The dating of remains is essential in archaeology, in order to place finds in correct relation to one another, and to understand what was present in the experience of any human being at a given time and place. Inscribed objects sometimes bear an explicit date, or preserve the name of a dated individual.

Absolute dating is the process of determining an age on a specified chronology in archaeology and geology. Absolute dating provides a numerical age or range, in contrast with relative dating, which places events in order without any measure of the age between events.

Absolute dating methods provide an actual date for the fossil. Relative dating only determines if a fossil is older or younger than another fossil. Dating the volcanic glass in surrounding rock layers can help you determine the age of fossils in between those layers.

➤ Relative dating is comparatively less expensive and time-efficient. ➤ It works best for sedimentary rocks having layered arrangement of sediments. The following are the major methods of relative dating. Stratigraphy: The oldest dating method which studies the successive placement of layers.

: The biggest disadvantage of the relative dating method is that it does not provide an age in years. Also relative dating can only determine the sequential order in which a series of events occurred, not when they occur. Researchers trust radioactive dating for two reasons.

There are three kinds of unconformities: disconformities, nonconformities, and angular unconformities. Disconformities. Disconformities (Figure 1 ) are usually erosional contacts that are parallel to the bedding planes of the upper and lower rock units.