Background: Radiocarbon dating of materials is a radiometric dating technique that uses the decay of carbon-14 (14C) to estimate the age of organic materials, such as paper and parchment. These include the main stable isotope (12C) and an unstable isotope (14C).

How was radiocarbon dating used in ancient Egypt?

Radiocarbon dating was used to show that the chronology of Egypts Old, Middle and New Kingdoms is indeed accurate. The researchers dated seeds found in pharaohs tombs, including some from the tomb of the King Tutankhamun. Now radiocarbon is able to distinguish between different ideas of reconstructing the history.

When was radiocarbon dating used?

Take the quiz. The carbon-14 method was developed by the American physicist Willard F. Libby about 1946. It has proved to be a versatile technique of dating fossils and archaeological specimens from 500 to 50,000 years old.