Radiocarbon

Radiocarbon, also known as carbon-14, is a naturally occurring radioactive isotope found in living organisms. When an organism is alive, it constantly takes in carbon, including a small amount of carbon-14. When it dies, it stops absorbing carbon, and the carbon-14 begins to decay at a predictable rate. By measuring the remaining carbon-14 in a sample, scientists can estimate how long ago the organism died, making radiocarbon dating a valuable tool for archaeology and geology to determine the age of ancient materials up to about 50,000 years old.