Before radiocarbon dating, dating prehistoric objects from before the 6th century B.C. was largely considered educated guesswork.
Notes on verification
The general claim that pre-radiocarbon dating relied heavily on educated guesswork is well corroborated by independent sources. The specific '6th century B.C.' cutoff comes from a direct expert quote in the original article and lacks independent verification, though it's attributed to a credible named expert. [tier=silver indep_score=0.925 clusters=2 claim_tier=notable]
Sources
- How Radiocarbon Dating Unlocks Ancient History | HISTORY (seed:history_and_archaeology)
- https://daily.jstor.org/radiocarbon-at-75/ (corroboration)
- https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/chemistry/radiocarbon-dating (corroboration)