Radiocarbon dating is a technique for determining the age of carbon-based materials derived from live beings. By measuring the quantity of carbon-14 in a sample and comparing it to an internationally accepted reference standard, an age may be determined. Radiocarbon dating is based on the basic principle that all living organisms absorb carbon from the atmosphere and food sources around them, including a small quantity of naturally radioactive carbon-14. When a plant or animal dies, it stops absorbing carbon, but the radioactive carbon it has stored decays.
