processual archaeologists also decided to conduct archaeologically scientifically. they used radiometric dating techniques to figure out how old an artifact is, as well as other techniques to prove how the artifact was used. they began to reproduce artifacts to better understand how they were made. this is called experimental archaeology. another scientific approach was to conduct ethnographic fieldwork (link) to better understand past hunter gatherers. processualists think that the way hunter gatherers are today is similar to the way they were in the past. this helps us understand them better.