Uranium Series Dating

Uranium decays through a number of radioactive daughter isotopes, some of which have half-lives comparable to the time scale of prehistoric archaeology. The growth of these isotopes in naturally occurring materials at archaeological sites can be used to determine the age of sites. The growth of 230Th from its parent, 234U, can be used over a time range from a few hundred to half a million years. Calcite precipitated from running or dripping …