scholarly journals Towards a First Chronology for the Middle Settlement of Norse Greenland: 14C and Related Studies of Animal Bone and Environmental Material

Radiocarbon ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 55 (01) ◽  
pp. 13-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin J Edwards ◽  
Gordon T Cook ◽  
Georg Nyegaard ◽  
J Edward Schofield
Keyword(s):  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Terminal Phase ◽  
Wild Fauna ◽  
Animal Bone ◽  
Environmental Material ◽  
Absolute Dating ◽  
Isotope Measurement ◽  
Settlement Areas ◽  
Stable Isotope Measurement ◽  
Age Estimates

The so-called Middle Settlement (Mellembygden) of Norse/Viking Greenland has received far less attention than either of its larger Eastern and Western counterparts. The Greenlandic Norse occupation is nominally taken to date between AD 985 and about AD 1450 and it is generally assumed that the Western Settlement was abandoned prior to the Eastern, but where the Middle Settlement fits into the pattern temporally has hitherto been completely unknown. This paper presents the first absolute dating evidence from the Middle Settlement. In addition to providing the results (14C, δ13C, δ15N) of a radiocarbon dating and stable isotope measurement program from domesticated (Bos, Ovis/Capra) and wild (Rangifer) animal bone and cultural-environmental (coastal, possibly midden) samples, the paper also addresses some problems of14C estimation for the period of Norse occupation in Greenland. Investigations show a Medieval Scandinavian presence close to the start of the conventionallandnámperiod (after AD 985) and with occupation continuing up to at least the 14th century AD. The start of this activity, found at 2 sites, bears comparison with various locations in both the Eastern and Western Settlement areas. The terminal phase of activity in the Middle Settlement is represented at 1 site only, but despite this limitation, it shows that the Norse may have been present for most of the period that they occupied sites in both the Western and Eastern settlements. Caribou bone from separate contexts that also contained Thule Inuit material proves useful in indicating dates for a probable post-Norse Inuit presence. The position of age estimates on the calibration curve underscores the need to look critically at such evidence when making chronological inference during the Norse period owing to the existence of plateaus and wiggles. The inclusion of samples from both domesticated and wild fauna considered to be possibly modern, yet reported from archaeological assemblages, provides a warning to archaeozoologists to be especially vigilant when considering the potential non-contemporaneity of material.

scholarly journals Towards a First Chronology for the Middle Settlement of Norse Greenland: 14C and Related Studies of Animal Bone and Environmental Material

Radiocarbon ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin J Edwards ◽  
Gordon T Cook ◽  
Georg Nyegaard ◽  
J Edward Schofield
Keyword(s):  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Terminal Phase ◽  
Wild Fauna ◽  
Animal Bone ◽  
Environmental Material ◽  
Absolute Dating ◽  
Isotope Measurement ◽  
Settlement Areas ◽  
Stable Isotope Measurement ◽  
Age Estimates

The so-called Middle Settlement (Mellembygden) of Norse/Viking Greenland has received far less attention than either of its larger Eastern and Western counterparts. The Greenlandic Norse occupation is nominally taken to date between AD 985 and about AD 1450 and it is generally assumed that the Western Settlement was abandoned prior to the Eastern, but where the Middle Settlement fits into the pattern temporally has hitherto been completely unknown. This paper presents the first absolute dating evidence from the Middle Settlement. In addition to providing the results (14C, δ13C, δ15N) of a radiocarbon dating and stable isotope measurement program from domesticated (Bos, Ovis/Capra) and wild (Rangifer) animal bone and cultural-environmental (coastal, possibly midden) samples, the paper also addresses some problems of 14C estimation for the period of Norse occupation in Greenland. Investigations show a Medieval Scandinavian presence close to the start of the conventional landnám period (after AD 985) and with occupation continuing up to at least the 14th century AD. The start of this activity, found at 2 sites, bears comparison with various locations in both the Eastern and Western Settlement areas. The terminal phase of activity in the Middle Settlement is represented at 1 site only, but despite this limitation, it shows that the Norse may have been present for most of the period that they occupied sites in both the Western and Eastern settlements. Caribou bone from separate contexts that also contained Thule Inuit material proves useful in indicating dates for a probable post-Norse Inuit presence. The position of age estimates on the calibration curve underscores the need to look critically at such evidence when making chronological inference during the Norse period owing to the existence of plateaus and wiggles. The inclusion of samples from both domesticated and wild fauna considered to be possibly modern, yet reported from archaeological assemblages, provides a warning to archaeozoologists to be especially vigilant when considering the potential non-contemporaneity of material.

