Problems in Radiocarbon Dating Human Remains from Arid Coastal Areas: An Example from the Cape Region of Baja California

1997 ◽  
Vol 62 (3) ◽  
pp. 489-507 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Eldon Molto ◽  
Joe D. Stewart ◽  
Paula J. Reimer
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Of California ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Baja California ◽  
Human Remains ◽  
Bone Collagen ◽  
Carbon Yield ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
European Contact ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Pacific Ocean

Three AMS radiocarbon dates on bone collagen from Las Palmas culture human skeletons from the cape region of Baja California are analyzed. Carbon derived from both terrestrial and marine sources necessitates correcting the radiocarbon ages for reservoir effects. Complicating this, however, are (a) the uncertain percentage of carbon of marine origin in the samples and (b) the convergence of the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California, which differ markedly in reservoir values. Computer program CALIB 3.0.3c is used to correct and calibrate the conventional radiocarbon dates in a simulation using varied values for marine carbon and reservoir effects for each sample. This produces substantial variance in the results and, therefore, difficulties for chronological interpretation. For example, reasonable input values for dR and percent marine carbon yield dates that overlap the first European contact (A.D. 1533), despite the absence of historic documentation of the Las Palmas mortuary complex. Further research on reservoir effects and paleodiet is needed in order to interpret radiocarbon determinations on cape region human remains. Moreover, our findings have serious implications for the proper application of radiocarbon dating to samples from other regions subject to reservoir effects.

Radiocarbon Dating and Dietary Stable Isotope Analysis of Kwaday Dän Ts'inchí

2007 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
pp. 719-734 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael P. Richards ◽  
Sheila Greer ◽  
Lorna T. Corr ◽  
Owen Beattie ◽  
Alexander Mackie ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Isotope Analysis ◽  
Human Remains ◽  
Isotopic Analysis ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Bone Collagen ◽  
Contact Period ◽  
European Contact ◽  
Ams Dating ◽  
The Individual

We report here on the results of AMS dating and isotopic analysis of the frozen human remains named Kwaday Dän Ts'inchí and associated materials recovered from a glacier located in Northwest British Columbia, Canada in 1999. The isotopic analysis of bone collagen (bulk and single amino acids) from the individual indicates a strongly marine diet, which was unexpected given the location of this find, more than 100 km inland eroding out of a high elevation glacier; however, bulk hair and bone cholesterol isotopic values indicate a shift in diet to include more terrestrial foods in the year before death. The radiocarbon dating is not straightforward, as there are difficulties in determining the appropriate marine correction for the human remains, and the spread of dates on the associated artifacts clearly indicates that this was not a single use site. By combining the most recent date on a robe worn by Kwaday Dän Ts'inchi with direct bone collagen dates we conclude that the individual likely dates to between cal A.D. 1670 to 1850, which is in the pre-(or early) European contact period for this region.

Distribution and structure of Conocarpus erectus L. (Combretaceae) in the northern limit of the Pacific Ocean (Gulf of California)

2021 ◽  
Vol 209 ◽  
pp. 105645
Author(s):  
Jonathan G. Ochoa-Gómez ◽  
Joanna Acosta-Velázquez ◽  
Carlos A. Anguamea-Valenzuela ◽  
Paulina Martinetto
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Ocean ◽  
Gulf Of California ◽  
Northern Limit ◽  
Conocarpus Erectus ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Pacific Ocean

Horizontal movements, vertical-habitat utilization and diet of the jumbo squid (Dosidicus gigas) in the Pacific Ocean off Baja California Sur, Mexico

2010 ◽  
Vol 86 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 59-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gastón Bazzino ◽  
William F. Gilly ◽  
Unai Markaida ◽  
César A. Salinas-Zavala ◽  
Jorge Ramos-Castillejos
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Ocean ◽  
Baja California ◽  
Habitat Utilization ◽  
Baja California Sur ◽  
Dosidicus Gigas ◽  
Jumbo Squid ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Pacific Ocean

scholarly journals Freshwater reservoir offsets on radiocarbon-dated dog bone from the headwaters of the St. Lawrence River, USA

PeerJ ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. e7174
Author(s):  
John P. Hart ◽  
Robert S. Feranec ◽  
Timothy J. Abel ◽  
Jessica L. Vavrasek
Keyword(s):  
Native Americans ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Aquatic Organisms ◽  
Human Bone ◽  
Bone Collagen ◽  
Canis Lupus Familiaris ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Dog Bone ◽  
Freshwater Reservoir ◽  
St Lawrence River

