How did archaeologist Eliezer Sukenik recognize that the first Qumran scrolls were ancient?

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Dead Sea Scrolls Chapter 49 of the Isaiah Scroll from the Dead Sea Scrolls; in the Shrine of the Book, D. Samuel and Jeane H. Gottesman Centre for Biblical Manuscripts, the Israel Museum, Jerusalem.

Archaeologist Eliezer Sukenik recognized the antiquity of the Dead Sea Scrolls by drawing upon his extensive expertise in archaeology and paleography.

His ability to identify the scrolls, which were discovered in the first Qumrān cave in 1947, was specifically enabled by his deep familiarity with the script found on epitaphs from the Jewish necropolis in Jerusalem. These epitaphs dated to the final century of the Second Temple period (approximately 30 BCE to 70 CE). By comparing the script of the newly discovered scrolls to these known historical examples, Sukenik was able to determine that they originated from the same era.1