scholarly journals An Introduction to the Continental Record of the Laurentide Ice Sheet

2008 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denis A. St-Onge
Keyword(s):  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Ice Sheet ◽  
Laurentide Ice Sheet ◽  
Dating Methods ◽  
Ice Retreat ◽  
Absolute Dating ◽  
Age Estimates

ABSTRACT The record of the Laurentide Ice Sheet is not well preserved in terrestrial deposits. Sediment sequences are incomplete and few record events older than the last ice retreat. Furthermore, in the absence of absolute dating methods for deposits older than the limit of radiocarbon dating, units are generally assigned a chronostratigraphic position by "counting from the top". As a result age estimates of many units can differ significantly between authors.

Great longevity of speckled hind (Epinephelus drummondhayi), a deep-water grouper, with novel use of postbomb radiocarbon dating in the Gulf of Mexico

2013 ◽  
Vol 70 (8) ◽  
pp. 1131-1140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allen H. Andrews ◽  
Beverly K. Barnett ◽  
Robert J. Allman ◽  
Ryan P. Moyer ◽  
Hannah D. Trowbridge
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Of Mexico ◽  
Deep Water ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Early Growth ◽  
Economic Importance ◽  
Growth Characteristics ◽  
Adult Age ◽  
Bomb Radiocarbon ◽  
Growth Zones ◽  
Age Estimates

Growth characteristics are poorly understood for speckled hind (Epinephelus drummondhayi), a tropical deep-water grouper of economic importance that is considered overfished. Age has been validated for early growth, but the validity of adult age estimates is unknown. A few studies of growth zones in otoliths have revealed maximum age estimates of 15–35 years, which have been uncritically assumed as longevity. To answer questions about adult age, bomb radiocarbon dating was used to provide validated age estimates. A novel aspect of this study was use of the postbomb radiocarbon decline period (ca. 1980–2004) to age younger fish, an approach that was validated with known-age otoliths. Bomb radiocarbon dating provided valid length-at-age estimates ranging from ∼5 years to more than 45 years. Age was unexpectedly greater than previous estimates for more than half the fish used in this study, and longevity may approach 60–80 years. This study extends the utility of bomb radiocarbon dating by more than 20 years and adds to the growing perspective that deep-water tropical fishes can be long-lived.

New Radiocarbon Dates from the Sanders Site (41LR2), Lamar County, Texas

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy Perttula
Keyword(s):  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Significant Part ◽  
Red River ◽  
East Texas ◽  
The West ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Animal Bone ◽  
Animal Bones ◽  
Two Samples

Recent archaeological investigations at the West Mound at the Sanders site (41LR2), on the Red River in Lamar County, Texas, disclosed substantial archaeological deposits associated with a burned clay floor to an ancestral Caddo structure in the mound. A significant part of the archaeological deposit were unburned animal bones of turtle, deer, and bison, along with Middle Caddo period, Sanders phase, fine and utility ware ceramic sherds; Sanders is one of 26 known Caddo sites in East Texas with bison bones and/or tools. In this article, I discuss the results of the radiocarbon dating of two samples of animal bone—deer and bison—from the West Mound at the Sanders site.

Absolute Dating of the Virje and Hlebine Sites

2021 ◽  
pp. 92-100
Author(s):  
Katarina Botić
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Change ◽  
Bayesian Model ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Iron Formation ◽  
Iron Production ◽  
Formation Processes ◽  
Residential Areas ◽  
Ams Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Absolute Dating ◽  
Cool Conditions

In this chapter the results of AMS radiocarbon dating of 26 charcoal samples from four sites are discussed. The primary aim was to explore the scope of (dis)continuity of temporally and functionally interconnected types of sites (settlement and iron production workshop). A Bayesian model was created based on the acquired data from excavated sites with three sequences in the model determined. The results show great accordance with the archaeologically based data, with some exceptions that are most probably a result of modelling strategy used. Contemporaneity of all four sites is mostly attested with a possible and very short temporal hiatus around AD 600. Occupation of workshop and residential areas at that time or slightly after may have been linked to the globally attested environmental change during the Bond 1 event when dry and cool conditions prevailed and which could have had an impact on bog iron formation processes.

