Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) Dates Confirm Early Zea Mays in the Mississippi River Valley

1994 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 490-498 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas J. Riley ◽  
Gregory R. Walz ◽  
Charles J. Bareis ◽  
Andrew C. Fortier ◽  
Kathryn E. Parker
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Zea Mays ◽  
Mississippi River ◽  
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Stable Carbon Isotope ◽  
Mississippi Valley ◽  
Middle Woodland ◽  
American Bottom ◽  
Relative Contribution ◽  
Ams Dates

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.

scholarly journals REEVALUATING THE EVIDENCE FOR MIDDLE WOODLAND MAIZE FROM THE HOLDING SITE

2017 ◽  
Vol 82 (1) ◽  
pp. 140-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary L. Simon
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Carbon Isotope ◽  
Mississippi River ◽  
The Other ◽  
Geological Survey ◽  
Crop Plant ◽  
Middle Woodland ◽  
American Bottom ◽  
Three Samples ◽  
Original Report

Maize fragments recovered from the Middle Woodland Holding site (11MS118) in the American Bottom have for several decades been recognized as the oldest directly dated maize east of the Mississippi River. A reevaluation of maize samples from this site indicates that finding was in error. Carbon isotope assessment (δ13C ratios) run on the original samples dated in 1994 indicated that they were not maize. Six additional samples originally identified as maize were submitted to the Illinois State Geological Survey for carbon ratio assessment and direct accelerated mass spectrometry dating. Three of the fragments, including one from the same feature dated previously, returned non-maize δ13C ratios. The other three samples were correctly identified as maize, but all returned post–A.D. 900 dates. These results invalidate the original report of Middle Woodland maize at Holding and support our ongoing reevaluations of maize histories in the American Bottom and western Illinois, which show that it was not an important cultivated crop plant in this part of the Midwest until about A.D. 900.

scholarly journals A Review of the Radiocarbon Dates for the Afanasyevo Culture (Central Asia): Shifting Towards the “Shorter” Chronology

Radiocarbon ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 243-263 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrey V Poliakov ◽  
Svetlana V Svyatko ◽  
Nadezhda F Stepanova
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Liquid Scintillation Counting ◽  
Liquid Scintillation ◽  
Scintillation Counting ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Ams Dates

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.

scholarly journals New 14C Dates of Neolithic and Early Metal Period Ceramics in Lithuania

Radiocarbon ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 629-643 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gytis Piličiauskas ◽  
Mika Lavento ◽  
Markku Oinonen ◽  
Gytis Grižas
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Reservoir Effect ◽  
Human Bones ◽  
Three Samples ◽  
Absolute Dating ◽  
Freshwater Reservoir ◽  
Prehistoric Ceramics ◽  
Ams Dates

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.

scholarly journals Radiocarbon Dating of Wood Using Different Pretreatment Procedures: Application to the Chronology of Rotoehu Ash, New Zealand

Radiocarbon ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 43 (2A) ◽  
pp. 239-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
G M Santos ◽  
M I Bird ◽  
B Pillans ◽  
L K Fifield ◽  
B V Alloway ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Wet Oxidation ◽  
Acid Base ◽  
Acid Pretreatment ◽  
Age Range ◽  
Ams Dates

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 and Stratigraphic Chronology of Canímar Abajo, Matanzas, Cuba

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 ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Cultural Context ◽  
Human Bone ◽  
Bone Collagen ◽  
Caribbean Region ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Shell Matrix ◽  
The Caribbean ◽  
Ams Dates

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.

scholarly journals AMS Radiocarbon Dates of Kurgans Located On the Ust'-Yurt Plateau, Uzbekistan

Radiocarbon ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 47 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soren Blau ◽  
Vadim Yagodin
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Skeletal Remains ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Late Prehistoric ◽  
Human Skeletal Remains ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Relative Dating ◽  
Ams Dates

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.

scholarly journals The Radiocarbon Dating and Authentication of Iron Artifacts

Radiocarbon ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 717-732 ◽  
Author(s):  
P T Craddock ◽  
M L Wayman ◽  
A J T Jull
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Fossil Fuel ◽  
Last Millennium ◽  
Chemical Combination ◽  
Ams Dating ◽  
Iron Artifacts ◽  
Different Origins ◽  
Ams Dates

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.

scholarly journals Cahokia$s Boom and Bust in the Context of Climate Change

2009 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 467-483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larry V. Benson ◽  
Timothy R. Pauketat ◽  
Edward R. Cook
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Mississippi River ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Rapid Development ◽  
Economic Transformation ◽  
Mississippi Valley ◽  
Social Unrest ◽  
American Bottom ◽  
Boom And Bust ◽  
Monks Mound

During the early Mississippian Lohmann phase (A.D. 1050-1100), the American Bottom experienced a political and economic transformation. This transformation included the abrupt planned construction of central Cahokia, a large-scale influx of people to "downtown Cahokia," the abandonment of pre-Mississippian village settlements, the reorganization of farming in the Mississippi River floodplain, and the founding of the Richland farming complex in the Illinois uplands. New tree-ring-based records of climate change indicate that this rapid development occurred during one of the wettest 50-year periods during the last millennium. During the next 150 years, a series of persistent droughts occurred in the Cahokian area which may be related to the eventual abandonment of the American Bottom. By A.D. 1150, in the latter part of a severe 15-year drought, the Richland farming complex was mostly abandoned, eliminating an integral part of Cahokia$s agricultural base. At about the same time, a 20,000-log palisade was erected around Monks Mound and the Grand Plaza, indicating increased social unrest. During this time, people began exiting Cahokia and, by the end of the Stirling phase (A.D. 1200), Cahokia$s population had decreased by about 50 percent and by A.D. 1350, Cahokia and much of the central Mississippi valley had been abandoned.

Marine Reservoir Correction for American Samoa Using U-series and AMS Dated Corals

Radiocarbon ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 851-868 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey T Clark ◽  
Seth Quintus ◽  
Marshall I Weisler ◽  
Emma St Pierre ◽  
Luke Nothdurft ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
American Samoa ◽  
Wood Charcoal ◽  
Central Pacific ◽  
Marine Samples ◽  
Colonization Period ◽  
Ams Dates

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.

scholarly journals Radiocarbon Accelerator (AMS) Dates for the Epipaleolithic Settlement At Abu Hureyra, Syria

Radiocarbon ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 1068-1076 ◽  
Author(s):  
A M T Moore ◽  
J A J Gowlett ◽  
R E M Hedges ◽  
G C Hillman ◽  
A J Legge ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
High Precision ◽  
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Cereal Grains ◽  
Small Samples ◽  
Southwest Asia ◽  
Significant Evidence ◽  
Animal Bones ◽  
Ams Dates

The prehistoric settlement of Abu Hureyra in Syria was occupied in both the Epipaleolithic and Neolithic periods. It has provided significant evidence for changes in economy at the time of the inception of agriculture in southwest Asia. Twenty accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dates have been obtained to determine the duration of occupation of the Epipaleolithic settlement there and the precise age of samples of cereal grains and animal bones found within it. The results have demonstrated that the AMS technique can answer such questions because it dates exceedingly small samples with high precision. The dates indicate that the Epipaleolithic settlement was inhabited for about a millennium, from before 11,000 to nearly 10,000 bp, significantly longer than had been anticipated from study of the artifacts.

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