Dating Methods and Chronology

This set of flashcards covers key concepts from a lecture on dating methods and chronology, essential for understanding various techniques used in archaeology and geology.

Relative Dating

Determining the age of artifacts or occupation phases in relation to one another.

Absolute Dating

Chronometric aging of an artifact or matrix.

C.J. Thomsen’s 3 Age System

A system developed in the 19th century used for classifying artifacts into three groups: Stone Age, Bronze Age, and Iron Age.

Dating Methods

Techniques used to determine the age or date of an artifact or geological layer.

Chronology

The arrangement of events in their order of occurrence.

Year 1 Christian Calendar

Also known as AD (Anno Domini), marking the birth of Jesus Christ.

BCE

Before Common Era, a non-religious way to refer to years before year 1 in the Gregorian calendar.

BP

Before Present, a time scale used in geology and other scientific disciplines to specify when events occurred.

Stratigraphy

A branch of geology concerned with the order and relative position of strata and their relationship to the geological time scale.

Law of Superposition

A principle stating that in undisturbed sedimentary rocks, the oldest layers are at the bottom and the youngest are at the top.

Typology

Classifying artifacts or objects into types based on similarities in form, style, or technology.

Seriation

A relative dating method that orders artifacts into a sequence based on changes over time.

Faunal Dating

Dating based on the presence or absence of certain animal species in a given layer.

Glottochronology

A method used to estimate the time of divergence of languages by examining systematic changes in their vocabulary.

Palynologist

A scientist who studies pollen grains and other spores, often to gather information about past climates and environments.