scholarly journals Osseous tools and personal ornaments from the Epigravettian sequence at Badanj

Author(s):  
Dušan Borić ◽  
Emanuela Cristiani ◽  
Andrijana Pravidur ◽  
Ana Marić ◽  
Robert Whallon

Abstract The Late Upper Palaeolithic (Epigravettian) sequence at Badanj has yielded an important dataset about the occupation of the hinterland of the Eastern Adriatic catchment zone in the late Pleniglacial. The site also harbors one of the rare occurrences of Upper Palaeolithic parietal “art” in southeastern Europe in the form of a large rock engraving. Another notable aspect of the site is the presence of engravings on portable objects made from bone. The first excavations at Badanj, conducted in 1976–1979 in the zone around the engraved rock, yielded a surprisingly large number of personal ornaments (over 1000 specimens) from a variety of primarily marine gastropods, scaphopods, and bivalves, and red deer canines. Here we review what is currently known about the site and report our preliminary findings from the study of the collection of personal ornaments as well as osseous tools, some of which were marked by regular incisions forming decorative motifs. We also report two new direct accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dates on antler barbed points.

Radiocarbon ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 243-263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrey V Poliakov ◽  
Svetlana V Svyatko ◽  
Nadezhda F Stepanova

ABSTRACTThis article provides a summary and in-depth analysis of all existing radiocarbon (14C) dates for the Afanasyevo Culture of the Paleometal period. The previous “long” chronology of the culture was widely criticized and contradicted many archaeological observations. The exceedingly wide ranges of the liquid scintillation counting (LSC) dates from bone samples produced in several laboratories and the systematically older ages for the wood/charcoal samples finally reveal the shortcomings of the conventional “long” chronology. From accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS), the Afanasyevo burials of the Altai are dated to the 31st–29th century BC, whereas those of the Middle Yenisei Region to the 29th–25th century BC, which confirms the relatively earlier age of the Altai monuments. The “short” chronology removes the incompatibility of deriving the Afanasyevo Culture from the Yamnaya Culture, which previously appeared “younger” than the Afanasyevo, and also contradictions with the archaeological data. It also explains the small number of sites, the small size of the cemeteries and the lack of the internal periodization. We can now clearly move, from the earlier understanding that the Afanasyevo chronology is too broad, towards a different perception. The new AMS dates only represent a “core” for the Afanasyevo chronology, which cannot be narrowed down, but could be slightly expanded over time.


1994 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 490-498 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas J. Riley ◽  
Gregory R. Walz ◽  
Charles J. Bareis ◽  
Andrew C. Fortier ◽  
Kathryn E. Parker

Two accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dates obtained from samples of Zea mays from the Holding site, 11MS118, in the American Bottom near East St. Louis, Illinois, establish the presence of maize in the Mississippi Valley between 170 B.C. and A.D. 60. The dates finally establish the occurrence of Middle Woodland maize in Illinois and are the earliest dates thus far for maize east of the Mississippi River. Other reports of early Middle Woodland maize in the Midcontinent region should not be discounted unless AMS dating and other supporting information show the maize to be a contaminant at the site at which it occurs. Recent stable carbon-isotope experiments suggest that the relative contribution of maize to Middle Woodland diets is still an open question.


2004 ◽  
Vol 70 ◽  
pp. 1-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Jacobi

A first formal description is given of the largest collection of lithic artefacts from Britain to be clearly dated to the first part of the Late Glacial Interstadial. Much of this material is interpreted as having been left in the cave following hunting of wild horses and red deer in summer and winter. The large total of artefacts is suggested to be a result of small increments over a lengthy period rather than evidence of use of the cave as a base camp or aggregation site. It is possible that the cave took on an additional or alternative function as a funerary site.


Radiocarbon ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 629-643 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gytis Piličiauskas ◽  
Mika Lavento ◽  
Markku Oinonen ◽  
Gytis Grižas

Twenty-three samples of charred food remains, charcoal, burned animals, and human bones from 14 Lithuanian prehistoric sites were dated by radiocarbon as part of a dating project oriented towards renewing the prehistoric ceramics chronology. The new dates modified the dating of ceramic styles by hundreds to a thousand years. Three Textile Ware sherds were dated to 4230–2920 cal BC—the oldest known dates of Textile Ware pottery in the East Baltic. The organic-tempered pointed-bottomed Narva and Combed-like Wares were dated to 3970–3370 cal BC, while Bay Coast Ware (Haffküstenkultur, Rzucewo), including vessels decorated with cord impressions, were dated to 3940–3540 cal BC, i.e. to a period well preceding the Corded Ware/Battle Axe horizon in Europe. Three dates of Globular Amphorae Ware placed the phenomenon directly beyond the Bay Coast chronology, i.e. in 3450–2920 cal BC. Chamotte-tempered Corded Ware from SE Lithuania was dated to 2840–2570 cal BC. The first absolute dating of coarse ware of the Žalioji type pointed to a period of 760–515 cal BC instead of the previously assumed 2nd millennium cal BC. Cremated human bones from urns found at Paveisininkai, Kernavė, and Naudvaris cemeteries were dated to 790–380 cal BC. Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dates obtained from charred food remains should be treated with a certain caution due to a possible freshwater reservoir effect that has not yet been examined in Lithuania.


