scholarly journals Freshwater Reservoir Effect in 14C Dates of Food Residue on Pottery

Radiocarbon ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 449-466 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anders Fischer ◽  
Jan Heinemeier
Keyword(s):  
Freshwater Fish ◽  
Freshwater Ecosystems ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Reservoir Effect ◽  
Food Residue ◽  
Northern European ◽  
Food Residues ◽  
Freshwater Reservoir

Radiocarbon dates of food residue on pottery from northern European inland areas seem to be influenced significantly by the freshwater reservoir effect (“hardwater” effect) stemming from fish and mollusks cooked in the pots. Bones of freshwater fish from Stone Age åmose, Denmark, are demonstrated to be 100 to 500 14C yr older than their archaeological context. Likewise, food residues on cooking pots, seemingly used for the preparation of freshwater fish, are shown to have 14C age excesses of up to 300 yr. It is probable that age excesses of similar or even larger magnitude are involved in food residue dates from other periods and regions. Since this effect cannot, so far, be quantified and corrected for, 14C dating of food residue, which may potentially include material from freshwater ecosystems, should be treated with reserve.

Assessing the Radiocarbon Freshwater Reservoir Effect for a Northwest-European River System (the Schelde Basin, Belgium)

Radiocarbon ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 395-417 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anton Ervynck ◽  
Mathieu Boudin ◽  
Wim Van Neer
Keyword(s):  
Freshwater Fish ◽  
River System ◽  
Single Species ◽  
Archaeological Remains ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Reservoir Effect ◽  
Terrestrial Mammals ◽  
Freshwater Reservoir ◽  
First Time ◽  
Historical Periods

ABSTRACTThe freshwater reservoir effect (FRE) for the Schelde basin (Belgium) is assessed for the Roman, Medieval and early Post-medieval periods by comparing historical and archaeological dates from individual archaeological deposits with radiocarbon dates on the remains of freshwater fish and terrestrial mammals from those same deposits. This is the first time such an assessment has been attempted for the Schelde basin. The FRE offsets prove to be substantial for the historical periods considered. They also differ markedly between fish species and between size classes of a single species. These observations have implications for the evaluation of radiocarbon dates obtained on archaeological remains of humans (and animals) with a substantial amount of freshwater fish into their diet. The data obtained in this study suggest that it will not be easy to correct for any FRE.

scholarly journals Hard water and old food. The freshwater reservoir effect in radiocarbon dating of food residues on pottery

2015 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bente Philippsen
Keyword(s):  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Hard Water ◽  
Reservoir Effect ◽  
Food Residue ◽  
Food Residues ◽  
Freshwater Reservoir

This paper discusses the problem of the freshwater reservoir effect in the radiocarbon dating of different sample materials, in particular food crusts on pottery. Charred food residue can be used to directly date of the use of the pottery. However, this material is highly complex, which can lead to various dating errors. 

Radiocarbon Dates and Stable Isotope Data from the Early Bronze Age Burials in Riigiküla I and Kivisaare Settlement Sites, Estonia

Radiocarbon ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 645-656 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mari Tõrv ◽  
John Meadows
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotope ◽  
Bronze Age ◽  
Early Bronze Age ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Agricultural Communities ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Freshwater Reservoir ◽  
Relationship Of

Four inhumations from Kivisaare and Riigiküla I settlement and burial sites were dated in the course of a project about hunter-gatherer mortuary practices in Estonia, as they were believed to belong to the Stone Age. However, these burials appear to be Early Bronze Age inhumations instead, and thus are discussed separately in the present article. These burials are the first evidence in Estonia of a long-lasting tradition of inhumations without any visible aboveground structures. As the archaeology of the Early Bronze Age in Estonia is poorly known, these four inhumations contribute immensely to our understanding about this time period. Moreover, stable isotope values show that these people had a more terrestrial subsistence strategy than Stone Age hunter-gatherers. Nevertheless, aquatic resources were probably still significant components of their diet, particularly at Kivisaare, and the radiocarbon dates could therefore be subject to significant freshwater reservoir effects. This creates ambiguity in the chronological relationship of these four individuals to burials in stone-cist graves, which are attributed to the Late Bronze Age and which appear to be associated with fully agricultural communities.

scholarly journals The Freshwater Reservoir and Radiocarbon Dates on Cooking Residues: Old Apparent Ages or a Single Outlier? Comments on Fischer and Heinemeier (2003)

Radiocarbon ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 1403-1410 ◽  
Author(s):  
John P Hart ◽  
William A Lovis
Keyword(s):  
Critical Assessment ◽  
Sufficient Evidence ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Reservoir Effect ◽  
Fossil Carbon ◽  
Freshwater Reservoir

Fischer and Heinemeier (2003) present a hypothesis that the freshwater reservoir effect produces old apparent ages for radiocarbon dates run on charred cooking residues in regions where fossil carbon is present in groundwater. The hypothesis is based in part on their analysis of dates on charred cooking residues from 3 inland archaeological sites in Denmark in relation to contextual dates from those sites on other materials. A critical assessment of the dates from these sites suggests that rather than a pattern of old apparent dates, there is a single outlying date—not sufficient evidence on which to build a case for the freshwater reservoir effect.

