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Although radiocarbon dating provides a useful tool there are some things that may make an artifact unsuitable for this process.

  • The artifact is made from the wrong type of material.

    Carbon dating relies on measurement of radioactive decay from carbon 14 isotopes, some materials naturally do not contain enough carbon to date them.

  • Radiocarbon dating is a destructive process.

    In order to conduct dating on an artifact you need a sample of it. Although this sample may only need to be very small, some artifacts are too precious to damage in this way.

  • There may not be enough of it.

    Even if the sample is suitable in every other way, if you don't have enough of it then you cant do the test. Modern methods mean you may only need tiny amounts of carbon from the sample (0.1g) but depending on how much carbon is naturally in the material, this may translate to a fair amount of the original artifact. Carbon dates from small amounts of material also tend to be less accurate, and ideally you want to run several tests to be sure.

  • The artifact may be too old.

    Radiocarbon dating is only effective back to a certain point. Beyond this there may not be enough radioactivity left in the sample to measure it. Also, radiocarbon dates need "correcting" on a calibration curve to correct the discrepancy between the age given in radiocarbon years and actual calendar years. Beyond around 45,000 years ago this curve is not so effective, and the remaining carbon-14 in the sample may be too small to measure.

  • The artifact may be too young.

    Radiocarbon dating relies on the exchange of carbon through the carbon cycle. Recent human activity has affected the amounts of carbon in the atmosphere making carbon dating far less effective more recently than the early 1700. This is because processes such as the release old carbon into the atmosphere through the burning of fossil fuels and atmospheric nuclear weapons testing have led to dramatic peaks and dips in the amount of carbon 14 in the atmosphere.

  • The sample may be contaminated.

    Contamination may occur before or after sampling and cause errors in the date that is produced. For example, water can disolve and deposit organic material changing the isotope levels. However, in most cases this can be dealt with in the lab during the sample preperation process. Archaeologists also take steps when selecting and recovering samples to minimise this potential problem.

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