Organic Loss in Drained Wetland Monuments: Managing the Carbon Footprint

Abstract

The recent installation of land drains at Star Carr, Yorkshire, UK, has been linked with loss of preservation quality in this important Mesolithic buried landscape, challenging the PARIS principle. Historically captured organic carbon, including organic artefacts, is being converted to soluble organic compounds and less soluble carbon gases. At the same time sulphur and nitrogen compounds are oxidized to species that are chemically destructive of artefacts and ecofacts. Two of the carbon products, CO₂ and methane, are ‘greenhouse gases’ whose environmental impact can be costed in terms of carbon equivalents, which can be set against an assessment of the gain in agricultural productivity of the land arising from drainage, at Star Carr being the improved cereal crop. Wetland studies elsewhere suggest that such decay processes could be slowed by restoring the historic soil environment, and even reversed to create carbon capture, enabling the farmer to claim carbon credits.     

A NEW SETTING FOR THE NORTHERN BORDER OF THE VENETI: METALLIC FINDS FROM THE VENETIC SITE OF MONTE CALVARIO,AURONZO DI CADORE*

In 2000 several bronze and lead objects were discovered at the Venetic‐Roman site (200 bc –ad 200) of Monte Calvario di Auronzo, in the Italian eastern Alps. They were mostly finished artefacts plus semi‐worked products. Analysis included SEM–EDS, EMPA, XRPD, TMS and AMS spectrometry. The compositional results of the finished artefacts suggest that the choice of the alloy had been made according to the decorative techniques to be used. A semi‐worked high‐leaded bronze object indicates the existence of a metallurgical production of cast artefacts at the site. TMS analyses of a lead ingot exclude local provenance, proving the existence of important trade routes.     

Dogs,divers, deer and diet. Stable isotope results from Star Carr and a response to Dark

We here respond to Dark's [Dark, P., 2003. Dogs, a crane (not duck) and diet at Star Carr: a response to Schulting and Richards. Journal of Archaeological Science 30, 1353–1356] criticisms of our previous paper [Schulting, R.J., Richards, M.P., 2002. Dogs, ducks, deer and diet: a reappraisal of the stable isotope evidence on early domestic dogs from the Vale of Pickering, north-east England. Journal of Archaeological Science 29, 327–333] in which we supported the previous interpretation of stable isotope data from the Seamer Carr dog [Clutton-Brock, J., Noe-Nygaard, N., 1990. New osteological and C-isotope evidence on Mesolithic dogs: companions to hunters and fishers at Star Carr, Seamer Carr and Kongemose. Journal of Archaeological Science 17, 643–653] as indicating a marine-influenced diet. Additional isotopic data are presented on fauna from Star Carr, most importantly from two piscivorous diving birds. These new data further support the original contention that marine protein is the most likely source of the elevated carbon and nitrogen isotope values seen in the Seamer Carr dog. In addition, cutmarks on the humerus of a Brent goose, and the presence of an additional element (right femur) attributable to the previously known adult dog from Star Carr, are noted for the first time. Two new AMS determinations are presented for Star Carr, placing an adult dog in the period 9680 ± 55 BP (9270–8840 cal BC) and a subadult dog somewhat later at 9342±41 BP (8735–8475 cal BC). Unlike Seamer Carr, both dogs show entirely terrestrial (non-marine) diets.     

Direct radiocarbon (AMS) dating of split-based points from the (Proto)Aurignacian of Trou de la Mère Clochette,Northeastern France. Implications for the characterization of the Aurignacian and the timing of technical innovations in Europe

Radiocarbon (AMS) dates on two split-based point wings and a hominin molar from the site of Trou de la Mère Clochette in the French Jura are presented in this paper. Dating split-based points has very rarely been undertaken. This is unfortunate given that these artefacts are critical to our definition and characterization of Early Upper Palaeolithic technocomplexes, as they are considered to be the type fossil of the Classic Aurignacian.     

