What is carbon dating used for?
All life contains different types of carbon. When an organism dies, carbon-14 (C14) breaks down. However, carbon-12 (C12) doesn’t break down.
By examining the ratio between the two for dead matter, we can estimate age. We do this by measuring beta decay But there are limitations.
But at a certain age (60,000 years or so in history), there isn’t enough carbon-14 that remains from the organism to make an accurate estimate.