Dating of events or artifacts is an important manifestation in archaeology. Thus, archeologists rely on different dating methods to determine the exact age of artifacts, whose ages could not be easily determined. One of such methods refers to relative dating, and it involves arranging geological events and materials in sequences in which they occurred. Thus, the sequential layering of materials and archeological deposits lead to the determination of the age of these compounds. This sequencing terminology is also referred to as stratigraphy, and it takes an examination to the rock strata (Jurmain, Lynn and Wenda 197). In as much as this method is esteemed as a core dating technique, it falls short of one of providing numerical dates of these compounds. Therefore, relative dating does not provide the actual date of an object, but at least gives an approximation to an object’s age. The changes in sequence would be attributed to myriads of changes in the environment that predisposes the parent material to progressive deposition. One such element that is relied upon under relative dating relates to change on the strata as a result of climatic change. This is a major cause to the sequencing of artifacts in the rock strata.
Relative dating relies on two fundamental methods to determine the age of material, a fossil, or any archeological materials. These two methods could be summed as stratigraphy and seriation methods respectively.
Stratigraphy
This is the most common method that relative dating is anchored, and it generally involves determining the age of a parent material with respect to an object or artifact that is buried alongside it. Stratigraphy assumes that the rock strata correspond to the age in which they were formed. Therefore, the bed rock is deemed as the oldest in the strata followed in that sequence with other materials. Principally, stratigraphy method of relative dating uses a concept known as association (Renfrew and Bahn 124). This concept takes it that any parent material must have had human artifact or deposits on top of it. Therefore, the age of a material is established based on the artifact or any human object deposited on top it. In addition, the human deposits like charcoal would be subjected to radiocarbon testing to determine the age of the parent material. Relative dating assumes that the age of an artifact is directly correlated with age of the parent material as it assumes the occurrence of sequencing. In addition, a contingent of principles is techniques are used to define strata under the sequencing of materials; the principle of superposition, principle of horizontality, and the principle of lateral continuity. Typological sequences also lead to easier determination of the age of materials as human artifacts buried underground have a correspondence of age and time in which such practices were done. Human artifacts like tools, poetry, and other arts could be used to determine the age of a strata they correspond to certain generations.
Seriation
This is yet another method that is used with relative dating to give the correct sequence in the occurrence of artifacts. In this context, the assemblages of artifacts will be accorded an ordering platform depending on their ages. The younger an artifact, the close it becomes on the strata, and vice for older artifacts. This method therefore, leverages against chronology complex associated with arrangement of artifacts. This method relies on the association principles to determine the age of artifices (Renfrew and Bahn 124).
Despite these two methods that are used on relative dating of archeological materials and artifacts, the entire method is still subject to certain limitation. The main limitation relates to inability of the method to determine the age of a parent material without associating it with human artifacts. In addition, this method might not give inaccurate results since some artifacts are faded off, and there is likelihood of overlapping to the next layer (Jurmain, Lynn and Wenda 198).
Works Cited
Jurmain, Robert, Lynn Kilgore, and Wenda Trevathan. Essentials of Physical Anthropology. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2013. Print.
Renfrew Colin, and Bahn Paul. Archeology; Theories, Methods and Prectice. Nd. 6th Edition. Print.
