STABLE OXYGEN ISOTOPE SOURCING OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL FAUNA FROM CHACO CANYON, NEW MEXICO

2017 ◽  
Vol 83 (1) ◽  
pp. 163-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marian I. Hamilton ◽  
B. Lee Drake ◽  
W. H. Wills ◽  
Emily Lena Jones ◽  
Cyler Conrad ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Mexico ◽  
Oxygen Isotope ◽  
Small Mammals ◽  
Small Mammal ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Chaco Canyon ◽  
Faunal Assemblages ◽  
Oxygen Isotope Ratios ◽  
Stable Oxygen

Modern datasets provide the context necessary for accurate interpretations of isotopic data from archaeological faunal assemblages. In this study, we use the oxygen isotope ratios (δ18O) of modern small mammals from Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, to quantify expected isotopic variation in a local population. The δ18O values of local, modern small mammals encompass a broad range (−6.0‰ to 4.8‰ VPDB), which is expected given the extreme seasonal variation in the δ18O of precipitation on the Colorado Plateau (−11‰ to −3‰ VPDB). Isotopic ratios of small mammals obtained from excavated archaeological sites in Chaco Canyon (ca. AD 800 to 1200) show no significant differences with their modern counterparts, suggesting that there is no difference in the origins of the archaeological small-mammal collection and the modern, local Chaco Canyon small-mammal collection. In contrast, δ18O values of large mammals from Chaco archaeological sites are significantly different from those of modern specimens, reflecting a nonlocal, but also nonspecific, source in the past.

Seasonal stable oxygen isotope cycles in an Antarctic bivalve shell (Laternula elliptica): a quantitative archive of ice-melt runoff

2006 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yohei Tada ◽  
Hideki Wada ◽  
Hideki Miura
Keyword(s):  
Oxygen Isotope ◽  
Seasonal Change ◽  
Marine Bivalve ◽  
Ice Melt ◽  
Oxygen Isotope Ratios ◽  
Oxygen Isotope Record ◽  
Laternula Elliptica ◽  
Isotope Record ◽  
Stable Oxygen ◽  
Ice Water

Oxygen isotope ratios in the shell of a Recent Antarctic marine bivalve Laternula elliptica are shown and their potential for environmental reconstruction is discussed. The shell δ18O profiles of this species represent the seasonal change in melted ice water inflow. Oscillations in the shell δ18O values reflect seasonal change in seawater δ18O values, caused by an addition of meltwater in summer. Since annual temperature variation is minimal and the inflow of the regional ice-melt is the dominant control on the shell δ18O values, the oxygen isotope record of L. elliptica is a quantitative indicator of the palaeo-ice-melting events in the Antarctic continental margin.

Archaeological Remains, Supposedly Navaho, from Chaco Canyon, New Mexico

1939 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roy L. Malcolm
Keyword(s):  
New Mexico ◽  
Material Culture ◽  
Early History ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Chaco Canyon ◽  
Archaeological Remains ◽  
History Of ◽  
Made In

Until recently there has been little attempt to trace the early history of the Navaho in the Southwest through their archaeological remains. While some investigators were studying Pueblo archaeology, they did record certain discoveries which tend to throw some light here and there on the earlier history of the Navaho. In the summer of 1937 a reconnaisance of archaeological sites, putatively Navaho, was made in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. The sites were mainly on, or at the base of western Chacra Mesa, some eight miles east of Pueblo Bonito. Interesting information was gathered, particularly in regard to house types, pottery, burials, textiles, and certain other items of material culture which may be correlated with ethnological data on the Navaho.

scholarly journals Simulating oxygen isotope ratios in tree ring cellulose using a dynamic global vegetation model

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 3869-3886 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonja G. Keel ◽  
Fortunat Joos ◽  
Renato Spahni ◽  
Matthias Saurer ◽  
Rosemarie B. Weigt ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Oxygen Isotope ◽  
Tree Ring ◽  
Tree Rings ◽  
Isotope Ratios ◽  
Dynamic Global Vegetation Model ◽  
Stable Oxygen Isotope ◽  
Oxygen Isotope Ratios ◽  
Stable Oxygen ◽  
Global Vegetation ◽  
Tree Ring Cellulose

Abstract. Records of stable oxygen isotope ratios in tree rings are valuable tools to reconstruct past climatic conditions and investigate the response of trees to those conditions. So far the use of stable oxygen isotope signatures of tree rings has not been systematically evaluated in dynamic global vegetation models (DGVMs). DGVMs integrate many hydrological and physiological processes and their application could improve proxy-model comparisons and the interpretation of oxygen isotope records. Here we present an approach to simulate leaf water and stem cellulose δ18O of trees using the LPX-Bern DGVM (LPX-Bern). Our results lie within a few per mil of measured tree ring δ18O of 31 different forest stands mainly located in Europe. Temporal means over the last 5 decades as well as interannual variations for a subset of sites in Switzerland are captured. A sensitivity analysis reveals that relative humidity, temperature, and the water isotope boundary conditions have the largest influence on simulated stem cellulose δ18O, followed by all climatic factors combined, whereas increasing atmospheric CO2 and nitrogen deposition exert no impact. We conclude that simulations with LPX-Bern are useful for investigating large-scale oxygen isotope patterns of tree ring cellulose to elucidate the importance of different environmental factors on isotope variations and therefore help to reduce uncertainties in the interpretation of δ18O of tree rings.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document