ABU SALABIKH – ABSOLUTE RADIOCARBON CHRONOLOGY

Iraq ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Maciej M. Wencel
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Models ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Sample Collection ◽  
The West ◽  
Time Estimates ◽  
Early Dynastic ◽  
Radiocarbon Chronology ◽  
Selection Methodology ◽  
Southern Iraq ◽  
Precise Time

This article presents a new absolute chronology for the archaeological site of Abu Salabikh, Southern Iraq, during the 4th and 3rd millennia BC. The main goals of this study were to synchronise the sequences of the West and Main Mounds, corroborating the dating schemes based on archaeological and textual finds, and assigning an absolute date to the transition between Uruk and Early Dynastic (ED) periods. Previously published dates and newly produced 14C measurements were used in tandem with Bayesian statistical models to arrive at more precise time estimates. Some inconsistencies in the results point to possible disturbance of the archaeological sequence in the context of tannur kilns and highlight the need for careful sample collection and selection methodology. The results suggest a hiatus in settlement between the Uruk and ED periods c. 3000 BC, and confirm the date of c. 2650-2500 BC for the Early Dynastic ED IIIa Fara-style texts.

scholarly journals Building the Radiocarbon Chronology for the Archaeological Site Ufa-II, Bashkortostan, Russia: Is this the Elusive “Bashkort” of Medieval Sources?

Radiocarbon ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 1278-1285
Author(s):  
Vladimir A Levchenko ◽  
Flarit A Sungatov
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Site Occupation ◽  
Radiocarbon Chronology ◽  
First Time ◽  
Good Agreement

A suite of accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dates for the Ufa-II archaeological site in Bashkortostan, Russia, is obtained for the first time. Dating was done on charcoal samples from a sequence of cultural deposits collected during the 2011 digging season. An age-depth chronology is established using the Bayesian deposition General Outlier P_Sequence model. The oldest age for the site at the horizon immediately over the sterile ground was cal AD 137–237 (68% probability), corresponding to the beginning of site occupation. The youngest 14C date found was late 6th to early 7th century cal AD for the extensive planked boardwalks unearthed at the site. The 14C dates are in good agreement with archaeological determinations based on discovered artifacts.

Stratigraphy and Radiocarbon Chronology of Modoc Rock Shelter, Illinois

1993 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 462-489 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steven R. Ahler
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Archaic Period ◽  
Late Archaic ◽  
The West ◽  
Occupational History ◽  
Rock Shelter ◽  
History Of ◽  
Analytical Procedures ◽  
Radiocarbon Chronology ◽  
Stratigraphic Sequences

Excavations at Modoc Rock Shelter, Illinois (11R5), between 1952 and 1956 documented the antiquity and cultural sequence of the Archaic period in the midcontinental United States. Some researchers questioned the site's stratigraphic integrity because of apparent inconsistencies between the radiocarbon assays and associated artifacts. Excavations in 1980, 1984, and 1987 documented stratigraphic sequences and produced assays of over 40 additional radiocarbon samples from controlled stratigraphic contexts. This report describes the stratigraphic sequences at Modoc Rock Shelter and presents critical evaluations of the radiocarbon assays. This information is used to summarize the depositional and occupational history of the site. Two related stratigraphic sequences are present, one in the Main Shelter and a separate, physically uncorrelated sequence in the West Shelter. Each sequence includes occupations dating to the Early, Middle, and Late Archaic periods, with age ranges between 9000 and 4000 B.P. Questions about the site's stratigraphic integrity, artifact sequences, and analytical procedures are resolved.

A Ball Court Located on the San Pedro River in Southeastern Arizona

1951 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 257-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles C. Dipeso
Keyword(s):  
Archaeological Site ◽  
River Channel ◽  
The West ◽  
San Pedro River ◽  
The North ◽  
San Pedro ◽  
Cochise County ◽  
Desert Flora ◽  
The Village ◽  
The City

The Amerind Foundation, Inc. spent the first three weeks of December, 1948, excavating a ball court at the archaeological site of Arizona:BB:15:3, which is located in Cochise County, Sec. 20, T15S, R20E. The actual village area is located on the west bank of the San Pedro River twenty-two miles north of the city of Benson at an approximate elevation of 3300 feet.The ball court was located in the north half of the village on a terrace some forty feet above the river channel. It appeared as a shallow but conspicuous oval depression which was overgrown with mesquite trees and other desert flora of the Sonoran plateau type. Fortunately the court had not been disturbed by any previous excavations nor by erosion (Fig. 86, a).

How Many Sumerians per Hectare? — Probing the Anatomy of an Early City

1994 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Postgate
Keyword(s):  
Population Density ◽  
Urban Area ◽  
Space Use ◽  
Urban Life ◽  
Use Of Space ◽  
Early Dynastic ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Comparative Ethnography ◽  
Southern Iraq

Excavations at the Early Dynastic site of Abu Salabikh in southern Iraq have aimed at recovering a rounded view of early urban life. One of the questions regularly and rightly asked about our results is ‘how large was the population?’, but we are still far from being able to provide an answer. This article is intended as a report from the field on where we stand at this one site, rather than a general exploration of the issues. Geomorphological and taphonomic issues relating to site size and use of space are exemplified from our own data. Progress beyond a blanket guess (based on comparative ethnography) for population density requires us to break the urban area down into individual houses and the houses into individual rooms. In this context the need for, and possible methods of, more accurate characterization of space use are described. Calculations based on high and low assumptions illustrate the wide range of estimates we still have to work with, but help to crystallize those areas where progress might be made.

