Absolute dating is the process of determining an approximate computed age in archaeology and geology.
Some scientists prefer the terms chronometric or calendar dating, as use of the word "absolute" implies an unwarranted certainty and precision. Absolute dating provides a computed numerical age in contrast with relative dating which provides only an order of events. In archeology, absolute dating is usually based on the physical or chemical properties of the materials of artifacts, buildings, or other items that have been modified by humans. Absolute dates do not necessarily tell us precisely when a particular cultural event happened, but when taken as part of the overall archaeological record they are invaluable in constructing a more specific sequence of events. In geology, absolute dating is usually based on physical or chemical properties of igneous rock formations which are closely associated with paleontological finds. Fossils are rarely dated directly.
Contents
[hide] 1 Radiometric techniques o 1.1 Radiocarbon dating 1.1.1 Limitations o 1.2 Potassium-argon dating 2 Thermoluminescence o 2.1 Limitations 3 Other 4 See also 5 References
[edit] Radiometric techniques
Main article: Radiometric dating Radiometric dating is based on the constant rate of decay of radioactive isotopes. Given an initial and a present quantity of such an isotope and its half-life, the time elapsed may be calculated. Various methods apply to different materials and timescales. If a very short period of time has passed, as measured in number of half-lives, a particular technique will be less accurate and more susceptible to statistical fluctuations in the inherently random decay events. If many half-lives of the isotope of interest have passed, too much of the sample may have decayed to provide an accurate reading.
[edit] Radiocarbon dating
Main article: Radiocarbon dating
One of the most widely used and well-known absolute dating techniques is carbon-14 (or radiocarbon) dating, which is used to date organic remains. This is a radiometric technique since it is based on radioactive decay. Carbon-14 is an unstable isotope of normal carbon, carbon-12. Cosmic radiation entering the earths atmosphere produces carbon-14, and plants take in carbon-14 as they fix carbon dioxide. Carbon-14 moves up the food chain as animals eat plants and as predators eat other animals. With death, the uptake of carbon-14 stops. Then this unstable isotope starts to decay into nitrogen-14. It takes 5,730 years for half the carbon14 to change to nitrogen; this is the half-life of carbon-14. After another 5,730 years only one-quarter of the original carbon-14 will remain. After yet another 5,730 years only oneeighth will be left. By measuring the proportion of carbon-14 in organic material, scientists can determine the date of death of the organic matter in an artifact or ecofact. [edit] Limitations Because the half-life of carbon-14 is 5730 years carbon dating is only reliable about up to 40,000 years, radiocarbon is less useful to date some recent sites. See radiocarbon dating. This technique usually cannot pinpoint the date of a site better than historic records. A further issue is known as the "old wood" problem. It is possible, particularly in dry, desert climates, for organic materials such as from dead trees to remain in their natural state for hundreds of years before people use them as firewood or building materials, after which they become part of the archaeological record. Thus dating that particular tree does not necessarily indicate when the fire burned or the structure was built. For this reason, many archaeologists prefer to use samples from short-lived plants for radiocarbon dating. The development of accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dating, which allows a date to be obtained from a very small sample, has been very useful in this regard.
[edit] Potassium-argon dating
Main article: Potassium-argon dating Other radiometric dating techniques are available for earlier periods. One of the most widely used is potassium-argon dating (K-Ar dating). Potassium-40 is a radioactive isotope of potassium that decays into argon-40. The half-life of potassium-40 is 1.3 billion years, far longer than that of carbon-14, allowing much older samples to be dated. Potassium is common in rocks and minerals, allowing many samples of geochronological or archeological interest to be dated. Argon, a noble gas, is not commonly incorporated into such samples except when produced in situ through radioactive decay. The date measured reveals the last time that the object was heated past the closure temperature at which the trapped argon can escape the lattice. K-Ar dating was used to calibrate the geomagnetic polarity time scale.
[edit] Thermoluminescence
Main article: Thermoluminescence dating Thermoluminesence testing also dates items to the last time they were heated. This technique is based on the principle that all objects absorb radiation from the environment. This process frees electrons within minerals that remain caught within the item. Heating an item to 500
degrees Celsius or higher releases the trapped electrons, producing light. This light can be measured to determine the last time the item was heated.
[edit] Limitations
Radiation levels do not remain constant over time. Fluctuating levels can skew results - for example, if an item went through several high radiation eras, thermoluminesence will return an older date for the item. Many factors can spoil the sample before testing as well, exposing the sample to heat or direct light may cause some of the electrons to dissipate, causing the item to date younger. Because of these and other factors, Thermoluminesence is at the most about 15% accurate. It cannot be used to accurately date a site on its own. However, it can be used to confirm the antiquity of an item.
