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A well-known method is C-14 dating. Carbon 14 is a radioactive isotope of carbon that has half-life of 5730 years, meaning that if you start with 1000 g of C-14, after 5730 years you would have 500 g left (the other half has decayed into N-14). C-14 is present in trace amounts in nature and living organisms would therefore maintain a near-constant level of C-14 in their bodies if they consume and interact with their surroundings. Dead organisms, however, can no longer eat and therefore cannot replenish their C-14 levels, and the C-14 levels would begin to fall due to decay. The amount of C-14 in a dead organism can be compared to a reference level to determine how much time has passed since it died by the formula T = -5730*log2(r/R) where T is the time since the organism's death, r is the remaining level of C-14, and R is the reference level of C-14.

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