GEOCHRONOLOGY AND PALEOENVIRONMENTAL FRAMEWORK FOR THE OLDEST ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE (7800–7900 cal BP) IN THE WEST INDIES, BANWARI TRACE, TRINIDAD

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 681-695 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth Barnett Tankersley ◽  
Nicholas P. Dunning ◽  
Lewis A. Owen ◽  
Janine Sparks
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Isotope ◽  
West Indies ◽  
Stable Carbon Isotope ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Luminescence Dating ◽  
Caribbean Region ◽  
Stable Carbon ◽  
The West ◽  
Middle Holocene ◽  
Isotope Analyses

Banwari Trace, a well-stratified shell midden located in southeastern Trinidad, provides the oldest known archaeological evidence of human settlement in the West Indies and has been crucial to our understanding of the initial peopling of the greater Caribbean region. Detailed excavation profile descriptions, soil and faunal analyses, accelerator mass spectrometry radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence dating, and stable carbon isotope analyses provide an accurate chronology and paleoenvironmental framework for the natural and anthropogenic depositional history of this significant archaeological site. Our findings support the recognition of three Middle Holocene strata at Banwari Trace, which represent significant periods of midden deposition and environmental change at: ~7800–7900 cal BP (Level 3); ~6900–7400 cal BP (Level 2); and ~5500–6200 cal BP (Level 1). Stable carbon isotope analyses show the landscape was dominated by C3vegetation throughout the Middle Holocene with a possible drying episode near the end of the Middle Holocene climatic optimum. Cedrosan potsherds discovered in the uppermost 25 cm (Level 0) suggest that a Late Holocene radiocarbon age of ~2770–2200 cal BP for charcoal from this stratum is valid and possibly contemporary with an apparently intrusive human burial recovered in 1971 at a depth of ~20 cm.

Differences in Radiocarbon Age between Shell and Charcoal from a Holocene Shellmound in Northern California

1998 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 102-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Lynn Ingram
Keyword(s):  
San Francisco ◽  
Coastal Upwelling ◽  
San Francisco Bay ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
The West ◽  
Radiocarbon Age ◽  
The Past ◽  
Seasonal Wind ◽  
Wet Climate ◽  
Reservoir Age

The West Berkeley shellmound, the oldest well-dated archaeological site in the San Francisco Bay region, contains shell and charcoal ranging in age from ca. 1200 to 5700 cal yr B.P. Radiocarbon ages of marine shell and charcoal collected from fifteen stratigraphic levels in the West Berkeley shellmound suggest changes in the 14C content of San Francisco Bay surface waters relative to the atmosphere (the oceanic reservoir age) over the past 5000 yr. The reservoir age of San Francisco Bay waters fluctuated between 870 and −170 14C yr over the past 5000 yr, with the lowest values occurring 2900 to 3800 cal yr B.P. and the highest values between 1200 and 2000 cal yr B.P. Changes in the radiocarbon reservoir age may be due to changes in the strength of seasonal wind-driven upwelling off coastal California, where upwelling brings 14C-depleted waters to the surface. The period of lowest ΔR values (at 3500 to 3900 cal yr B.P.) is coincident with relatively low salinity in San Francisco Bay (indicating high freshwater inflow) and wet climate in California based on lake level records. The period of high ΔR values (1200–2000 cal yr B.P.) is coincident with one of the driest periods in California during the late Holocene. These data suggest a link between coastal upwelling and precipitation over central California. The age of the top of West Berkeley mound and several other mounds in the San Francisco Bay region (1100 to 1300 cal yr B.P.) coincides with a prolonged dry period in California and low river inflow to San Francisco Bay. Perhaps the sites were abandoned because of the drought.

The Early Dynastic-Akkadian transition, Part 1. When did the Akkadian period begin?

Iraq ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 59 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Donald Matthews
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Social Structure ◽  
Present State ◽  
Reference Sequence ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Early Dynastic ◽  
First Empire ◽  
Administrative Innovations ◽  
Historical Periods ◽  
Southern Iraq

We may want to recognise an “Akkadian period” in archaeology for two reasons. A sequence of periods is used as a system of chronological reference, and the Akkadian period conventionally represents the time from 2334–2154 BC (Walker 1995, 234). Periods are also used to define fields of analysis in which studies of social structure or other synchronic investigations may be conducted. The Akkadian period is known as the “first empire” which saw major political and administrative innovations. In archaeology periods have to be defined from the changes in artefact types, so a concordance is needed between the historical and artefactual phases. During the last thirty years McG. Gibson has persistently addressed questions of chronology, and has made an especially important contribution to the chronology of the Akkadian period. A new article (Gibson and McMahon 1995) represents the present state of this issue, based on excavations in the Diyala and Hamrin regions, and in the vicinity of Nippur. Dr McMahon has subjected thousands of sherds from stratified occupation surfaces to statistical analysis, and publication of their distribution and comparanda is expected. The resulting pottery sequence, exhaustively constructed, and summarised in that article, will constitute the principal reference sequence for archaeological sites of this period in southern Iraq. In this article, while accepting the validity and importance of this achievement, I will examine how the Akkadian period should be defined and how pottery sequences should be calibrated with respect to historical periods. I will suggest that the Akkadian pottery should be calibrated by ultimate reference to the glyptic sequence, and that this results in a different dating for the strata in question.

