ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Dating methodology (archaeology)

Dating methodology in archaeology is like guessing how old something is by looking at different clues. When archaeologists find things like artifacts or bones buried in the ground, they can't just look at them and know how old they are. So, they have to use some tricks to figure it out.

One way is by looking at the different layers of soil where the artifact or bone was found. Think of it like a birthday cake with different layers. Just like the bottom layer of a cake is usually the oldest, the bottom layer of soil is usually the oldest too. So, if they find an artifact or bone buried deep down, they can guess that it's older than something that was found closer to the surface.

Another way is by using techniques like radiocarbon or dendrochronology dating. These big words basically mean measuring the amount of carbon or counting tree rings to figure out how long ago something was made or when a tree was alive. It's like figuring out how many candles are on the cake to guess someone's age.

Overall, dating methodology in archaeology is just like using clues to guess how old things are and it involves looking at different layers of soil, using techniques like radiocarbon or dendrochronology to measure time, and piecing together all of the information to make an educated guess.