The fastest radioactive clock in common use is the carbon 14 clock, and this brings us full circle to the teller of this tale, for wood is one of the main materials subjected to carbon 14 dating by archaeologists. Carbon 14 decays to nitrogen 14 with a half-life of 5,730 years. The carbon 14 clock is unusual in that it is used to date the actual dead tissues themselves, not volcanic rocks sandwiching them. Carbon 14 dating is so important for relatively recent history—much younger than most fossils, and spanning the range of history normally called archaeology—that it deserves special
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