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Historical Dating
A small number of objects found on excavations contain references to historical figures. These can be dated
quickly and easily.
Coins are perhaps the most widely known of historically dateable objects. Most are stamped with the head of the
current ruler. However, medallions, seals and similar objects may also contain the names of identifiable people or
events. Some types of Roman (and more recent) pottery are stamped with the names of the manufacturers. Inscriptions
on buildings, gravestones, etc may also identify known figures. It is a simple matter to check these names against
historical records to obtain the age of the find. (This of course is not the same as the date of deposition, which
could be several hundred years after this person died, but cannot be earlier than when they were born!).
Unfortunately such objects are fairly rare. However, the dates obtained from them can be used to date other finds
from the same layer (this is known as dating by association). These other finds may be much more common (such as
more general pottery types) and therefore sites elsewhere that contain this pottery but no coins can also be dated.
Historical dating is quick and cheap to carry out, and for certain objects, can be accurate to within a few years.
In such cases it can be more accurate than many scientific methods like radiocarbon. However, it can only be
carried out on sites within the historic record (the last 2000 years in Britain) and even within this period, many
sites do not contain suitable objects for such dating. In particular, Anglo-Saxon sites rarely contain suitable
material.
Return to Dating Methods.
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