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radiocarbon dating
Working out the approximate age of an old object, such as bones or seeds, by measuring the amount of carbon 14 (C-14) it contains. When an organism dies it no longer absorbs C-14 from the world around it. The C-14 it does contain in its tissues then starts to decay at a constant rate (half-life of 5,730 ±40 years). An estimate of the date at which an organism died can be made by measuring the amount of C-14 left.