[edit] Other
except glycine (the simplest one) are optically active, having an asymmetric carbon atom. This means that the amino acid can have two different configurations, "D" (dextrorotary) or "L" (laevorotary) which are mirror images of each other. With a few important exceptions, living organisms keep all their amino acids in the "L" configuration. When an organism dies, control over the configuration of the amino acids ceases, and the ratio of D to L moves from a value near 0 towards an equilibrium value near 1, a process called racemization. Thus, measuring the ratio of D to L in a sample enables one to estimate how long ago the specimen died.[1]
Amino acid dating[1][2][3][4][5] All biological tissues contain amino acids. All amino acids
Dendrochronology Dendrochronology can date the time at which tree rings were formed, in many types of wood, to the exact calendar year. This has three main areas of application: paleoecology, where it is used to determine certain aspects of past ecologies (most prominently climate); archaeology, where it is used to date old buildings, etc.; and radiocarbon dating, where it is used to calibrate radiocarbon ages (see below).
Principles of relative chronology
Uniformitarianism (Hutton) Popularized by Charles Lyell Law of superposition (Steno) Original Horizontality (Steno) Lateral continuity (Steno) Cross cutting relationships (Hutton) Inclusions of Igneous rocks (Hutton) Principle of faunal succession (Smith) Law of included fragments
A social institution is a complex, integrated set of social norms organized around the preservation of a basic societal value. Obviously, the sociologist does not define institutions
in the same way as does the person on the street. Lay persons are likely to use the term "institution" very loosely, for churches, hospitals, jails, and many other things as institutions. Sociologists often reserve the term "institution" to describe normative systems that operate in five basic areas of life, which may be designated as the primary institutions. (1) In determining Kinship; (2) in providing for the legitimate use of power; (3) in regulating the distribution of goods and services; (4) in transmitting knowledge from one generation to the next; and (5) in regulating our relation to the supernatural. In shorthand form, or as concepts, these five basic institutions are called the family, government, economy, education and religion. The five primary institutions are found among all human groups. They are not always as highly elaborated or as distinct from one another as into the United States, but, in rudimentary form at last, they exist everywhere. Their universality indicates that they are deeply rooted in human nature and that they are essential in the development and maintenance of orders. Sociologists operating in terms of the functionalist model society have provided the clearest explanation of the functions served by social institutions. Apparently there are certain minimum tasks that must be performed in all human groups. Unless these tasks are performed adequately, the group will cease to exist. An analogy may help to make the point. We might hypothesize that cost accounting department is essential to the operation of a large corporation. A company might procure a superior product and distribute it then at the price which is assigned to it, the company will soon go out of business. Perhaps the only way to avoid this is to have a careful accounting of the cost of each step in the production and distribution process. A social group consists of two or more people who interact with one another and who recognize themselves as a distinct social unit. The definition is simple enough, but it has significant implications. Frequent interaction leads people to share values and beliefs. This similarity and the interaction cause them to identify with one another. Identification and attachment, in turn, stimulate more frequent and intense interaction. Each group maintains solidarity with all to other groups and other types of social systems. Groups are among the most stable and enduring of social units. They are important both to their members and to the society at large. Through encouraging regular and predictable behavior, groups form the foundation upon which society rests. Thus, a family, a village, a political party a trade union is all social groups. These, it should be noted are different from social classes, status groups or crowds, which not only lack structure but whose members are less aware or even unaware of the existence of the group. These have been called quasigroups or groupings. Nevertheless, the distinction between social groups and quasi-groups is fluid and variable since quasi-groups very often give rise to social groups, as for example, social classes give rise to political parties.
Anthropological linguistics is concerned with
Descriptive (or synchronic) linguistics: Describing dialects (forms of a language used by a specific speech community). This study includes phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and grammar. Historical (or diachronic) linguistics: Describing changes in dialects and languages over time. This study includes the study of linguistic divergence and language families, comparative linguistics, etymology, and philology. Ethnolinguistics: Analyzing the relationship between culture, thought, and language. Sociolinguistics: Analyzing the social functions of language and the social, political, and economic relationships among and between members of speech communities.
Positivism could be thought of as a set of five principles: 1. The unity of the scientific method i.e., the logic of inquiry is the same across all sciences (social and natural). 2. The goal of inquiry is to explain and predict. Most positivists would also say that the ultimate goal is to develop the law of general understanding, by discovering necessary and sufficient conditions for any phenomenon (creating a perfect model of it). If the law is known, we can manipulate the conditions to produce the predicted result. 3. Scientific knowledge is testable. Research can be proved only by empirical means, not argumentations. Research should be mostly deductive, i.e. deductive logic is used to develop statements that can be tested (theory[7] leads to hypothesis which in turn leads to discovery and/or study of evidence). Research should be observable with the human senses (arguments are not enough, sheer belief is out of the question). Positivists should prove their research using the logic of confirmation. 4. Science does not equal common sense. Researchers must be careful not to let common sense bias their research. 5. The relation of theory to practice science should be as value-neutral as possible, and the ultimate goal of science is to produce knowledge, regardless of any politics, morals, or values held by those involved in the research. Science should be judged by logic, and ideally produce universal conditionals: For all conditions of X, if X has property P and P=Q, then X has property Q. Statements must be true for all times and places.