Stone Age Pottery Chronology in the Northeast European Forest Zone: New AMS and EA-IRMS Results on Foodcrusts

Radiocarbon ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 267-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henny Piezonka ◽  
John Meadows ◽  
Sönke Hartz ◽  
Elena Kostyleva ◽  
Nadezhda Nedomolkina ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Contextual Information ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
Isotopic Data ◽  
Forest Zone ◽  
Aquatic Products ◽  
Northern European ◽  
Aquatic Food ◽  
European Forest ◽  
Northern European Russia ◽  
Freshwater Reservoir

AbstractPottery produced by mobile hunter-gatherer-fisher groups in the northeast European forest zone is among the earliest in Europe. Absolute chronologies, however, are still subject to debate due to a general lack of reliable contextual information. Direct radiocarbon dating of carbonized surface residues (“foodcrusts”) on pots can help to address this problem, as it dates the use of the pottery. If a pot was used to cook fish or other aquatic species, however, carbon in the crust may have been depleted in 14C compared to carbon in terrestrial foods and thus appear older than it really is (i.e. showing a “freshwater reservoir effect,” or FRE). A connected problem, therefore, is the importance of aquatic resources in the subsistence economy, and whether pots were used to process aquatic food. To build better chronologies from foodcrust dates, we need to determine which 14C results are more or less likely to be subject to FRE, i.e. to distinguish crusts derived mainly from aquatic ingredients from those composed mainly of terrestrial foods. Integrating laboratory analyses with relative chronologies based on typology and stratigraphy can help to assess the extent of FRE in foodcrust dates. This article reports new 14C and stable isotope measurements on foodcrusts from six Stone Age sites in central and northern European Russia, and one in southeastern Estonia. Most of these 14C results are not obviously influenced by FRE, but the isotopic data suggest an increasing use of aquatic products over the course of the 6th and 5th millennia cal BC.

scholarly journals A Freshwater Diet-Derived 14C Reservoir Effect at the Stone Age Sites in the Iron Gates Gorge

Radiocarbon ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 43 (2A) ◽  
pp. 453-460 ◽  
Author(s):  
G T Cook ◽  
C Bonsall ◽  
R E M Hedges ◽  
K McSweeney ◽  
V Boronean ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dietary Protein ◽  
Human Bone ◽  
Bone Collagen ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
Human Diet ◽  
Reservoir Effect ◽  
Human Bones ◽  
Direct Association ◽  
Freshwater Reservoir ◽  
Isotope Analyses

Human bones from single inhumation burials and artifacts made from terrestrial mammal (ungulate) bone found in direct association with the skeletons were obtained from the Stone Age site of Schela Cladovei situated just below the Iron Gates Gorge of the River Danube. The results of stable isotope analyses of the human bone collagen are consistent with a heavy dependence on aquatic protein while radiocarbon dating of the samples reveals an offset of 300–500 years between the two sample types, indicating a freshwater reservoir effect in the human bone samples. Since protein consumption is by far the major source of nitrogen in the human diet we have assumed a linear relationship between δ15N and the level of aquatic protein in each individual's diet and derived a calibration for 14C age offset versus δ15N which has been applied to a series of results from the site at Lepenski Vir within the gorge. The corrected 14C ages (7310-6720 BP) are now consistent with the previous 14C age measurements made on charcoal from related contexts (7360–6560 BP). In addition, the data indicate a change from a primarily aquatic to a mixed terrestrial/aquatic diet around 7100 BP and this may be argued as supporting a shift from Mesolithic to Neolithic. This study also has wider implications for the accurate dating of human bone samples when the possibility exists of an aquatic component in the dietary protein and strongly implies that δ15N analysis should be undertaken routinely when dating human bones.

