AMS Radiocarbon Dating

AMS Radiocarbon Dating, or Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, is a technique used to determine the age of ancient organic materials by measuring the amount of carbon-14 isotopes they contain. Living organisms constantly exchange carbon with their environment, maintaining a steady level of carbon-14. When they die, this intake stops, and the carbon-14 gradually decays at a known rate. AMS accelerates ions to separate and count the carbon-14 atoms precisely, allowing scientists to calculate how long it has been since the organism's death, often up to about 50,000 years ago. This method provides accurate age estimates for archaeological and geological samples.