Disadvantages of AMS Radiocarbon Dating An accelerator mass spectrometer, although a powerful tool, is also a costly one. Establishing and maintaining an accelerator mass spectrometer costs millions of dollars. Due to the small sample sizes involved, control of contaminants is also difficult.

What limitations does radiocarbon dating face?

Radiocarbon dating is therefore limited to objects that are younger than 50,000 to 60,000 years or so. (Since humans have only existed in the Americas for approximately 12,000 years, this is not a serious limitation to southwest archaeology.) Radiocarbon dating is also susceptible to contamination.