Archaeologists at the University of Cambridge have introduced a new dating technique that uses artificial intelligence to analyze the micro-morphometric signatures of Neolithic pottery. Published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, the methodology uses high-resolution 3D scans to detect infinitesimal changes in clay composition and firing temperatures that traditional carbon dating often misses.
By training the AI on a database of established stratigraphic layers, the team has successfully refined the chronology of early farming settlements in the Levant to within a ten-year margin of error. This precision allows researchers to correlate specific shifts in pottery styles with short-term climatic events, providing a much clearer picture of how early societies reacted to sudden environmental changes.