Evaluation of radiocarbon dates from the Middle Holocene hunter-gatherer cemetery Khuzhir-Nuge XIV, Lake Baikal, Siberia

AbstractPostglacial geomorphic development of the Buchanan Drainage, a small tributary to the South Skunk River, is reconstructed by documenting relationships among four allostratigraphic units and 17 radiocarbon dates. Formation and headward expansion of the valley was both episodic and time-transgressive. Response to downstream conditions in the South Skunk River largely controlled the early formation of the basin. Downcutting through Pleistocene deposits produced a gravelly lag deposit that was buried by alluvium in the downstream portion of the valley during the early Holocene (10,500–7700 yr B.P.). Lag deposits formed in a similar manner continued to develop in the upper portion of the drainageway into the late Holocene (3000-2000 yr B.P.). Episodes of aggradation during the middle Holocene (7700-6300 yr B.P.) and late Holocene (3000-2000 yr B.P.) were separated by a period of soil formation. Holocene geomorphic events in the drainageway coincide with some vegetational and climatic changes as documented in upland pollen sequences from central Iowa. Analysis of plant macrofossil assemblages recovered from alluvium indicates that during the middle Holocene forest contracted and prairie expanded into the uplands within the basin. Vegetational changes within the basin apparently had only minor influence on rates of hillslope erosion, and the widely accepted relationship between prairie (versus forest) vegetative cover and increased rates of hillslope erosion did not hold. Instead, greater amounts of erosion occurred under forested conditions when local water tables were higher and seepage erosion was more effective.

Download Full-text

Radiocarbon, Soil, and Artifact Chronologies for An Early Southern Oregon Coastal Site

Radiocarbon ◽

10.1017/s0033822200035165 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 47 (3) ◽

pp. 383-394 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Roberta Hall ◽

Loren G Davis ◽

Samuel Willis ◽

Matthew Fillmore

Keyword(s):

Late Pleistocene ◽

Texture Classification ◽

Archaeological Site ◽

Particle Size Analysis ◽

Early Holocene ◽

Size Analysis ◽

Human Occupation ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

Middle Holocene ◽

History Of

Radiocarbon dates together with geoarchaeological, soil, and lithic analyses are presented to describe archaeological site 35-CS-9 in Bandon Ocean Wayside State Park, Oregon, northwestern USA. One of the few Oregon middle-Holocene coastal sites that includes sediments and artifacts dating to the early Holocene and possibly to the late Pleistocene, it was recorded in 1951 and surface surveyed by archaeologists in 1975, 1986, and 1991, but its depth and antiquity were not tested. In February 2002, we studied the site's stratigraphy and sediments and described 8 strata from the aeolian surface to bedrock at 350 cm depth. Soil samples taken from a cut bank for texture classification, particle size analysis, pH, carbon content, and chemical analysis suggested that the site represented a complete history of Holocene deposits. Excavation of 2 test units in August 2002 uncovered substantial lithic and charcoal remains that confirm a protracted middle-Holocene occupation and suggest that human occupation began in the early Holocene. Charcoal recovered at 235–245 cm dated to 11,000 14C BP, and the deepest lithic artifact was recovered in a level at 215–225 cm. Whether the human occupation was continuous throughout the Holocene, and whether it began in the early Holocene or in the late Pleistocene, can only be determined with further excavations.

Download Full-text

Environmental implications of middle to late Holocene plains pocket gophers in Southeast Missouri

North American Archaeologist ◽

10.1177/2379298119893531 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 40 (4) ◽

pp. 175-191

Author(s):

James J Krakker ◽

Linda A Krakker

Keyword(s):

Late Holocene ◽

Before Present ◽

Pocket Gopher ◽

Environmental Implications ◽

Pocket Gophers ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

Middle Holocene ◽

Southeast Missouri ◽

Geomys Bursarius

Plains pocket gopher, Geomys bursarius, a grassland inhabitant, is common among the mammal taxa identified on the southeast Ozark margin at the Lepold site, 23RI59, Ripley County, Missouri. Its presence throughout the midden depth, whether an incidental inclusion or human prey, implies that a favorable habitat existed in the immediate vicinity. As radiocarbon dates indicate midden deposition began about 7500 radiocarbon years before present, grassland was a component of the local vegetation beginning in the middle Holocene, if not before.

