Here's why:
* Relative dating is a method used to determine the age of rocks and fossils relative to one another. It doesn't give specific numerical ages, but rather establishes a sequence of events.
* This is done by using principles like the law of superposition (older rocks are at the bottom, younger rocks are on top), cross-cutting relationships (a fault or intrusion is younger than the rock it cuts through), and fossil succession (the use of fossils to correlate rocks of the same age).
Absolute dating is a different method, which uses radioactive decay to determine the numerical age of rocks and fossils.
