Chronometric Dating for Dummies

biostratigraphic dating

We're not certain about everyone, but we figure that when most people ask a question they expect a straightforward answer that contains facts; not some vague rehash of a website the writer (claims to have) read. We do know that if you don't know the answer, we'd prefer that you admit it instead of spreading around a load of bull – that's the main reason we publish this blog. Unfortunately, not everyone who "answered" questions for eHow.com was that honest... take, for example, Adrian Grahams, who penned the article "What Is Chronometric Dating?" that now appears at Sciencing.com.

Grahams didn't dig all that deep in his "research," simply rewording a few bits and pieces from the first article or two in his Google results. That's probably why his "answer" completely ignored large swaths of science where chronometric dating is used:

"Chronometric dating has revolutionized archaeology by allowing highly accurate dating of historic artifacts and materials with a range of scientific techniques."

We'd like to think that any review of chronometric dating would include reference to anthropology and geology as well as archaeology, but Adrian apparently didn't think those disciplines all that important. Come to think of it, he apparently doesn't think archaeology is a science (something archaeologists would certainly dispute):

"Archaeologists and scientists use absolute dating methods on samples ranging from prehistoric fossils to artifacts from relatively recent history."

Grahams then goes on to list methods of chronometric dating, with his... explanation... of the methodologies involved:

• "...radiometric dating and radio-carbon [sic] dating, which both determine the age of materials through the decay of their radioactive elements..." – FTY, Adrian, it's radiocarbon; and we find "through the decay of their radioactive elements" a highly unsatisfactory explanation of the method.

• "...dendrochronology, which dates events and environmental conditions by studying tree growth rings..." – it's a lot more than "studying": perhaps the word you wanted was "comparing"?
• "...thermoluminescence, which dates ceramic materials by measuring their stored energy." – again, more than just "measuring... stored energy"!

Grahams concludes by telling his readers that

"Scientists first developed absolute dating techniques at the end of the 19th century. Before this, archaeologists and scientists relied on deductive dating methods, such as comparing rock strata formations in different regions..."

We're pretty certain that geologists of our acquaintance would A) find "rock strata formations" laughably redundant, B) find "deductive dating" an odd way of describing what's more commonly known as relative dating, and C) point out to Adrian that the relative age of rock strata is also performed using fossils and cross-cutting relationships. Comparison of the rocks themselves is... well, it's a stupid idea.

But that's what you get when you ask someone who's apparently never heard of chronometric dating before to describe the techniques and methods;  perhaps especially so when the writer's qualifications are "postgraduate diplomas in journalism and website design..." No wonder Graham turned up on our Dumbass of the Day list.

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