To ensure that it doesn’t have to wait for long when it comes to determining the antiquity of the artefacts excavated from ancient sites, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is shelling out funds for setting up of a lab for carbon-dating at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Gandhinagar.
To be established in a joint collaboration with the premier engineering college, the proposed laboratory will use modern chemical analysis and carbon dating tools to determine the antiquity of the relics recovered during digging.
Radiocarbon dating (or simply carbon-dating) is a radiometric dating technique that uses the decay of carbon-14 to estimate the age of organic materials, such as wood and leather, up to about 58,000 to 62,000 years, said a senior archaeologist from the ASI. The determination of the dates of the relics determine its importance as well as give clues on the history of the sites from where it is excavated, said a senior official in the Culture Ministry. He said that as the ASI is funding the setting up of the lab, it will enjoy availing its facilities “free of cost” though other organisations will have to shell out the fees for the job.
The budget for the establishment of proposed laboratory is still being finalised. The premier conservation agency decided to fork out money to ensure availing of such facility as in the absence of a few facilities in the country it had to wait for years to get the scientific results for its relics.
Presently, the ASI sends the samples for determination of date to Physical Research laboratory, Ahmedabad and Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, lucknow. However, as these are catering to the needs of many other institutes we thought that we should have a dedicated laboratory, said the official. The official said that determination of dates costs about Rs 50-60 thousand per sample in India.