Accelerator mass spectrometry AMS a newer method of radiocarbon dating that requires much smaller samples AMS Radiocarbon Dating counts the different carbon atoms directly dramatically reduces the required sample size conventional radiocarbon dating counts the beta particle emissions the decay events with a Geiger counter Other Important Absolute Dating Techniques luminescence or trapped charge techniques cid 127 OSL TR ESR K Ar Trapped charge dating techniques based on amount of electrons trapped in the crystal lattice of certain minerals like quartz feldspar and in tooth enamel electrons are exited from ground state by background radiation in soil some of these electrons become trapped in crystal lattice of minerals electrons are released from traps on exposure to high temperatures or UV light sunlight set to zero total amount of trapped electrons is proportional to amount of time that has passed since last zeroing event need to determine the amount of electrons that accumulate each year rate of accumulation varies based on location due to differences in amount of background radiation in soil dosimeter a device to measure the amount of gamma radiation emitted by sediments it is normally buried in a stratum fro a year to record the annual dose of radiation Thermoluminescence TL a trapped charge dating technique used on ceramics and burned stone artifacts cid 127 mineral material that has been heated to more than 500 degrees Celsius cid 127 Optically Stimulated luminescence a trapped charge dating technique used to date aeolian sediments the age is the time elapsed since the sediments were last exposed to sunlight dates when the sediments were buried single grain dating Electron spin resonance ER a trapped charge dating technique used to date tooth enamel and burned stone tools it can date teeth that are beyond the range of radiocarbon dating K Ar and Ar Ar Dating What do dates mean used to date volcanic materials between 500 000 and several million years old absolute dates date an event not necessarily a human behavior old wood problem What methods could be used to date the following A hearth with burned seeds wooden beams from an ancient pueblo in the Southwestern U S what do archaeologists do with all the stuff collected from the field buried aeolian sediments good stratigraphy volcanic ash pottery Classification and Analysis To wash or not to wash could loose some important data pollen starch lipids other types of residues on the other hand difficult to analyze a dirty artifact cid 127 material type use wear decorations etc Cataloging in the lab all artifacts are labeled with a unique number linked to description linked to provenience What to do with thousands of artifacts First sort into simple categories stone bone botanical remains ceramics metal Then sort into finer categories for example lithics debitage waste flakes primary secondary tertiary cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 cid 127 types of tools biface scraper projectile point rocks must have high silica content cid 127 cid 127 cid 127