Early Evidence for Domestic Chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus) in the Horn of Africa

Domestic chickens (Gallus gallus domesticus L. 1758) are one of the most valued farm animals in the world today. Chickens are widespread and economically and socially significant in Africa. Despite their importance, little is known about the nature of their introduction and subsequent integration into African economies. One reason for this is the morphological similarity of domestic chickens to wild galliform birds in Africa such as guineafowl and francolin. Here, we present direct dates and morphological evidence for domestic chickens recovered from Mezber, a pre‐Aksumite (>800–450 BCE) rural farming settlement in northern Ethiopia. Key morphological markers differentiated these domestic chickens from francolins. The Mezber direct chicken element accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dates of cal 820–595 BCE and indirect/charcoal AMS dates of cal 921–801 BCE constitute the earliest osteological evidence for chickens in Africa. Chicken bones in the domestic food waste of an early rural settlement at Mezber and their presence in later Aksumite urban contexts show that chickens were integrated into diverse Ethiopian highland settings. The Mezber specimens predate the earliest known Egyptian chickens by at least 550 years and draw attention to early exotic faunal exchanges in the Horn of Africa during the early first millennium BCE. These findings support previous archaeological, genetics and linguistic data that suggest maritime exchange networks with South Arabia through ports along the African Red Sea coast constitute one possible early route of introduction of chickens to Africa. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

AN INTERIM REPORT OF THE STAR CARR MICROWEAR STUDY

Summary. This paper presents some preliminary observations based on the microwear analysis of 173 artefacts from the mesolithic site of Star Carr, near Scarborough, Yorkshire. One hundred discrete and utilized edges were identified by the presence of various microwear traces on 79 of the artefacts belonging to the following general types: scrapers, edge-damaged or marginally retouched blades and flakes, bilaterally backed blades (awls), burins, backed blades, axe resharpening flakes, denticulated or truncated blades and flakes, microliths, and cores. The microwear traces identified on the tools indicates that they were used in a variety of ways in the processing of hide, bone, wood, antler and meat. A comparison of wear-traces and tool shape has shown that there are morphological differences between scrapers used on hide and those used on bone, and also, that edge-damaged or marginally retouched blades were selected for use on the basis of their cross-sectional configuration.     

A NEW DATING METHOD FOR HIGH‐CALCIUM ARCHAEOLOGICAL GLASSES BASED UPON SURFACE‐WATER DIFFUSION: PRELIMINARY CALIBRATIONS AND PROCEDURES*

The first European settlers came to North America in the early 17th century using glass in the form of containers and decorative objects. Thus, glass is a horizon marker for all historic period settlements and a potential source of chronometric dates at archaeological sites belonging to the historic period in the Americas. We have developed a new absolute dating method based upon water diffusion into the surface of manufactured glasses that predicts diffusion coefficients based upon variation in glass chemical constituents. Low‐temperature (< 190°C) hydration experiments have been performed on a set of five high‐calcium (21.7–28.3%) glasses that were used to manufacture wine bottles from the 17th?19th centuries. Infrared spectroscopy and secondary ion mass spectrometry was used to model the water diffusion/alkali exchange process. The ability of the model to accurately predict archaeological ages was evaluated with artefacts recovered from ceramic‐dated contexts at Thomas Jefferson's plantation known as Monticello.     

A 6000 Year‐old Fossil Dugong from Botany Bay: Inferences about Changes in Sydney's Climate,Sea Levels and Waterways

The excavation in the 1890s of a skeleton of the warm‐water marine mammal Dugong dugon, associated with Aboriginal artefacts, from a Botany Bay salt marsh, marked the beginning of speculation about climate and sea level change in Australia over the period of human occupation. The dugong bones have recently been dated, giving a conventional ¹⁴C age of 5520±70 years BP, which is consistent with three older ¹⁴C dates for a layer of buried trees that underlies much of the north Botany sediments. The carefully drawn cross‐sections of depositional strata produced by the original discoverers allow further interpretation of the pattern of Holocene sea‐level fluctuations in the Sydney region. Layers of estuarine sediment, such as the one containing the dugong skeleton, are inter‐bedded with peat layers containing in situ roots and stumps, suggesting that the site alternated between sub‐aerial exposure and submergence throughout the Holocene. The presence of the dugong is suggestive of warmer conditions, and its inland location indicates a more extensive Botany Bay in the recent past. This is in agreement with other work from southern New South Wales describing both warm‐water marine species and higher sea levels several thousand years ago.

