Methodological Implications of New Radiocarbon Dates from the Early Holocene Site of Körtik Tepe, Southeast Anatolia

One of the greatest challenges of contemporary archaeology is to synthesize the large amount of radiocarbon and archaeological data into a useful dialogue. For the late Epipaleolithic and the Early Neolithic of the Near East, many 14C ages have been published without precise stratigraphic documentation. Consequently, for archaeological age models we often must use some more elementary approaches, such as probabilistic summation of calibrated ages. The stratigraphy of Körtik Tepe allows us for the first time to study an extended series of 14C ages of the earliest Holocene. In particular, we are able to analyze the data according to stratigraphic position within a well-documented profile. However, because of a plateau in the 14C age calibration curve at the transition from the Younger Dryas to the Early Holocene, dates of this period can be interpreted only if an extended sequence of dates is available. Due to problems remaining in the calibration procedure, the best way to achieve an interpretation is to compare the results of different 14C calibration software. In the present paper, we use the results of the calibration programs OxCal and CalPal. This approach has important implications for future age modeling, in particular for the question of how to date the transition from the Epipaleolithic to the PPNA precisely and accurately.

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New Radiocarbon Dates for the Vedde Ash and the Saksunarvatn Ash from Western Norway

Quaternary Research ◽

10.1006/qres.1996.0014 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 45 (2) ◽

pp. 119-127 ◽

Cited By ~ 163

Author(s):

Hilary H. Birks ◽

Steinar Gulliksen ◽

Haflidi Haflidason ◽

Jan Mangerud ◽

Göran Possnert

Keyword(s):

Lake Sediment ◽

Younger Dryas ◽

Plant Macrofossils ◽

Early Holocene ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

Terrestrial Plant ◽

Radiocarbon Age ◽

The North ◽

Western Norway ◽

Ams Dates

AbstractThe Vedde Ash Bed (mid-Younger Dryas) and the Saksunarvatn Ash (early Holocene) are important regional stratigraphic event markers in the North Atlantic, the Norwegian Sea, and the adjacent land area. It is thus essential to date them as precisely as possible. The occurrence of the Saksunarvatn Ash is reported for the first time from western Norway, and both tephras are dated precisely by AMS analyses of terrestrial plant material and lake sediment at Kråkenes. The Vedde Ash has been previously dated at sites in western Norway to about 10,600 yr B.P. It is obvious in the Younger Dryas sediments at Kråkenes, and its identity is confirmed geochemically. The mean of four AMS dates of samples of Salix herbacea leaves adjacent to the tephra is 10,310 ± 50 yr B.P. The Saksunarvatn Ash is not visible in the early Holocene lake sediment at Kråkenes. After removal of organic material and diatoms, the identity of the tephra particles was confirmed geochemically, and their stratigraphic concentration was estimated. From curve matching of a series of seven AMS dates of terrestrial plant macrofossils and whole sediment, the radiocarbon age of the ash is 8930–9060 yr B.P., corresponding to an age of 9930–10,010 cal yr B.P. (7980–8060 cal yr B.C.).

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The Times of Their Lives: from Chronological Precision to Kinds of History and Change

Cambridge Archaeological Journal ◽

10.1017/s0959774307000030 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 17 (1) ◽

pp. 21-28 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

Alasdair Whittle ◽

Alex Bayliss

Keyword(s):

Case Studies ◽

Early Neolithic ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

Southern England ◽

Northwest Europe ◽

Special Supplement ◽

The Times ◽

First Time

In preparing for the publication of the seven papers in the special supplement of Cambridge Archaeological Journal, we were concerned to find an outlet that could find a worldwide audience, as we believe that these papers have more than regional or period significance. That is a big claim. The case studies presented in the supplement are all of early Neolithic long barrows and long cairns of the fourth millennium cal. bc in southern England. Why should a study of the dating of constructions that held the remains of selected human dead, from a particular region of northwest Europe, at a particular point in the regional Neolithic sequence, have any wider importance? We offer two reasons. First, we are applying, perhaps for the first time to a group of monuments rather than to individual sites, a method for the interpretation of radiocarbon dates which enables much more precise estimates of chronology. Secondly, from this promise of far more robust and precise dating come many implications for the kinds of agents that we may wish to people our pasts, for the kinds of lives they lived, and for the histories that we can try to write about them. These are two developments, we suggest, which any archaeology needs to embrace.

