The carbon-14 method was developed by the American physicist Willard F. Libby about 1946. It has proved to be a versatile technique of dating fossils and archaeological specimens from 500 to 50,000 years old.

Is carbon-14 used in absolute dating?

One of the most widely used and well-known absolute dating techniques is carbon-14 (or radiocarbon) dating, which is used to date organic remains. With death, the uptake of carbon-14 stops. It takes 5,730 years for half the carbon-14 to change to nitrogen; this is the half-life of carbon-14.