Radiokarbonaatioikäarviointi

Radiokarbonaatioikäarviointi, commonly known as radiocarbon dating or carbon-14 dating, is a scientific method used to determine the age of organic materials. It relies on the principle that living organisms absorb carbon, including the radioactive isotope carbon-14 (¹⁴C), from their environment. When an organism dies, it stops absorbing carbon, and the ¹⁴C within its remains begins to decay at a known, constant rate.

The decay rate of ¹⁴C is measured by its half-life, which is approximately 5,730 years. This means that after 5,730 years, half of the original ¹⁴C in a sample will have decayed. By measuring the remaining amount of ¹⁴C in an organic sample and comparing it to the amount of stable carbon-14 isotope, scientists can calculate how much time has passed since the organism died.

Radiocarbon dating is applicable to materials such as wood, charcoal, bone, shells, and textiles. It is widely used in archaeology, paleontology, and geology to date artifacts, fossils, and past environmental events. The method is generally effective for dating materials up to around 50,000 years old. Beyond this range, the amount of remaining ¹⁴C becomes too small to be reliably measured. Calibration curves are used to correct for variations in atmospheric ¹⁴C levels over time, improving the accuracy of the dating results.