radiocarbon dating
E217355
Radiocarbon dating is a scientific method for determining the age of once-living materials by measuring the decay of the radioactive isotope carbon-14.
All labels observed (2)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Radiocarbon Dating (book) | 1 |
| radiocarbon dating canonical | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T1930566 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: radiocarbon dating Context triple: [Willard F. Libby, knownFor, radiocarbon dating]
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A.
International Chronostratigraphic Chart
The International Chronostratigraphic Chart is the globally recognized standard timeline used by geologists to define and correlate the divisions of Earth’s geological history.
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B.
4.2 kiloyear event
The 4.2 kiloyear event was a major global climatic downturn around 2200 BCE, marked by widespread aridification and cooling that is thought to have contributed to the collapse or transformation of several ancient civilizations.
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C.
8.2 kiloyear event
The 8.2 kiloyear event was a sudden, short-lived global cooling episode during the early Holocene, likely triggered by massive meltwater outbursts disrupting North Atlantic ocean circulation.
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D.
The Geological Evidence of the Antiquity of Man
The Geological Evidence of the Antiquity of Man is an 1863 scientific work by Charles Lyell that marshals geological and fossil evidence to argue for the great age of humanity and to support evolutionary ideas.
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E.
Arlington Springs Man site
The Arlington Springs Man site is a significant Paleoindian archaeological locality on Santa Rosa Island in California, where some of the oldest known human remains in North America were discovered.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: radiocarbon dating Target entity description: Radiocarbon dating is a scientific method for determining the age of once-living materials by measuring the decay of the radioactive isotope carbon-14.
-
A.
International Chronostratigraphic Chart
The International Chronostratigraphic Chart is the globally recognized standard timeline used by geologists to define and correlate the divisions of Earth’s geological history.
-
B.
4.2 kiloyear event
The 4.2 kiloyear event was a major global climatic downturn around 2200 BCE, marked by widespread aridification and cooling that is thought to have contributed to the collapse or transformation of several ancient civilizations.
-
C.
8.2 kiloyear event
The 8.2 kiloyear event was a sudden, short-lived global cooling episode during the early Holocene, likely triggered by massive meltwater outbursts disrupting North Atlantic ocean circulation.
-
D.
The Geological Evidence of the Antiquity of Man
The Geological Evidence of the Antiquity of Man is an 1863 scientific work by Charles Lyell that marshals geological and fossil evidence to argue for the great age of humanity and to support evolutionary ideas.
-
E.
Arlington Springs Man site
The Arlington Springs Man site is a significant Paleoindian archaeological locality on Santa Rosa Island in California, where some of the oldest known human remains in North America were discovered.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (59)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
absolute dating method
ⓘ
chronometric dating method ⓘ scientific dating method ⓘ |
| alsoKnownAs |
14C dating
ⓘ
C-14 dating ⓘ radiometric carbon dating ⓘ |
| appliesTo |
bone
ⓘ
charcoal ⓘ hair ⓘ once-living materials ⓘ organic materials ⓘ other carbon-containing biological remains ⓘ paper ⓘ peat ⓘ seeds ⓘ shell ⓘ textiles ⓘ wood ⓘ |
| awardedRecognition | Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1960 to Willard Libby ⓘ |
| basedOn | known half-life of carbon-14 ⓘ |
| calibratedWith |
coral records
ⓘ
dendrochronology ⓘ speleothem records ⓘ tree-ring dating ⓘ varve chronology ⓘ |
| determines | age of organic remains ⓘ |
| developedBy |
Willard Libby
ⓘ
linked to:
Willard F. Libby
|
| developedIn | late 1940s ⓘ |
| fieldUsedIn |
archaeology
ⓘ
climatology ⓘ forensic science ⓘ geology ⓘ oceanography ⓘ paleontology ⓘ |
| firstPublishedIn | 1949 ⓘ |
| hasHalfLifeUsed | about 5730 years ⓘ |
| hasLimitation |
contamination by modern carbon
ⓘ
measurement uncertainty ⓘ old wood effect ⓘ reservoir effects in marine samples ⓘ variations in atmospheric 14C production ⓘ |
| improvedBy | accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) ⓘ |
| measurementMethod |
accelerator mass spectrometry
ⓘ
beta counting ⓘ liquid scintillation counting ⓘ |
| measures | radioactive decay of carbon-14 ⓘ |
| requires |
assumptions about past atmospheric 14C levels
ⓘ
calibration with other dating methods ⓘ measurement of 14C/12C ratio ⓘ |
| timeRange | up to about 50,000–60,000 years ⓘ |
| underlyingProcess |
cosmic-ray production of 14C in the atmosphere
ⓘ
exponential decay of 14C after death ⓘ incorporation of 14C into living organisms ⓘ |
| usedFor |
calibrating other dating methods
ⓘ
dating archaeological sites ⓘ reconstructing past environments ⓘ studying carbon cycle dynamics ⓘ testing authenticity of artifacts ⓘ |
| usesIsotope | carbon-14 ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: radiocarbon dating Description of subject: Radiocarbon dating is a scientific method for determining the age of once-living materials by measuring the decay of the radioactive isotope carbon-14.
Referenced by (2)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
subject linked to:
Libby
linked to: radiocarbon dating