Definitions. Radiocarbon dating: radioactive carbon decays to nitrogen with a half-life of 5730 years. In dead material, the decayed 14C is not replaced and its concentration in the object decreases slowly. To obtain a truly absolute chronology, corrections must be made, provided by measurements on samples of know age.

Can you radiocarbon date charcoal?

Charcoal and wood are two of the most widely used materials for accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating. Willard Libby, the pioneer of radiocarbon dating, identified charcoal to be the most reliable material to carbon date.

How old can objects be and still use carbon 14 dating?

Take the quiz. The carbon-14 method was developed by the American physicist Willard F. Libby about 1946. It has proved to be a versatile technique of dating fossils and archaeological specimens from 500 to 50,000 years old.