As radiocarbon dating reaches ~50-55000 BP tends to cleave asympotically to the maximum age limit. One sample in twenty that truly dates to beyond this limit produces a finite age due to counting statistics alone, but tiny amounts of contamination are the most significant problem for accurate dating. The extent of this problem has become obvious in the last 20 years. We now know that a failure to effectively decontaminate ancient samples prior to dating will often result in age underestimates, which can sometimes be severe. This is a shame because radiocarbon is an important chronometer and the most widely used dating method in archaeology. Thankfully other methods are becoming increasingly effective at the point where radiocarbon fades, such as optical techniques. We will review some methodological developments that yield encouraging results for dating ancient bone and charcoal material, such as compound-specific analyses. We will also critique recent results that provide dates from archaeological contexts that lack the certainty we need in interpreting them with greater certainty and suggest future directions.