scholarly journals Contact-Era Chronology Building in Iroquoia: Age Estimates for Arendarhonon Sites and Implications for Identifying Champlain's Cahiagué

2019 ◽  
Vol 84 (4) ◽  
pp. 684-707 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sturt W. Manning ◽  
Jennifer Birch ◽  
Megan Anne Conger ◽  
Michael W. Dee ◽  
Carol Griggs ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Calibration Curve ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
The Other ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Relative Dating ◽  
North American Archaeology ◽  
Calendar Dates ◽  
Age Estimates

Radiocarbon dating is rarely used in historical or contact-era North American archaeology because of idiosyncrasies of the calibration curve that result in ambiguous calendar dates for this period. We explore the potential and requirements for radiocarbon dating and Bayesian analysis to create a time frame for early contact-era sites in northeast North America independent of the assumptions and approximations involved in temporal constructs based on trade goods and other archaeological correlates. To illustrate, we use Bayesian chronological modeling to analyze radiocarbon dates on short-lived samples and a post from four Huron-Wendat Arendarhonon sites (Benson, Sopher, Ball, and Warminster) to establish an independent chronology. We find that Warminster was likely occupied in 1615–1616, and so is the most likely candidate for the site of Cahiagué visited by Samuel de Champlain in 1615–1616, versus the other main suggested alternative, Ball, which dates earlier, as do the Sopher and Benson sites. In fact, the Benson site seems likely to date ~50 years earlier than currently thought. We present the methods employed to arrive at these new, independent age estimates and argue that absolute redating of historic-era sites is necessary to accurately assess existing interpretations based on relative dating and associated regional narratives.

scholarly journals Mediterranean radiocarbon offsets and calendar dates for prehistory

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (12) ◽  
pp. eaaz1096 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sturt W. Manning ◽  
Bernd Kromer ◽  
Mauro Cremaschi ◽  
Michael W. Dee ◽  
Ronny Friedrich ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Calibration Curve ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Growing Season ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Measurement Precision ◽  
Critical Periods ◽  
Radiocarbon Data ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
Egyptian History ◽  
Calendar Dates

A single Northern Hemisphere calibration curve has formed the basis of radiocarbon dating in Europe and the Mediterranean for five decades, setting the time frame for prehistory. However, as measurement precision increases, there is mounting evidence for some small but substantive regional (partly growing season) offsets in same-year radiocarbon levels. Controlling for interlaboratory variation, we compare radiocarbon data from Europe and the Mediterranean in the second to earlier first millennia BCE. Consistent with recent findings in the second millennium CE, these data suggest that some small, but critical, periods of variation for Mediterranean radiocarbon levels exist, especially associated with major reversals or plateaus in the atmospheric radiocarbon record. At high precision, these variations potentially affect calendar dates for prehistory by up to a few decades, including, for example, Egyptian history and the much-debated Thera/Santorini volcanic eruption.

scholarly journals The Integration of Radiocarbon Dating in Archaeology

Radiocarbon ◽  
1983 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 639-644 ◽  
Author(s):  
H T Waterbolk
Keyword(s):  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
The Other ◽  
New Method ◽  
Time Range ◽  
Traditional Methods ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Fully Integrated ◽  
Expected Time ◽  
The Past

In the past 30 years many hundreds of archaeologic samples have been dated by radiocarbon laboratories. Yet, one cannot say that 14C dating is fully integrated into archaeology. For many archaeologists, a 14C date is an outside expertise, for which they are grateful, when it provides the answer to an otherwise insoluble chronologic problem and when it falls within the expected time range. But if a 14C date contradicts other chronologic evidence, they often find the ‘solution’ inexplicable. Some archaeologists are so impressed by the new method, that they neglect the other evidence; others simply reject problematic 14C dates as archaeologically unacceptable. Frequently, excavation reports are provided with an appendix listing the relevant 14C dates with little or no discussion of their implication. It is rare, indeed, to see in archaeologic reports a careful weighing of the various types of chronologic evidence. Yet, this is precisely what the archaeologist is accustomed to do with the evidence from his traditional methods for building up a chronology: typology and stratigraphy. Why should he not be able to include radiocarbon dates in the same way in his considerations?

