RADIOCARBON DATING OF ANCIENT POTTERY is now possible, thanks to scientists at the University of Bristol, who have developed a technique for dating ancient pottery using the animal fat it contains. Pottery is normally dated by placing it in a relative typological sequence, based on its shape and composition, and establishing absolute dates only when specific pottery types are found in strata that can be dated on other grounds. Cumulatively, typological dating of pottery is very accurate and useful, but this new method could be an important cross-check of the old and could also date potsherds that aren't yet established in a typological sequence. And, as you can see below, it has the potential for dating other artifacts besides pottery. This is an exciting development. Here's one of the articles on the new method (via Bible and Interpretation News):

On the antiquity of pots: New method developed for dating archaeological pottery (EurekaAlert!)

The contents of ancient pottery could help archaeologists resolve some longstanding disputes in the world of antiquities, thanks to scientists at Britain's University of Bristol. The researchers have developed the first direct method for dating pottery by examining animal fats preserved inside the ceramic walls.

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The researchers analyzed 15 pieces of pottery � mostly cooking jars and bowls � ranging in age from 4,000 B.C. to the 15th Century A.D. They assigned a date using the new method and then compared their findings to the historical date verified previously by association with organic artifacts. In all cases, their results were in good agreement with the sample history.

The analysis requires partial destruction of the artifacts, but the researchers didn't run into much opposition along the way. "Museum curators require some convincing before they let you take their pottery away," Evershed says. "However, most of this pottery is not display quality material, but is stored in bags and boxes in the museum archive."

[Richard] Evershed [Ph.D., a chemist at the University of Bristol] and his colleagues also plan to use the technique to study mummies. "A lot of Egyptian mummies were exported out of Egypt by the Victorians, and they often applied modern treatments to preserve them," Evershed says. The researchers hope to distinguish between a modern treatment and the original embalming agent.

The method could eventually be used for a variety of other analyses. "Potentially, you could date any other material that has preserved organic compounds," like pitches from wood products or collagen from bones, according to Evershed. "You could even isolate individual amino acids by this preparative GC approach, but no one's tried that. That's the next step."