放射性碳年代测定是科学家们可以使用的最着名的考古测年技术之一，并且普通公众中的许多人至少听说过它。但是关于放射性碳如何工作以及它是多么可靠的技术存在许多误解。放射性碳测年是由美国化学家Willard F. Libby和他在芝加哥大学的一些学生于20世纪50年代发明的：1960年，他因发明而获得诺贝尔化学奖。这是有史以来第一个发明的绝对科学方法：也就是说，该技术是第一个允许研究人员确定有机物体在多长时间内死亡的技术，无论它是否在上下文中。害羞的对象上的日期戳，它仍然是最好和最准确的约会技术设计。所有生物都将气体碳14（C14）与它们周围的大气交换 – 动物和植物将碳14与大气交换，鱼和珊瑚在水中与溶解的C14交换碳。在动物或植物的整个生命周期中，C14的量与其周围环境完全平衡。当有机体死亡时，这种平衡就会被打破。死亡生物体中的C14以已知的速度缓慢衰减：其“半衰期”。像C14这样的同位素的半衰期是其中一半衰变所需的时间：在C14中，每5，373年，其中一半消失了。因此，如果你测量死亡生物体中的C14含量，你可以计算出它停止与大气交换碳的时间。鉴于相对原始的情况，放射性碳实验室可以长达5万年前在死亡生物体中准确测量放射性碳的数量;在此之后，还没有足够的C14来衡量。
美国德克萨斯州论文代写：生命周期
Radiocarbon dating is one of the most famous archaeological dating techniques scientists can use, and many people in the general public have heard of it at least. But there are many misconceptions about how radiocarbon works and how reliable it is. The radiocarbon dating was invented by American chemist Willard F. Libby and some of his students at the University of Chicago in the 1950s: In 1960, he won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his invention. This is the first ever absolute scientific method of invention: that is, the technology is the first technology that allows researchers to determine how long an organic object will die, whether or not it is in context. The date stamp on the shy object, it is still the best and most accurate dating technology design. All organisms exchange gaseous carbon 14 (C14) with the atmosphere around them – animals and plants exchange carbon 14 with the atmosphere, and fish and coral exchange carbon with dissolved C14 in water. The amount of C14 is perfectly balanced with its surroundings throughout the life cycle of an animal or plant. When the organism dies, this balance is broken. C14 in dead organisms decays slowly at a known rate: its “half-life”. The half-life of an isotope like C14 is the time required for half of it to decay: in C14, half of it disappears every 5,373 years. Therefore, if you measure the C14 content of a dead organism, you can calculate the time it stops carbon exchange with the atmosphere. Given the relatively primitive situation, radiocarbon laboratories can accurately measure the amount of radiocarbon in dead organisms up to 50,000 years ago; after that, there is not enough C14 to measure.