A Model for Calculating Freshwater Reservoir Offsets on AMS-Dated Charred, Encrusted Cooking Residues Formed from Varying Resources

Radiocarbon ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 981-989 ◽  
Author(s):  
John P Hart
Keyword(s):  
North American ◽  
Aquatic Organisms ◽  
Reservoir Effect ◽  
Excel Spreadsheet ◽  
The North ◽  
Northern European ◽  
Freshwater Reservoir

The freshwater reservoir effect (FRE) hypothesis suggests that ancient carbon from aquatic organisms incorporated into AMS-dated charred, encrusted cooking residues on interior pottery walls produces old apparent radiocarbon ages. This hypothesis has been used primarily in northern European final Mesolithic contexts to explain 14C ages on cooking residues that are thought to be too old relative to 14C ages obtained on terrestrial samples, resulting in so-called freshwater reservoir offsets (FROs). More recently, the hypothesis has been cited in interpretations of 14C ages from residues in the North American Plains and elsewhere. This article presents a model using an Excel spreadsheet that allows calculation of FROs with varying inputs of dead carbon and aquatic and terrestrial resources.

scholarly journals Fish Reservoir Effect on Charred Food Residue 14C Dates: Are Stable Isotope Analyses the Solution?

Radiocarbon ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 52 (2) ◽  
pp. 697-705 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathieu Boudin ◽  
Mark Van Strydonck ◽  
Philippe Crombé ◽  
Wim De Clercq ◽  
Robert M van Dierendonck ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Organic Material ◽  
Fish Processing ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Reservoir Effect ◽  
Food Residue ◽  
Late Iron Age ◽  
Relative Dating ◽  
Inner Surface ◽  
Isotope Analyses

In order to verify the relative dating based on pot type morphology and decoration of the Swifterbant pottery collected at the Final Mesolithic site of Doel “Deurganckdok” (Belgium) and of the Late Iron Age pottery excavated at Grijpskerke (the Netherlands), direct radiocarbon dates were obtained on charred food residue preserved on the inner surface of numerous potsherds. In addition, a number of indirect 14C dates were obtained from samples of organic material. In the case of Doel, the results indicate an important incompatibility between the charred food residue dates and the other dates, the former being systematically older. This difference may be explained by a reservoir effect of the charred food residue, caused by the processing of (freshwater) fish. The 14C dates for the Grijpskerke site are in agreement between the charred food residue and the organic material. The stable isotopes of the charred food residue were analyzed to demonstrate fish processing in the pottery, but the results were inconclusive.

scholarly journals Freshwater reservoir effect and the radiocarbon chronology of the cemetery in Ząbie, Poland

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Łukasz Pospieszny
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Large Lakes ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Reservoir Effect ◽  
Human Bones ◽  
Local Water ◽  
Freshwater Reservoir ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
Radiocarbon Chronology

In the 3rd millennium BC an island on the Łańskie Lake in north-eastern Poland was seasonally settled by a group of people practicing a syncretic burial ritual, exhibiting indigenous and foreign patterns. They left behind a small cemetery consisting of at least six graves. 14C dates made for samples of human bones until 2009 did not coincide with the expected age of the graves. Under a new pilot program in 2010–2013, a series of radiocarbon measurements was made for the human bones and an artefact of red deer antler, along with analyses of the stable isotopes ratios of carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) in the collagen. The results indicate a significant proportion of freshwater food in the diet, which caused the radiocarbon dates to be too old due to the freshwater reservoir effect (FRE). Based on the dating of the antler, unaffected by FRE, and comparative analysis, the reservoir offset for one of the graves was estimated to 740 radiocarbon years. The results, although limited by a low number of investigated humans and animals, indicate indirectly a specialization in the exploitation of local water resources. Such an economic strategy seems to be characteristic for the societies inhabiting the coasts of the Baltic Sea and littoral zones of large lakes in the Final Neolithic and at the beginning of the Early Bronze Age.

Hunter-Gatherer Pottery and Charred Residue Dating: New Results on Early Ceramics in the North Eurasian Forest Zone

Radiocarbon ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 54 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 1033-1048 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sönke Hartz ◽  
Elena Kostyleva ◽  
Henny Piezonka ◽  
Thomas Terberger ◽  
Natalya Tsydenova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Northern Eurasia ◽  
Forest Zone ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Reservoir Effect ◽  
Upper Volga ◽  
The North ◽  
Early Ceramic ◽  
Freshwater Reservoir ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
The Upper Volga Region

This article discusses 18 accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dates from the peat bog sites Sakhtysh 2a, Ozerki 5, and Ozerki 17 in the Upper Volga region. The aim is to contribute to a better understanding of the emergence and dispersal of early ceramic traditions in northern Eurasia and their connection to the Baltic. With 1 exception, all dates were obtained from charred residue adhering to the sherd. A possible reservoir effect was tested on 1 piece of pottery from Sakhtysh 2a by taking 1 sample from charred residue, and another sample from plant fiber remains. Although a reservoir effect was able to be ruled out in this particular case, 4 other dates from Sakhtysh 2a and Ozerki 5 seem too old on typological grounds and might have been affected by freshwater reservoir effects. Considering all other reliable dates, the Early Neolithic Upper Volga culture, and with it the adoption of ceramics, in the forest zone of European Russia started around 6000 cal BC.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document