In 1949, American chemist Willard Libby reported the development of a new dating technique, radiocarbon (C-14) dating. However, it would be more than a decade until the scientific community, and the world as a whole would recognize the significance of this new dating technique. Despite this apparent lag in support for radiocarbon dating, the result of these technologically advanced tests would have an enormous impact on science and archaeology in the subsequent years. With radiocarbon dating, archaeologists would be able to directly determine the age of undated sites and artifacts without the complication and confusion of relying on cross-cultural comparisons with areas previously dated through other means, predominately written records, (Renfrew et al., 2006: 37). Almost forty-years later, Libby's radiocarbon dating would come under intense scrutiny with the discovery and dating of the Shroud of Turin.