Radiocarbon Dating

Radiocarbon dating is a radiometric technique that determines the age of organic materials by measuring the radioactive decay of ¹⁴C (carbon-14), a rare isotope produced in the atmosphere by cosmic ray interactions. Developed by Willard Libby in 1949, radiocarbon dating became a foundational method in archaeology, paleoclimate studies, and geology, enabling dating of organic materials from the past ~50,000 years with typical precision of ±50–100 years.