Archaeological Evidence for the Origin of the Plank Canoe in North America

2002 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 301-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynn H. Gamble
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Southern California ◽  
New World ◽  
Sociopolitical Complexity ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Chipped Stone ◽  
Elite Group ◽  
Relative Dating ◽  
The Pacific

Advanced maritime technology associated with long-distance exchange and intensified resource acquisition has been linked to the development of stratification and greater sociopolitical complexity in the Pacific Rim region. One such example is the emergence of hereditary chiefs among the Chumash Indians of southern California. Plank boats owned by an elite group of wealthy individuals and chiefs were an integral part of an elaborate economic system that was based on maritime exchange. An artifact assemblage associated with the construction, maintenance, and use of this watercraft was identified and analyzed. It included wooden planks, asphaltum plugs, asphaltum caulking, and chipped stone drills. Radiocarbon dates and other relative-dating techniques provide strong evidence that the plank canoe originated at least 1,300 years ago in southern California. This represents the earliest use of this type of watercraft in North America and probably in the New World. The timing of this innovation provides evidence that sociopolitical complexity developed in the region at least 500 years earlier than previously proposed.

scholarly journals Radiocarbon Dating for the Reconstruction of the 1717 CE Triolet Rock Avalanche in the Mont Blanc Massif, Italy

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Irka Hajdas ◽  
Ursula Sojc ◽  
Susan Ivy-Ochs ◽  
Naki Akçar ◽  
Philip Deline
Keyword(s):  
Sample Preparation ◽  
Confidence Level ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Landscape Evolution ◽  
Sample Selection ◽  
Rock Avalanche ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Peat Bog ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Mont Blanc Massif

The Arp Nouva peat bog located in the upper Ferret Valley in the Mont Blanc massif was critically evaluated since published radiocarbon dates have led to controversial conclusions on the formation of this swamp. Radiocarbon dating of woody fragments from three pits of up to 1 m depth was used to discuss the question of whether the historically documented rock avalanche occurring in 1717 CE overran the peat bog or settled prior to its formation. For the deepest samples in the pits, calibrated radiocarbon ages between 1,652 and 1950 CE (95.4%; confidence level) were obtained, which fit very well into the time frame of the historical documented 1717 CE rock avalanche event. It can, therefore, be concluded that the Arp Nouva peat bog was formed by blockage of the Bella Combe torrent by the rock avalanche deposits. Furthermore, careful sample preparation with consequent separation of woody fragments from the bulk peat sample has shown that the problem of too old 14C ages can be circumvented. This work demonstrates that a combined geomorphological and geochronological approach is the most reliable way to reconstruct landscape evolution. The key to successful 14C dating is careful sample selection and the identification of the material that might not be ideal for chronological reconstructions.

scholarly journals AMS Radiocarbon Dates of Kurgans Located On the Ust'-Yurt Plateau, Uzbekistan

Radiocarbon ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soren Blau ◽  
Vadim Yagodin
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Skeletal Remains ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Late Prehistoric ◽  
Human Skeletal Remains ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Relative Dating ◽  
Ams Dates

Recent osteological analyses of archaeological human skeletal remains from the Ust'-Yurt Plateau, Uzbekistan, provided the opportunity to obtain samples for radiocarbon dating. The results of 18 accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dates are presented in this paper and provide the first absolute dates for late prehistoric and early historic archaeological sites in Uzbekistan. The AMS dates suggest that most sites are earlier than have been traditionally thought based on relative dating using artifact typologies.

A Comparative Study of the Preceramic Occupations of North America

1953 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 204-222 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wesley R. Hurt
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Comparative Study ◽  
North American ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
American Archaeology ◽  
North American Archaeology ◽  
Relative Chronology ◽  
Good Guess

In view of the present turmoil in North American archaeology caused by the continuing release of radiocarbon dates, it is most difficult to maintain an understanding of the preceramic occupations. What seems like a good guess today is tomorrow relegated to the realm of unwarranted speculation. The continual excavation of preceramic sites in North America and the constant revision in geological and climatological theories also force us to be cautious in making interpretations and to be willing to change any of them. Yet the evidence now available for reconstructing the preceramic traditions in some instances appears to be sufficient and reliable enough to justify certain interpretations, even though reservations must be kept in mind. In particular the relative chronology of several cultural complexes is slowly taking form.

scholarly journals 14C Wiggle-Match Dating in High-Resolution Sea-Level Research

Radiocarbon ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 43 (2A) ◽  
pp. 391-402 ◽  
Author(s):  
O van de Plassche ◽  
R J Edwards ◽  
K van der Borg ◽  
A F M de Jong
Keyword(s):  
Salt Marsh ◽  
High Resolution ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Time Scales ◽  
Calibration Curve ◽  
Salt Marshes ◽  
Accumulation Rate ◽  
The Other ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates

