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Radiocarbon Dating

Radiocarbon dating is a method used by archaeologists and anthropologists to place artifacts or bones into a chronological order. It was created in 1949 by Libby and Arnold. Every living thing contains carbon 12. Carbon 12 can mutate into it's cousin carbon 14 which is radio active. When that living thing dies, the carbon 14 slowly begins to decompose and disappear. The decomposition occurs at a measurable rate. This rate is called the half-life, because the carbon 14 decomposes half of it's life every 5,730 years. There are some disadvantages to radiocarbon dating such as the large range of dating once there is only a certain amount of carbon 14 left in the dead organism. The procedure can be very expensive and can even damage the artifact.