: the determination of the age of old material (such as an archaeological or paleontological specimen) by means of the content of carbon 14.

What carbon dating means?

radiocarbon dating Carbon-14 dating, also called radiocarbon dating, method of age determination that depends upon the decay to nitrogen of radiocarbon (carbon-14). Because carbon-14 decays at this constant rate, an estimate of the date at which an organism died can be made by measuring the amount of its residual radiocarbon.