Radiocarbon ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 43 (2A) ◽  
pp. 239-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
G M Santos ◽  
M I Bird ◽  
B Pillans ◽  
L K Fifield ◽  
B V Alloway ◽  
...  

We compare radiocarbon accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) ages of wood samples subjected to a conventional acid-base-acid pretreatment with stepped combustion (ABA-SC) with results from the same samples subjected to an acid-base-wet oxidation pretreatment with stepped combustion (ABOX-SC) and cellulose extraction with stepped combustion (CE-SC). The ABOX-SC procedure has been shown previously to lead to lower backgrounds for old charcoal samples. Analyses of relatively uncontaminated “14C-dead” samples of wood suggest that backgrounds of 0.11 ± 0.04 pMC are obtainable for both the ABOX-SC and ABA-SC procedures. Where wood is significantly contaminated the ABOX-SC technique provides significantly better decontamination than either the ABA-SC technique or cellulose extraction alone, although CE-SC can produce comparably low backgrounds to the ABOX-SC procedure.We also report the application of the ABOX-SC, ABA-SC and CE-SC procedures to wood samples associated with the chronologically controversial Rotoehu Ash eruption, New Zealand. New 14C-AMS dates from wood sampled from below the Rotoehu Ash span an age range of 43–50 ka BP consistent with recently presented OSL dates of 42–44 ka obtained for palaeosols beneath the ash.


Radiocarbon ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 57 (5) ◽  
pp. 755-763 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirjana Roksandic ◽  
William Mark Buhay ◽  
Yadira Chinique de Armas ◽  
Roberto Rodríguez Suárez ◽  
Matthew C Peros ◽  
...  

Twelve accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dates from the shell-matrix site of Canímar Abajo (Matanzas, Cuba) are reported. Eleven were obtained directly from human bone collagen in burials and one was obtained from charcoal recovered from a burial context. The site stratigraphy presents two episodes of burial activity separated by a shell midden layer. The AMS dates fall into two compact clusters that correlate remarkably well with the stratigraphy. The older burial dates to between 1380–800 cal BC (2σ) and the younger one to between cal AD 360–950 (2σ). The AMS dates are compared to eight conventional 14C dates previously obtained on shell and charcoal. One of the conventional dates on charcoal (5480–5380 cal BC; 2σ) has been reported as the oldest 14C date in the Caribbean region; its context and reliability are clarified. The suite of AMS dates provides one of the most reliable chronometric dating of a cultural context during this timeframe in Cuba. The correlation of 14C and stratigraphy establishes a solid chronology for investigating the important economic and ritual features of Canímar Abajo.


Radiocarbon ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soren Blau ◽  
Vadim Yagodin

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.


Radiocarbon ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 717-732 ◽  
Author(s):  
P T Craddock ◽  
M L Wayman ◽  
A J T Jull

The continuing improvements in accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dating technology mean that it is possible to work on ever smaller samples, which in turn, make an ever wider range of sample potentially available for dating. This paper discusses some of the difficulties arising with the interpretation of AMS dates obtained from carbon in iron. The overriding problem is that the carbon, now in chemical combination with the iron, could have come from a variety of sources with very different origins. These are now potentially an iressolvable mixture in the iron. For iron made over the last millennium, there are the additional problems associated with the use of both fossil fuel and biomass fuel in different stages of the iron making, leading to great confusion, especially with authenticity studies.


Radiocarbon ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 851-868 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey T Clark ◽  
Seth Quintus ◽  
Marshall I Weisler ◽  
Emma St Pierre ◽  
Luke Nothdurft ◽  
...  

AbstractRadiocarbon dating of marine samples requires a local marine reservoir correction, or ΔR value, for accurate age calibrations. For the Samoan Archipelago in the central Pacific, ΔR values have been proposed previously, but, unlike some Polynesian archipelagoes, ΔR values seem not to vary spatially and temporally. Here, we demonstrate such variability by reporting a ΔR of –101±72 ΔR for the Manu‘a Group—the eastern-most islands in the archipelago—for the colonization period. This value is based on accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C and uranium-thorium (U-Th) series dating of individual coral branches from pre-2300 cal BP archaeological contexts. This figure differs from the previously proposed modern ΔR of 28±26 yr derived from dated historic, pre-1950, shell samples from the western islands of Samoa. Consequently, we recommend using the ΔR of –101±72 yr for the 1st millennium BC in Manu‘a, and 28±26 yr for calibrating dates within the 2nd millennium AD in the western islands (Savai‘i to Tutuila). Until more data from across the archipelago and from throughout the entire culture-historical sequence document ΔR variability, we recommend that researchers use both of these ΔR values to evaluate how the dates of marine-derived samples compare with AMS dates on identified, short-lived wood charcoal.


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