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Neolithisation of Sava-Drava-Danube interfluve at the end of the 6600–6000 BC period of Rapid Climate Chang: a new solution to an old problem

Documenta Praehistorica ◽

10.4312/dp.43.9 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 43 ◽

pp. 183-208 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Katarina Botić

Keyword(s):

Time Frame ◽

Southeast Europe ◽

Early Neolithic ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

Climate Conditions ◽

Archaeological Data ◽

Starting Point ◽

Insight Into ◽

Archaeological Excavations

The idea of the Neolithisation of the Sava-Drava-Danube interfluve has undergone very little change since S. Dimitrijević's time. Despite their many shortcomings, new archaeological excavations and radiocarbon dates of Early Neolithic sites have provided us with new insight into the process of Neolihisation of this region. Using the recently published work by B. Weninger and L. Clare (Clare, Weninger 2010; Weninger et al. 2009; Weninger et al. 2014) as a starting point, the available radiocarbon and archaeological data are used to build up a time frame comparable to the wider region of Southeast Europe and climate conditions for specific period. The results fit the model of Neolithisation well (Weninger et al. 2014.9, Fig. 4), filling in the geographical gaps.

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Iron Age of Cis-Olkhon Region in the 1st Millennium AD (Based on Materials from Sagan-Zaba 2 Site)

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

10.26516/2227-2380.2021.37.33 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 37 ◽

pp. 33-55

Author(s):

O. I. Goriunova ◽

◽

A. G. Novikov ◽

A. W. Weber ◽

◽

...

Keyword(s):

Iron Age ◽

Limited Range ◽

Western Coast ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

Layer 2 ◽

Stratigraphic Position ◽

Cultural Layers ◽

Copper Coin ◽

Short Time ◽

First Time

For the first time in the Baikal region, at the multilayered site Sagan-Zaba 2 (the western coast of Lake Baikal), it was possible to distinguish several layers of different periods of the Iron Age (upper 3–1 cultural layers) in clear stratigraphic conditions. The criteria for identifying the cultural complexes were their stratigraphic position, morpho-typological features of the inventory, and a comparative analysis with the materials of burial and memorial objects of the studied epoch. Particular attention is paid to the issues of chronometry based on a series of AMS radiocarbon dates. Based on interdisciplinary research, the age of the upper layer 3 (with Yelga pottery type) was determined in the range of 1980–1530 cal BP (1st –4th centuries AD). We can clarify the dating of this complex to the 1st century AD, considering the find of a fragment of Chinese copper coin Dàquán wǔshí (in use in China from 9 to 14 AD), that probably was transferred from this layer to the overlying one. Judging by radiocarbon dating, there are no obvious chronological differences between layer 2 (1180– 940 cal BP) and layer 1 (1240–960 cal BP). Nevertheless, given the presence in the materials of layer 2, along with pottery decorated with an arched ornament and a horseshoe-shaped stamp, vessels of the Cherenkhyn pottery type, it is possible to expand the dating of this complex and define it as the period of the 5th–10th centuries AD. The complex of layer 1 (only with pottery with an arched ornament and a horseshoe-shaped stamp) is attributed to the 8th–10th centuries AD. Planigraphic analysis suggests that the sites had a limited range of activities and were used for a relatively short time. The complex use of natural resources throughout the Iron Age is noted. The economic structure of the population of the Olkhon region in the 1st millennium AD was based on cattle breeding, hunting for wild animals and, to a lesser extent, on fishing. The predominance of seal bones in the Sagan-Zaba 2 suggests a specialized nature of the sites aimed at the prey of this animal. As a result of studies carried out at the Sagan-Zaba 2 site, it became possible to characterize the cultural complexes of different periods of the Cis-Olkhon region during the Iron Age not only by the burial and ritual complexes, but also by the materials of the settlements.

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Younger Dryas to early Holocene (12.9 to 8.1 ka) limnological and hydrological change at Barley Lake, California (northern California Coast Range)

Quaternary Research ◽

10.1017/qua.2021.9 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-15

Author(s):

Jenifer A. Leidelmeijer ◽

Matthew E.C. Kirby ◽

Glen MacDonald ◽

Joseph A. Carlin ◽

Judith Avila ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Climate Change ◽

Lake Level ◽

Global Climate ◽

Younger Dryas ◽

Winter Precipitation ◽

Early Holocene ◽

Lake Productivity ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

Lower Productivity ◽

Abrupt Shifts

Abstract Paleoperspectives of climate provide important information for understanding future climate, particularly in arid regions such as California, where water availability is uncertain from year to year. Here, we present a record from Barley Lake, California, focusing on the interval spanning the Younger Dryas (YD) to the early Holocene (EH), a period of acute and rapid global climate change. Twelve radiocarbon dates constrain the timing between 12.9 and 8.1 ka. We combine a variety of sediment analyses to infer changes in lake productivity, relative lake level, and runoff dynamics. In general, the lake is characterized by two states separated by a <200-year transition: (1) a variably deep, lower-productivity YD lake; and (2) a two-part variably shallow, higher-productivity EH lake. Inferred EH winter-precipitation runoff reveals dynamic multidecadal-to-centennial-scale variability, in agreement with the EH lake-level data. The Barley Lake archive captures both hemispheric and regional signals of climate change across the transition, suggesting a role for both ocean-atmosphere and insolation forcing. Our paleoperspective emphasizes California's sensitivity to climate change and how that change can generate abrupt shifts in limnological regimes.

