars to establish dates for archaeological sites and artifacts
Archaeological sites in the Americas are assigned ages based either on absolute dating methods, in which a date in calendar years is provided, or on relative dating methods, in which an age either relatively older or younger is provided. The main absolute dating methods used in the Americas, occupied since about 9500 b.c.e., include radiocarbon dating, obsidian hy- dration dating, and dendrochronology. The major...
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