Absolute Dating of Early Iron Objects from the Ancient Orient: Radiocarbon Dating of Luristan Iron Mask Swords

Radiocarbon ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 61 (5) ◽  
pp. 1229-1238
Author(s):  
C Matthias Hüls ◽  
Ingo Petri ◽  
Helmut Föll
Keyword(s):  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Carbon Sources ◽  
Iron Production ◽  
Museum Collections ◽  
Fossil Carbon ◽  
Slag Inclusions ◽  
Metallurgical Analysis ◽  
Absolute Dating ◽  
Production Period ◽  
Two Sides

ABSTRACTLuristan Iron Mask Swords have been recovered mostly from illegal diggings in the 1920s. The about 90 known objects are characterized by a disk-shaped pommel on the top of the handle with two mounted bearded heads on two sides. According to the similarity in form and radiocarbon (14C) measurements on two swords from museum collections, an overall short production period was assumed around 1000 BC (Moorey 1991; Rehder 1991). Here we present the results of metallurgical analysis and 14C measurements for three newly acquired Luristan swords, which were donated to the Royal Museums of Art & History, Brussels. Metallurgical analysis indicates an iron production via the bloomary furnace technique. Analyzed samples show large slag inclusions (Fayalite, Wüstite, glass) within a mostly ferritic and pearlitic iron. The carbon contents varied between 0.2 wt% to around 0.8 wt%). 14C measurements on thermally extracted carbon give 14C ages between 2800 BP–3360 BP (calibrated ∼1745 BC–900 BC). The reliability of the 14C measurements are discussed with respect to external (contamination during handling) and intrinsic contamination (e.g. fossil carbon sources during manufacture).

scholarly journals CALCINED BONE AS A RELIABLE MEDIUM FOR RADIOCARBON DATING: A TEST USING PAIRED NORTH AMERICAN SAMPLES

2017 ◽  
Vol 82 (3) ◽  
pp. 593-608 ◽  
Author(s):  
James C. Chatters ◽  
James W. Brown ◽  
Steven Hackenberger ◽  
Patrick McCutcheon ◽  
Jonathan Adler
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Pacific Northwest ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Bone Collagen ◽  
Organic Media ◽  
Radiocarbon Age ◽  
Cross Dating ◽  
Chronometric Analysis ◽  
Calcined Bone ◽  
Age Estimates

Radiocarbon dating using charcoal and bone collagen, two standards of archaeological chronology, can be difficult to impossible in environments where natural burning is common and bone does not preserve well. In such settings, charcoal ages cannot always be trusted and collagen is unavailable. Calcined bone can be a viable alternative medium in these situations but it has rarely been exploited in the Americas. One area that could benefit from its use is the forested Pacific Northwest. We compare calcined bone ages with charcoal and/or collagen dates from individual features or discrete cultural strata in 10 Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and British Columbia sites dating between 9000 and 100 B.P. Resulting radiocarbon age estimates based on calcined bone closely match those based on charcoal and/or collagen in nearly all cases. We obtained calcined bone dates from three additional Holocene-aged sites that had not previously produced accurate results, obtaining findings consistent with estimates based on cross dating. Preserving well where all other organic media of cultural origin are lost or unreliable, calcined bone holds promise for dating sites in conifer forests and other acidic soil settings, and can allow researchers to refine archaeological sequences that have long defied accurate chronometric analysis.

Towards an absolute chronology for the Iron Age of Inner Asia

Antiquity ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 71 (274) ◽  
pp. 863-874 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark E. Hall
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Old World ◽  
Inner Asia ◽  
Absolute Dating

For half a century now — ever since radiocarbon dating began — there have been regional reconciliations between relative chronologies and the new absolute dating. Sometimes they have been friendly, some times less so when the two schemes have not matched well. For Inner Asia — centre of the Old World — there is belatedly now the means to resolve some fundamentals.

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