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Stratigraphic position and localities of the Temlyan flora from the Anadyr river lower course basin

Palaeobotany ◽

10.31111/palaeobotany/2015.6.48 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 6 ◽

pp. 48-67 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

L. B. Golovneva ◽

A. A. Grabovskiy

Keyword(s):

Volcanic Activity ◽

City Area ◽

Plant Fossils ◽

Stratigraphic Position ◽

Early Paleocene ◽

First Time ◽

Systematic Composition ◽

Stratigraphic Range

Plant fossils from the volcano-clastic deposits of the lower part of the Tanyurer Formation and lower part of the Tavaivaam Unit in the Anadyr city area (Northeastrn Russia) are described for the first time. This assemblage was named as the Temlyan flora. It consists of 25 taxa and includes ferns, horsetails, lycophytes, ginkgoaleans, czekanowskialeans, cycadophytes, conifers and angiosperms. The Temlyan flora is similar in systematic composition to the Rarytkin flora from the upper part of the Rarytkin Formation which was dated as the late Maastrichtian-Danian. But it is distinguished from the latter by presence of the numerous relicts (Lokyma, Nilssonia, Encephalartopsis, Phoenicopsis and Ginkgo ex gr. sibirica). Probably the presence of relicts in the Temlyan flora is connected with influence of volcanic activity. Age of the Temlyan flora is determined as the late Maastrichtian-Danian on the basis of systematic similarity with the Rarytkin Flora. However this age may be slightly younger, possibly only early Paleocene, because the Tanyurer Formation superposes the Rarytkin Formation. Stratigraphic range of Lokyma, Nilssonia, Encephalartopsis, Phoenicopsis and Ginkgo ex gr. sibirica is extended from its previously known latest records in the early Campanian or middle Maastrichtian up to as late as the latest Maastrichtian or early Paleocene. It is very possible, that these typical Mesozoic taxa may have persisted into the Paleogene.

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Recurrent outburst floods and explosive volcanism during the Younger Dryas–Early Holocene deglaciation in south Iceland: evidence from a lacustrine record

Journal of Quaternary Science ◽

10.1002/jqs.3344 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Áslaug Geirsdóttir ◽

Gifford H. Miller ◽

David J. Harning ◽

Hrafnhildur Hannesdóttir ◽

Thor Thordarson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Younger Dryas ◽

Explosive Volcanism ◽

Early Holocene ◽

Outburst Floods

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Environmental Changes and Cultural Transitions in SW Iberia during the Early-Mid Holocene

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app11083580 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (8) ◽

pp. 3580

Author(s):

Cristina Val-Peón ◽

Juan I. Santisteban ◽

José A. López-Sáez ◽

Gerd-Christian Weniger ◽

Klaus Reicherter

Keyword(s):

Dietary Habits ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Source Area ◽

Direct Access ◽

Special Focus ◽

Early Neolithic ◽

Archaeological Data ◽

Local Resources ◽

Climate Events ◽

The Impact

The SW coast of the Iberian Peninsula experiences a lack of palaeoenvironmental and archaeological data. With the aim to fill this gap, we contribute with a new palynological and geochemical dataset obtained from a sediment core drilled in the continental shelf of the Algarve coast. Archaeological data have been correlated with our multi-proxy dataset to understand how human groups adapted to environmental changes during the Early-Mid Holocene, with special focus on the Mesolithic to Neolithic transition. Vegetation trends indicate warm conditions at the onset of the Holocene followed by increased moisture and forest development ca. 10–7 ka BP, after which woodlands are progressively replaced by heaths. Peaks of aridity were identified at 8.2 and 7. 5 ka BP. Compositional, textural, redox state, and weathering of source area geochemical proxies indicates abrupt palaeoceanographic modifications and gradual terrestrial changes at 8.2 ka BP, while the 7.5 ka BP event mirrors a decrease in land moisture availability. Mesolithic sites are mainly composed of seasonal camps with direct access to the coast for the exploitation of local resources. This pattern extends into the Early Neolithic, when these sites coexist with seasonal and permanent occupations located in inland areas near rivers. Changes in settlement patterns and dietary habits may be influenced by changes in coastal environments caused by the sea-level rise and the impact of the 8.2 and 7.5 ka BP climate events.

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