Comparison of two sets of marsh-accumulation records from each of three Connecticut (USA) salt marshes, one based on individually calibrated dates and the other on wiggle-match dating of the same series of dates, shows that wiggle-match dating results in more precise and objective reconstructions of longer-term (102–103 yr) changes in accumulation rate. On (sub-)century time scales, wiggle-match dating can reveal steps in the calibrated marsh-accumulation envelope as artefacts of the calibration curve, but may also leave real short-term changes in accumulation rate undetected. Wiggle-matches are non-unique, being dependent on the number, quality and distribution of radiocarbon dates in a sequence, how a series of dates is subdivided into groups (representing intervals of uniform accumulation rate), and what is considered a “best match”. Samples from the studied salt-marsh deposits required no correction for reservoir effects prior to calibration.

scholarly journals Dealing with Outliers and Offsets in Radiocarbon Dating

Radiocarbon ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 1023-1045 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher Bronk Ramsey
Keyword(s):  
Calibration Curve ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Model Averaging ◽  
Measurement Bias ◽  
Outlier Analysis ◽  
Bayesian Approaches ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
New Methods ◽  
Wide Availability ◽  
Consistent Treatment

The wide availability of precise radiocarbon dates has allowed researchers in a number of disciplines to address chronological questions at a resolution which was not possible 10 or 20 years ago. The use of Bayesian statistics for the analysis of groups of dates is becoming a common way to integrate all of the 14C evidence together. However, the models most often used make a number of assumptions that may not always be appropriate. In particular, there is an assumption that all of the 14C measurements are correct in their context and that the original 14C concentration of the sample is properly represented by the calibration curve.In practice, in any analysis of dates some are usually rejected as obvious outliers. However, there are Bayesian statistical methods which can be used to perform this rejection in a more objective way (Christen 1994b), but these are not often used. This paper discusses the underlying statistics and application of these methods, and extensions of them, as they are implemented in OxCal v 4.1. New methods are presented for the treatment of outliers, where the problems lie principally with the context rather than the 14C measurement. There is also a full treatment of outlier analysis for samples that are all of the same age, which takes account of the uncertainty in the calibration curve. All of these Bayesian approaches can be used either for outlier detection and rejection or in a model averaging approach where dates most likely to be outliers are downweighted.Another important subject is the consistent treatment of correlated uncertainties between a set of measurements and the calibration curve. This has already been discussed by Jones and Nicholls (2001) in the case of marine reservoir offsets. In this paper, the use of a similar approach for other kinds of correlated offset (such as overall measurement bias or regional offsets in the calibration curve) is discussed and the implementation of these methods in OxCal v 4.0 is presented.

scholarly journals RESOLVING TIME AMONG NON-STRATIFIED SHORT-DURATION CONTEXTS ON A RADIOCARBON PLATEAU: POSSIBILITIES AND CHALLENGES FROM THE AD 1480–1630 EXAMPLE AND NORTHEASTERN NORTH AMERICA

Radiocarbon ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 1-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sturt W Manning ◽  
Jennifer Birch ◽  
Megan Anne Conger ◽  
Samantha Sanft
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Short Duration ◽  
Calibration Curve ◽  
Phase Duration ◽  
Stratigraphic Sequence ◽  
Archaeological Evidence ◽  
Northeastern North America ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Stratigraphic Sequences ◽  
Calendar Dates

ABSTRACT Reversals and plateaus in the radiocarbon (14C) calibration curve lead to similar 14C ages applying to a wide range of calendar dates, creating imprecision, ambiguity, and challenges for archaeological dating. Even with Bayesian chronological modeling, such periods remain a problem when no known order—e.g., a stratigraphic sequence—exists, and especially if site durations are relatively short. Using the reversal/plateau AD 1480–1630 and the archaeology of northeastern North America as our example, we consider possible strategies to improve chronological resolution across such reversal/plateau periods in the absence of stratigraphic sequences, including uses of wood-charcoal TPQs from even very short wiggle-matches, and site phase duration constraints based on ethnohistoric and archaeological evidence.

Radiocarbon Dating the Younge Tradition

1966 ◽  
Vol 31 (5Part1) ◽  
pp. 738-738 ◽  
Author(s):  
James E. Fitting
Keyword(s):  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Time Range ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Age Estimates

AbstractA series of radiocarbon dates from Younge Tradition sites in southwestern Michigan indicates that previous age estimates for the four suggested phases were too conservative. Corn agriculture was practiced throughout the Younge Tradition time range as indicated by an A.D. 700 date for the Sissung site (20 MR 5).

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