Selective Faunal Provisioning in the Southern Highlands of Formative Ecuador

2005 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 313-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter W. Stahl
Keyword(s):  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Early Operation ◽  
High Yield ◽  
Large Animal ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
The West ◽  
Northern Andes ◽  
The Andes ◽  
Animal Bone

AbstractAnalysis of a large animal bone assemblage from the Formative archaeological site of Challuabamba in Ecuador’s southern highlands provides additional evidence for the existence of local and extra-local trade connections during the second millennium B.C. Previous archaeological research has established that Formative occupants of this highland region accessed various maritime and terrestrial routes for the long-distance exchange of exotic goods with different highland and lowland areas throughout the Andes. The Formative zooarchaeological record at Challuabamba clearly implicates the provisioning of select high yield body portions of deer and the importation of exotic taxa, or parts thereof most likely from lowland sources directly to the west. Taphonomic analyses and zooarchaeological identification of the Challuabamba assemblage offer additional corroborating evidence for the early operation of prehispanic trade systems in the Northern Andes.

scholarly journals Radiocarbon Chronology and Paleodiet Studies on the Medieval Rural Site of Zaballa (Spain): Preliminary Insights into the Social Archaeology of the Site

Radiocarbon ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 1222-1232 ◽  
Author(s):  
C Lubritto ◽  
C Sirignano ◽  
P Ricci ◽  
I Passariello ◽  
J A Quiros Castillo
Keyword(s):  
Basque Country ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Rural Site ◽  
Social Archaeology ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Domestic Spaces ◽  
The Social ◽  
Peasant Community ◽  
Radiocarbon Chronology

The archaeological site of Zaballa is a Medieval rural site located in the province of álava (Basque Country, northern Iberia). The site has been excavated during a rescue archaeology project, over an area of about 4.5 ha, where human occupation has been documented ranging from the 6th to 15th century. The archaeological operations have shown the transformation of the village, in diachronic terms, by unearthing the structure of production areas (agricultural lands, storage areas, and craft activities), the shape of domestic spaces, and the Saint Tirso monastery, with its adjacent cemetery. Much of the evidence and features related to a peasant community are small and disturbed by recent agricultural activities, and are therefore difficult to be interpreted in social terms. Studying dietary patterns has helped to fill this gap by providing a protein-rich diet of the elitist population and by highlighting the existence of hierarchies separating the inhabitants of Zaballa. In this paper, we discuss the reconstruction of the chronological sequence of the site inhabitation, with a multidisciplinary approach. The archaeological evidences and the critical use of radiocarbon dating have been integrated with stable isotope analysis on human remains found in the cemetery of the church of San Tirso, resulting in a first attempt to find evidence of the social structure of the rural community of Zaballa.

Radiocarbon Chronology of the Tlatoani Site at Tlayacapan, Morelos, Mexico

Radiocarbon ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 501-510 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Cherkinsky ◽  
Raúl Francisco González Quezada
Keyword(s):  
Human Remains ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
The Other ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
Three Samples ◽  
Early Postclassic ◽  
Preclassic Period ◽  
Radiocarbon Chronology ◽  
The Hill ◽  
Good Agreement

The archaeological site of Tlatoani at Tlayacapan is located in the Mexican Highlands, in the present-day state of Morelos. The site is an extant settlement located at the top of the Tepoztlan mountain range, and has been occupied since the Late Preclassic period (AD 150–500). At the height of its occupation in the Epiclassic and Early Postclassic periods (AD 600–1150), Tlayacapan was situated on the top of the hill. The radiocarbon investigations reported herein revealed some further distinct findings, although no clear absolute chronology was demonstrated. A dog skull was found inside the oldest foundation stage, and dated between cal AD 646 and 765, the middle of the Epiclassic period. Human remains found in the first grave belonged to three individuals. A male skeleton was dated to AD 1158–1227. Fragments of an incomplete skeleton of a child and an incomplete skeleton of a second male were placed on top of the first male skeleton and were dated in the range AD 1030–1156. A fourth skeleton found nearby in the second grave gave a similar date of AD 1164–1253. These burials were in accordance with the Middle America cosmovisional system, where bodies were buried beneath the household space. It is evident from the 14C dates of the skeletons that the burial sites beneath the household space had been reused by exhuming and reburying skeletons that had been previously buried there. A comparison of dates on fractions of collagen and bioapatite of the same bones was possible. Two of the samples were in good agreement between these fractions, whereas the other three samples are close but just outside the 2σ range.

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