Download Full-text

Radiocarbon Chronology of the Late Pleistocene–Holocene Paleogeographic Events in Lake Baikal Region (Siberia)

Radiocarbon ◽

10.1017/s0033822200035785 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 46 (2) ◽

pp. 745-754 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Sergey K Krivonogov ◽

Hikaru Takahara ◽

Yaroslav V Kuzmin ◽

Lyobov A Orlova ◽

A J Timothy Jull ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Late Pleistocene ◽

Lake Baikal ◽

Baikal Region ◽

Late Glacial ◽

Vegetation Changes ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

Lake Baikal Region ◽

Cold Events ◽

Late Glacial And Holocene ◽

Radiocarbon Chronology

New radiocarbon dates obtained from Late Pleistocene and Holocene deposits of the southern, eastern, and northern shores of Lake Baikal in 1995–2001 are presented, and the most important results of paleoenvironmental studies based on C data are discussed. The following paleogeographic events were verified with the help of C dating: 1) first Late Pleistocene glaciation (Early Zyryan); 2) Middle Zyryan interstadial; 3) loess formation during the Late Zyryan (Sartan) deglaciation; 4) warm and cold events in the Late Glacial; and 5) vegetation changes and forest successions during the Late Glacial and Holocene.

Download Full-text

Vegetation dynamics around Lake Baikal since the middle Holocene reconstructed from the pollen and botanical composition analyses of peat sediments: Implications for paleoclimatic and archeological research

Quaternary International ◽

10.1016/j.quaint.2012.10.043 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 290-291 ◽

pp. 35-45 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Elena V. Bezrukova ◽

Steffi Hildebrandt ◽

Polina P. Letunova ◽

Egor V. Ivanov ◽

Lyubov A. Orlova ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Lake Baikal ◽

Vegetation Dynamics ◽

Botanical Composition ◽

Middle Holocene

Download Full-text

Paleoclimatic Implications of Holocene Plant Remains from the Sierra Bacha, Sonora, Mexico

Quaternary Research ◽

10.1006/qres.1994.1011 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 41 (1) ◽

pp. 99-108 ◽

Cited By ~ 37

Author(s):

Thomas R. Van Devender ◽

Tony L. Burgess ◽

Jessie C. Piper ◽

Raymond M. Turner

Keyword(s):

Sonoran Desert ◽

Gulf Of California ◽

Cold Water ◽

Circulation Model ◽

Summer Precipitation ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

Middle Holocene ◽

Plant Remains ◽

Early And Middle Holocene ◽

Holocene Climates

AbstractA total of 93 plant taxa were identified from 11 packrat (Neotoma sp.) midden samples from the Sierra Bacha on the coast of the Gulf of California near Puerto Libertad, Sonora, Mexico. Nine indurated samples have radiocarbon dates ranging from 9970 to 320 yr B.P. Sonoran desertscrub was present on rocky slopes throughout the Holocene. Early Holocene assemblages dominated by Fouquieria columnaris (boojum tree) reflect vegetation and climate more like modern Baja California with greater winter rainfall and cooler summers. Middle Holocene vegetation was essentially modern with modest indications of greater monsoonal rainfall even though cold-water upwelling locally inhibits summer precipitation. The results are similar to all previous midden reconstructions of early and middle Holocene climates in the Sonoran Desert, but contradict general atmospheric circulation model simulations.

Download Full-text

Widespread population decline in South America correlates with mid-Holocene climate change

10.31235/osf.io/7zw6x ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Philip Riris ◽

Manuel Arroyo-Kalin

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

South America ◽

Large Scale ◽

Climatic Variability ◽

Population Decline ◽

Plant Management ◽

Human Populations ◽

Resource Base ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

Middle Holocene

Quantifying the impacts of climate change on prehistoric demography is crucial for understanding the adaptive pathways taken by human populations. Archaeologists across South America have pointed to patterns of regional abandonment during the Middle Holocene (8200 to 4200 cal BP) as evidence of sensitivity to shifts in hydroclimate over this period. We develop a unified approach to investigate demography and climate in South America and aim to clarify the extent to which evidence of local anthropic responses can be generalised to large-scale trends. We achieve this by integrating archaeological radiocarbon data and palaeoclimatic time series to show that population decline occurred coeval with the transition to the initial mid-Holocene across South America. Through the analysis of radiocarbon dates with Monte Carlo methods, we find multiple, sustained phases of downturn associated to periods of high climatic variability. A likely driver of the duration and severity of demographic turnover is the frequency of exceptional climatic events, rather than the absolute magnitude of change. Unpredictable levels of tropical precipitation had sustained negative impacts on pre-Columbian populations lasting until at least 6000 cal BP, after which recovery is evident. Our results support the inference that a demographic regime shift in the second half of the Middle Holocene were coeval with cultural practices surrounding Neotropical plant management and early cultivation, possibly acting as buffers when the wild resource base was in flux.

