How do scientists date fossils?
The Afar region has layered sedimentary rocks, containing thin white volcanic ash used to date a fossil jawbone. Credit: Erin DiMaggio
By Erin DiMaggio and Alka Tripathy-Lang
June 12, 2019
Have you ever wondered how scientists date fossils? My colleague Erin DiMaggio, a tephrochronologist at Penn State, and I explored this question for the online version of the Smithsonian Magazine.
Check out our essay, which is the fourth of a five-part series written by experts featured in the Smithsonian's new Hall of Fossils—Deep Time exhibition, now on view at the National Museum of Natural History. For the full series, go to the Deep Time Special Report.