What type of radiometric dating do archeologists use to date an artifact that was once a living organism?

1 Answer
Jan 17, 2017

Carbon 14 is the form of radioactive dating used by archeologists.

Explanation:

Archeologists are concerned with artifacts created by humans. Humans have been creating artifacts within a geologically short period of time.

Carbon 14 with a half life of about 5,700 years can be used to date most of the history of human cultures. Artifacts containing carbon with an estimated age of 57,000 years ( 10 half lives) only have # 1/1024# of the original Carbon 14 in a living organism. ( .098% ) Anything older than 10 half lives is too old to be actually dated using Carbon 14.