Recent advances and future prospects of the U-Th and U-Pb chronometers applicable to archaeology

Abstract

The U-Th chronometer has revolutionized Quaternary science in the last few decades and can now be considered a well-established, mature technique with growing application in archaeology as an alternative to 14 C dating and OSL, reaching well beyond the cutoff for both these methods. Applying the U-Pb technique to material within a time frame of interest to archaeology is a challenge only recently overcome, with enormous potential for future development and use. In terms of range, U-Th can generally date material of between a few years and as much as 600ka, while U-Pb is best suited to material of 1 million years and older. U-Th dating is typically precise, with error margins of better than 1..