  We estimate the main-sequence age and heavy-element abundance of the Sun by
means of an asteroseismic calibration of theoretical solar models using only
low-degree acoustic modes from the BiSON. The method can therefore be applied
also to other solar-type stars, such as those observed by the NASA satellite
Kepler and the planned ground-based Danish-led SONG network. The age,
4.60+/-0.04 Gy, obtained with this new seismic method, is similar to, although
somewhat greater than, today's commonly adopted values, and the surface
heavy-element abundance by mass, Zs=0.0142+/-0.0005, lies between the values
quoted recently by Asplund et al. (2009) and by Caffau et al. (2009). We stress
that our best-fitting model is not a seismic model, but a theoretically evolved
model of the Sun constructed with `standard' physics and calibrated against
helioseismic data.

Solar and Stellar Astrophysics