Grade 10 Vocabulary Study 5

In the past, archaeologists had few precise ways of determining the age of ................

• rodents

• clay

• artifacts

• burials

Some methods they used included researching written records, comparing objects to similar items, or analyzing the depth at which an object was .....................

• released

• buried

• assumed

• facilitated

Though it may seem logical to assume that ........... buried deep underground are older than those found closer to the surface, earthquakes, floods, and even rodents can change the position of artifacts.

• impurities

• flaws

• rigids

• relics

All organic material, or matter that was once part of a living organism, contains ............... amounts of radiocarbon.

• decay

• pottery

• trace

• intact

For some inorganic remains, like ................., archaeologists use a technique called thermoluminescence dating

• pottery

• residue

• decay

• artifact

This process measures radioactive ..............., which is the breakdown and loss of atomic material that many inorganic remains experience.

• residue

• flaw

• decay

• release

In order for ............... to be converted into pottery, it must be fired.

• artifact

• clay

• relic

• depth

. When pottery is fired, the minerals in the clay ............. the energy they have stored during radioactive decay.

• assume

• facilitate

• complicate

• release

Human remains, ash ............. on cooking pots, or animal products used for dothing or tools all contain radiocarbon

• impurities

• clay

• residue

• pottery

Some methods the archeologists used included researching written records, comparing objects to similar items, or analyzing the depth at which an object was buried. The ..................... of such methods were numerous.

• limitations

• relics

• pots

• depths