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A Multi-regional Analysis of AMS and Radiometric Dates from Carbonized Food Residues

Abstract

Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) is increasingly employed to date encrusted carbonized food residues on prehistoric pottery sherds, particularly in regions where other datable material is absent or scarce, or where such materials lack good association with objects of chronological interest. The accuracy of AMS dating of residues has recently been questioned in Europe and North America, with skepticism directly or indirectly attributed to the presence of carbonate rich bedrock, a freshwater carbonate reservoir resulting from association with such bedrock, or the cooking of aquatic resources such as mollusk or fish engaged in the uptake of older carbonates. It is argued that carbonized food residues from such contexts or resources are expected to display older apparent ages than dates on other materials. We evaluate this proposition through hypotheses assessing the accuracy and internal consistency of a broad range of data from the northeastern and midwestern United States. We statistically assess dates from 25 site components where either both dates on residue and context dates on other materials have been obtained. Of the 70 dates on residue tested, only 5.7 percent are considered inconsistent with their respective context dates. We also test for consistency 46 dates on residues from 14 site components lacking context dates. Of these, only 4.5 percent are considered internally inconsistent with expectations at the site or regional level. At present, we conclude that AMS dating of residues provides results consistent with those of other datable materials.     

A pilot study of “black chert” sourcing and implications for assessing hunter-gatherer mobility strategies in Northern England

Mesolithic hunter-gatherer logistic strategies and raw material procurement locales have been topics of considerable interest in northern England, accelerated by the early discoveries at Star Carr. Here we present the results of a pilot study investigating the potential for geochemically sourcing “black chert”, a material with similar qualities to flint but of inland limestone origin, using ICP-AES, ICP-MS and LA-ICP-MS. Several geological sources of black chert are known, and it is commonly present at upland Mesolithic sites along the Pennine chain. Four geological sources were sampled and analysed, along with a small sample of black chert artefacts from two upland Pennine archaeological sites. The results demonstrate that the four sampled sources can be easily differentiated from one another chemically. This research reveals the potential to apply this approach at a larger scale; the archaeological sample together with the source results indicate that additional sources will need to be identified and sampled before such data can be applied to address current questions of the Mesolithic of northern England.     

Chronologies in wood and resin: AMS C dating of pre-Hispanic Caribbean wood sculpture

This paper establishes a chronological framework for selected pieces of Caribbean (Taíno/Lucayan) wooden sculpture, enabling previously ahistoric artefacts to fit back into the wider corpus of pre-colonial material culture. Seventy-two ¹⁴C AMS determinations from 56 artefacts held in museum collections are reported, including 32 ceremonial duhos, or seats. Far from being constrained to the last few centuries prior to contact, the dates for these objects extend back to ca. AD 250, and include the artistic legacies of various cultures. Duhos in both low and high back styles are present from about AD 600, if not earlier, in a distribution that spans the Antillean island chain from Trinidad to Cuba. Complex, drug-related paraphernalia and elaborate ancestral reliquaries are in evidence by AD 1000, as are some distinctive regional styles – such as the unique iconography from the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos islands. This paper explores relevant methodological issues – from the challenges of working with museum pieces (e.g., uncertain provenance, discrete sampling techniques, impact of previous conservation treatments on dating results), to dealing with potential ‘in-built’ age in tropical hardwoods.     

CONSTRUCTING CARIBBEAN CHRONOLOGIES: COMPARATIVE RADIOCARBON DATING OF SHELL AND WOOD ARTEFACTS FROM PRE‐COLUMBIAN SITES IN CUBA

The lack of robust chronological frameworks for pre‐Columbian archaeology in the Caribbean limits the interpretive potential of ongoing studies of inter‐site and inter‐island interaction. This paper reviews the dating of 28 wood and shell artefacts from sites in northern Cuba in an attempt to date pre‐Columbian activity in the region and develop dating methodologies for the study of pre‐Columbian interaction in the Caribbean. This research compares dates from wood and shell artefacts from the waterlogged site of Los Buchillones in north‐central Cuba with dates from shell artefacts from sites on eight islands in the Sabana–Camaguey archipelago in the Bahama Channel. In addition to providing a chronological framework based on absolute dates for pre‐Columbian activity in northern Cuba, this paper also considers the methodological issues of using shell for dating pre‐Columbian activity in the Caribbean.     

