When archaeologists assign dates to their findings, how much of the determination is based on opinion when there is no written historical record to refer to?
by 
Nulinvoid
ANSWERS: 3
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To me, many archaeologists set the date to lure backers into giving them more money. The "history" of the native indian tribes is a good example- rival archaeologists kept on dating their findings earlier and earlier until many "top digs" were being dated as far back as 5,000 years bc- and then honest archaeoligists started find levels under those to be only 500-600 years old. Now, how can 7,000 year old indians rise from the dead to build houses on top of houses built only 500-600 years ago?
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Pre-historical dates are assigned by several methods. Unfotunately, each is approximate and prohibits absolute accuracy.The most common dating methods are Carbon-14 dating and comparison to other artifacts located nearby, and the generalized age of the geologic strata in ehich the object was found. Carbon-14 dating is the most reliable, but is only accurate within 5,000 years. The other dating methods require interpretation and comparison to other discoveries, themselves perhaps incomplete or innacurate. Naturally, the accuracy you seek can only occur after many hundreds of discoveries and mistakes before we can be totally confident in our pre-historical data. Until then, don't berate the mistakes and encourage more research!
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No date without written records (and quite a few with them) is perfect. In addition to the above re C14 dating, I would add that there are other methods for acquiring dates from archaeological finds. Archaeological dating methods are divided into Absolute and Relative, and both should be used if possible. Absolute techniques include - Dendrochronology - Tree ring dating. Carbon 14 dating - Dealt with in previous answer. Potassium/Argon dating - Used to date non-organic finds which will not respond to C14 dating. Relative dating techniques are as follows - Superposition - the acceptance that earlier deposits will be found below more recent ones. Stratigraphy - the application of the Law of Superposition to strata containing archaeological materials. Cross Dating Run a search on 'Archaeological dating techniques' for a fuller explanation, and for an account of the problems and limitations of each method. There's some good information out there.
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