The study of tree rings was applied to the study of the footprints at laetoli, tanzania has a dating range that varies by geographical region and is never older than 5,000 years is the dating technique most negatively affected by soil erosion and earth movements is a relative form of dating based on the premise that the “lower you go, the older you get" was used to disprove the piltdown man theory is most accurate on dates less than 40,000 years old used primarily on the study of volcanic rock is a relative form of dating that studies the arrangements of earth layers