[AndyTheBear]

Ok, I got a basic question. How did they date the fossil? Is there a way to tell how old the Amber was? Was it based on the he radiometric readings of nearby igneous rock?

[OldNavyVet]

How did they date the fossil? Is there a way to tell how old the Amber was? Was it based on the radiometric readings of nearby igneous rock?

Here are some quotations from Darwin's Ghost" by Steve Jones (page 195).

Some chemicals are useful for dating the past. Potassium has half-life of rather more than a billion years as it breaks down to argon.

Carbon-14 -- a radioactive form of the atom upon which life is based -- has in contrast, a half life of a mere five thousand, seven hundred and thirty years.

The book, Darwin's Ghost is a modern update to Darwin's "Origin," using identical chapter names found in Darwin's work. It is a fascinating and fabulous read.

[albionin]

Probably by that method. They don’t use Carbon dating for something that old. Probably by dating layers of rock above and below using other radioactive elements. It would be interesting to know what method they used.

[Rebelbase]

"How did they date the fossil?"

Probably plied her with wine and falafal.