Isotopic analysis of dog (Canis lupus familiaris) bone recovered from archaeological sites as proxies for human bone is becoming common in North America. Chronological placement of the dogs is often determined through radiocarbon dating of dog bone. The Great Lakes, their tributaries, and nearby lakes and streams were important fisheries for Native Americans prior to and after sustained European presence in the region. Carbon entering the food web in freshwater systems is often not in full isotopic equilibrium with the atmosphere, giving rise to spuriously old radiocarbon ages in fish, other aquatic organisms, and their consumers. These freshwater reservoir offsets (FROs) have been noted on human and dog bone in several areas of the world. Here we report the results of multi-tracer Bayesian dietary modeling using δ15N and δ13C values on dog bone collagen from mid-fifteenth to mid-sixteenth-century Iroquoian village sites at the headwaters of the St. Lawrence River, New York, USA. Results indicate that fish was an important component of dog diets. A comparison of radiocarbon dates on dog bone with dates on deer bone or maize from the same sites indicate FROs ranging from 97 ± 24 to 220 ± 39 14Cyr with a weighted mean of 132 ± 8 14Cyr. These results suggest that dog bone should not be used for radiocarbon dating in the absence of modeling to determine fish consumption and that previously reported radiocarbon dates on human bone from the larger region are likely to have FROs given the known importance of fish in regional human diets.

scholarly journals Species Composition and New Records of Diatom Taxa on Phyllodictyon pulcherrimum (Chlorophyceae) from the Gulf of California

Diversity ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 339
Author(s):  
Francisco Omar López-Fuerte ◽  
David Alfaro Siqueiros Beltrones ◽  
María del Carmen Altamirano-Cerecedo
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Of California ◽  
New Records ◽  
American Continent ◽  
Epiphytic Diatoms ◽  
Taxonomic Analysis ◽  
The North ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
The Pacific Ocean ◽  
First Time ◽  
The North Pacific

A taxonomic analysis of diatoms found on Phyllodictyon pulcherrimum yielded a total of 244 diatom taxa (all illustrated) within 27 orders, 45 families, and 86 genera. The Taxa were briefly documented in a list including identification references and morphometric data. Thirty-eight of the taxa identified at the species and infraspecific levels represent new records for the coasts of Mexico. Seven were recorded for the first time on the American continent: Auricula flabelliformis, A. pulchra, Campylodiscus scalaris, Coscinodiscus mesoleius, Dimeregramma fulvum, Navicula palpebralis var. angulosa, and Seminavis barbarae, and one, Nitzschia fusiformis, for the Pacific Ocean. This is the second record of the chlorophyte P. pulcherrimum in the north Pacific and the third for Mexican waters. The results confirm that surveying rare macroalgae species as hosts for epiphytic diatoms provides opportunities to seek new records of diatom taxa, or even new taxa, in regions around the world.

Serologically Differentiated Subpopulations of the Pacific Sardine, Sardinops caerulea

1964 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 691-701 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew M. Vrooman
Keyword(s):  
Gulf Of California ◽  
Baja California ◽  
Frequency Of Occurrence ◽  
The Third ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Pacific Sardine ◽  
Positive Factor ◽  
Outer Coast

Three genetically distinct subpopulations of the Pacific sardine have been differentiated by the frequency of occurrence of a C-positive blood factor. Two of these subpopulations, a northern and a southern one, live off the coast of California and the outer coast of Baja California, Mexico. The third group inhabits the Gulf of California. The C-positive factor occurred in 13.6% of the northern subpopulation, 6.0% of the southern, and 16.8% of the Gulf subpopulation.

scholarly journals Radiocarbon Dates from Neolithic and Bronze Age Hunter-Gatherer Cemeteries in the Cis-Baikal Region of Siberia

Radiocarbon ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrzej W Weber ◽  
Roelf P Beukens ◽  
Vladimir I Bazaliiskii ◽  
Olga I Goriunova ◽  
Nikolai A Savel'ev
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Baikal Region ◽  
Comprehensive Evaluation ◽  
Human Remains ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Entire Data

Extensive radiocarbon dating of human remains from Neolithic and Bronze Age hunter-gatherer cemeteries in the Cis-Baikal region of Siberia has been undertaken as a part of the multidisciplinary examination of this material conducted by the Baikal Archaeology Project (BAP; http://baikal.arts.ualberta.ca). Due to the large number of analyzed samples, this paper reports the 14C results only in the context of the basic archaeological information about each of the cemeteries. Comprehensive evaluation, analysis, and interpretation of this entire data set will be undertaken in separate publications. In fact, the dates for one such cemetery have already been examined on 2 recent occasions (Weber et al. 2004, 2005).

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document