A new find of brown bear (Ursus arctos) from Star Carr and other finds in the late glacial and post glacial of Britain and Denmark

A vertebra of a Brown Bear (Ursus arctos) is described from the Mesolithic settlement Star Carr. This is the first record of the species from the site. The presence of Brown Bear in a Preboreal/Boreal deposit is an important addition to the early Mesolithic fauna of Britain. A comparison with contemporary Danish material shows that the bone from Star Carr falls within the wide size range of the Danish subfossil Brown Bear. In Denmark the species decreases in number from Boreal to Atlantic time, and finds are extremely scarce in Britain during the same time interval. This is probably due to the major eustatic sea level rise, which isolated Britain and Sjælland, preventing new immigration, and to vegetational changes restricting the preferred habitats of the Brown Bear.     

Dating problems in Icelandic archaeology

For many decades tephrochronology has been used as a scientific method for dating archaeological as well as geological remains in Iceland. Recently, parts of the tephrochronology for the eruptions of the famous volcano Hekla have been questioned by the author. This is due to obvious differences in dating results of archaeological artefacts from the valley of Thjórsárdalur in southern Iceland and the current tephrochronological dating of its devastation. While the devastation of the valley has been dated to AD 1104 and is thought to have been caused by a huge eruption of mount Hekla in that year, the artefacts from excavations and stray finds, as well as new ¹⁴C results, show somewhat later 12th‐13th century dates. The paper deals with this obvious discrepancy, which has hitherto been ignored, together with the results of archaeological excavations in 1983–86 at Stóng in Thjórsárdalur; it also gives a critical analysis of the historical methodology of the tephrochronologists.     

From riches to rags: organic deterioration at Star Carr

The 11,000-year old lake edge archaeological site of Star Carr in the Vale of Pickering of North Yorkshire is one of the most famous Mesolithic sites in Europe, and one of the earliest, dated to the period of climatic warming that immediately followed the final termination of the last ice age. One of the main reasons for this international importance is the richness of its organic artefacts, faunal assemblage and environmental data. However, recent investigations have demonstrated that these organic remains have severely deteriorated over the last 60 years due to the decay and acidification of the surrounding peat. This paper presents research into the effects on the bone (histological analysis using light and polarising microscopy, and Transmission Electron Microscopy, bulk collagen analysis, and amino acid analysis), antler (visual and metrical analysis, loss on ignition and Scanning Electron Microscopy) and wood (visual analysis, decay assessment tests and Scanning Electron Microscopy).     

THE AMBER OF EL DORADO: CLASS IB ARCHAEOLOGICAL AMBERS ASSOCIATED WITH LAGUNA GUATAVITA*

Laguna Guatavita, a crater‐like lake located in central Colombia, was used by pre‐Columbian Muisca people for a variety of socio‐religious ceremonies, many of which involved casting offerings into the lake. Of these, the installation of a new ‘king’ became the basis of the El Dorado myth that was carried back to Europe by 16th century conquistadores. In the present study, beads collected from Laguna Guatavita during a late 19th/early 20th century attempt to recover valuables from the lake bed, have been subjected to geochemical analysis. Results establish that these artefacts have been fabricated from Class Ib amber. Class Ib ambers have not previously been reported in either the geological or archaeological records of Central or South America, and their existence in this context implies that the Muisca people had access to a unique local or regional source of amber, knowledge of which has subsequently been lost.     

ANALYSING ARCHAEOLOGICAL BASALT USING NON‐DESTRUCTIVE ENERGY‐DISPERSIVE X‐RAY FLUORESCENCE (EDXRF): EFFECTS OF POST‐DEPOSITIONAL CHEMICAL WEATHERING AND SAMPLE SIZE ON ANALYTICAL PRECISION*

Energy‐dispersive X‐ray fluorescence (EDXRF) has been commonly used to determine geological sources of volcanic glass artefacts, but its ability to discriminate between basaltic sources is less developed. We examine the precision and accuracy of non‐destructive EDXRF for basalt artefacts by analysing varying size and weathering characteristics. The experiments identified no appreciable effect in reproducibility or measured composition due to thickness (down to 1 mm) or natural weathering of pre‐contact flake scars for the 17 elements measured in this study. Samples with surface area less than 100 mm², however, show significant variability in measured composition and reproducibility.     