Download Full-text

Chronology of the Neolithic Ceramics of Baikal-Yenisei Siberia: Basic Ideas and New Data

Bulletin of the Irkutsk State University Geoarchaeology Ethnology and Anthropology Series ◽

10.26516/2227-2380.2020.33.23 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 33 ◽

pp. 23-53

Author(s):

I. M. Berdnikov ◽

◽

O. I. Goriunova ◽

A. G. Novikov ◽

N. E. Berdnikova ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Lake Baikal ◽

Nitrogen Isotopes ◽

Faunal Remains ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

Main Research ◽

Research Areas ◽

Ceramic Vessels ◽

Basic Ideas ◽

Freshwater Reservoir ◽

Technical Assessment

There are two main research areas in the Neolithic studies of the Baikal-Yenisei Siberia. One of them relates to research of mortuary traditions, another with a research of hunter-gatherer’s campsites. Ceramics is of the greatest importance for the cultural identification of campsites complexes. As a result of the Canadian-Russian project, for the Neolithic burials a clear chronological model based on AMS radiocarbon dates corrected for the freshwater reservoir effect (FRE) was created. There are several hypotheses for ceramic complexes that were proposed, but all of them predominantly were based on the radiocarbon dates obtained by the liquid scintillation counting method. This data cannot be admitted as reliable because of the limitation of this method, the big root-mean-square deviation, and the lack of data on stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes. Over the past few years, we have received in the Keck-CCAMS Group and Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit laboratories 35 new AMS-radiocarbon dates for the complexes with Neolithic ceramics. Samples taken for analyses were obtained from the 14 multilayered sites of the Angara region, Tunka valley, and Lake Baikal coast. They are represented by fragments of teeth, bones, and horns of the mammals (predominantly Cervidae and large ungulates) that accompanied pottery in cultural horizons. In five cases the carbonized organic residues (foodcrusts) from the inner surface of ceramic vessels were used as samples. In one more case, it was a strong humified soil cleaned from impurities. The technical assessment of the reliability of all dates was provided. The definitions obtained for faunal remains look the most correct. Dates obtained for foodcrust are likely significantly older, because of possible FRE influence. The geoarchaeological assessment of new dates and their correlation with the most reliable dates of previous years is provided. Based on the AMC-dating, the following chronometric frames for the Neolithic pottery of the Baikal-Yenisei Siberia are offered: Early Neolithic Net-impressed and the Khaita ceramics in the Angara region – 8539–6914 cal BP, on the Lake Baikal coast – 8160–6960 cal BP, in the Tunka valley – 7843–7681 cal BP; Ust-Belaya ceramics in the Northern Angara region – 7421–7014 cal BP (perhaps the real age is younger), in the Southern Angara region – 6730–6306 cal BP; Posolskaya ceramics on the Lake Baikal coast – 6750–6300 cal BP, in the Southern Angara region – 6730–6306 cal BP; Serovo and Dotted-comb ceramics on the Lake Baikal coast – 5841–4620 cal BP.

Download Full-text

STRATIGRAPHY OF BLANKET PEATLAND AND DEVELOPMENT OF ENVIRONMENTS OF THE BOLSHOY CHANTAR ISLAND IN THE LATE GLACIAL-HOLOCENE

Tikhookeanskaya Geologiya ◽

10.30911/0207-4028-2021-40-3-85-102 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 40 (3) ◽

pp. 85-102

Author(s):

N.G. Razjigaeva ◽

◽

T.A. Grebennikova ◽

L.A. Ganzey ◽

V.V. Chakov ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Sea Of Okhotsk ◽

Late Glacial ◽

Ice Age ◽

Global Changes ◽

Time Data ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

Middle Holocene ◽

The Sea Of Okhotsk ◽

Anthropogenic Fires ◽

Shantar Islands

Continued record of paleogeographic events in the Shantar islands since the end of the Pleistocene was restored on the basis of a multy-proxy study of the stratigraphy of the blanket peatland. Biostratigraphical studies included botanical, diatom and pollen analyses. The age-depth model was built using 7 radiocarbon dates. For the first time, data of the environment development were obtained for the coldest part of the Sea of Okhotsk. Synchronicity and metachronicity of paleoclimatic events with regional data and global changes have been established. The Younger Dryas on the Shantar islands was much colder than in other areas around the Sea of Okhotsk. The climate became more maritime after the isolation of the islands at the early-middle Holocene. The influence of the cold sea and the presence of drifting ice were one of the main factors, why the early and middle Holocene optimums were poorly manifested here, and also determined the specifics of climatic rhythm. Models explaining alternation of relatively warm and cold periods with different humidity are proposed. The age of periods with heavy snowfalls has been established, as evidenced by the change in the role of shrub pine in island vegetation. Phases of development of local swamp and zonal landscapes are highlighted. Spruce appeared on the area ~11410–10345 cal. yr. BP, when there was a landbridge, and spruce trees became common in the middle Holocene and especially at the boundary of the middle-late Holocene. One of the controlling factors for the development of swamp landscapes was thermokarst processes. Significant changes in the environment occurred in the Little Ice Age, the most severe conditions were ~500–260 cal. yr. BP. In the last 210 years, the most significant changes in landscapes have been associated with anthropogenic fires.

Download Full-text