I base it on the fact that there are no direct measuring tools for dating anything at all.
We do have our giant squishy delicious brains to use to figure out a method to use the measuring instruments we do have to determine the ages of various objects.
Just a monkey in a long line of kings. If "elitist" just means "not the dumbest motherfucker in the room", I'll be an elitist! *not an actual doctor