How do you date the objects that you find? Elsie (9)

Sometimes we date objects just by looking at them. Things like pots are very good for this as the sort of clay that they are made of, as well as the way that they are made, their shape and the ways that they are decorated, all change with time.

It’s the same with lots of other objects like flint tools, or brooches and weapons, they also all change through time.

But we can also use science to date objects. Anything that has once been living, like wood or charcoal, bone or deer antler can be carbon dated which will tell you roughly how long it is since that living thing (tree or animal or person) died. Pickaxes made from deer antler, used to dig ditches and pit before metal was used, are very good for dating prehistoric sites like Stonehenge.