Late Holocene Historical Ecology: The Timing of Vertebrate Extirpation on Crooked Island,Commonwealth of The Bahamas

We report eight new accelerator-mass spectrometer (AMS) radiocarbon (¹⁴C) dates performed directly on individual bones of extirpated species from Crooked Island, The Bahamas. Three dates from the hutia (Geocapromys ingrahami), recovered from a culturally derived bone assemblage in McKay's Bluff Cave (site CR-5), all broadly overlap from AD 1450 to 1620, which encompasses the time of first European contact with the Lucayan on Crooked Island (AD 1492). Marine fish and hutia dominate the bone assemblage at McKay's Bluff Cave, shedding light on vertebrate consumption by the Lucayans just before their demise. A fourth AMS ¹⁴C date on a hutia bone, from a non-cultural surface context in Crossbed Cave (site CR-25), is similar (AD 1465 to 1645) to those from McKay's Bluff Cave. From Pittstown Landing (site CR-14), an open coastal archaeological site, a femur of the Cuban crocodile (Crocodylus rhombifer) yielded an AMS ¹⁴C date of AD ～1050–1250, which is early in the Lucayan cultural sequence. From a humerus in a non-cultural surface context in 1702 Cave (site CR-26), we document survival of the Cuban crocodile on Crooked Island until AD ～1300–1400, which is several hundred years later than the well-documented extinction of Cuban crocodiles on Abaco in the northern Bahamas. We lack a clear explanation of why Cuban crocodiles likely survived longer on Crooked Island than on a larger Bahamian island such as Abaco. One AMS ¹⁴C date on Crooked Island's extinct, undescribed species of tortoise (Chelonoidis sp.) from 1702 Cave is BC 790 to 540 (2740 to 2490 cal BP), which is ～1500–1700 years prior to human arrival. A second AMS ¹⁴C date, on a fibula of this tortoise from McKay's Bluff Cave, is AD 1025 to 1165, thereby demonstrating survival of this extinct species into the period of human occupation.     

Selling archaeology and anthropology: early medieval artefacts at the Expositions universelles and the Wiener Weltausstellung, 1867–1900

The archaeological and anthropological exhibits included in the four Expositions universelles held in Paris between 1867 and 1900 and the Wiener Weltausstellung in the Austro‐Hungarian capital in 1873, contributed to the commercialization of antiquarianism and granted international attention to the amateur practitioners of these emerging disciplines. Displays of archaeological artefacts and human remains from the migration period and the early Middle Ages, juxtaposed with more exotic ‘primitive’ art, permitted organizers to broaden the aesthetic sensibilities of fairgoers and promote the acquisition of native antiquities. Exhibiting private collections of early medieval objects likewise justified nineteenth‐century concepts of French and ‘pan‐Germanic’ identity by linking them to iconic artefacts and romanticizing the barbarity of this distant epoch.     

MICROSCOPIC IDENTIFICATION AND SOURCING OF ANCIENT EGYPTIAN PLANT FIBRES USING LONGITUDINAL THIN SECTIONING*

Plant fibres and the artefacts constructed from them often remain overlooked in the archaeological record because of their poor survival and the problems related to the precise identification of the species to which the fibres belong. The goal of this study was to design a simple and accurate method of identifying archaeological plant fibre sources. Twenty‐two fibre samples from two sets of ancient Egyptian botanical artefacts were examined under both a stereomicroscope and a compound microscope, and compared to a large reference collection and to previously published research. By examining longitudinal thin sections of the ancient plant specimens, we identified plant fibres from the following species: Hyphaene thebeica, Cyperus papyrus, Desmostachya bipinnata, Imperata cylindrica, Phragmites australis and Linum usitatissimum. Our identification of these plant fibres reveals essential information about the materials used for producing ropes, baskets, sandals, mats and fabric. The results of this study demonstrate the value of longitudinal thin sectioning and light microscopy as a major means of identifying the source material of botanical artefacts, and advance our knowledge of ancient Egyptian plant exploitation as well as the associated technologies involved in constructing these types of artefacts.