Radiocarbon method in monitoring of fossil fuel emission

The traditional radiocarbon method widely used in archaeology and geology for chronological purposes can also be used in environmental studies. Combustion of fossil fuels like coal, natural gas, petroleum, etc., in industrial and/or heavily urbanized areas, has increased the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The addition of fossil carbon caused changes of carbon isotopic composition, in particular, a definite decrease of ¹⁴C concentration in atmospheric CO₂ and other carbon reservoirs (ocean and terrestrial biosphere), known as the Suess effect. Tree rings, leaves, as well as other annual growing plants reflected the changes of radiocarbon concentration in the atmosphere due to processes of photosynthesis and assimilation of carbon from the air. By measuring radiocarbon concentration directly in atmospheric CO₂ samples and/or biospheric material growing in industrial and/or highly urbanized areas where high emission of dead carbon is expected, it is possible to estimate the total emission of dead CO₂. Based on equations of mass balance for CO₂ concentration, stable isotopic composition of carbon and radiocarbon concentration it is possible to calculate CO₂ con-centration associated with fossil fuel emission into the atmosphere. The procedure use differences between the radiocarbon concentration and stable isotope composition of carbon observed in clean areas and industrial or/and highly urbanized areas.     

Risky business: historical archaeology of the Dutch salt enterprise on La Tortuga Island,Venezuela (1624–38)

SUMMARY: In the decades of the 1620s and 1630s the Dutch engaged in salt extraction on the island of La Tortuga, Venezuela, erecting a wooden fort, portable cannon emplacements, jetties and semi-industrial solar saltpan production facilities. The relative paucity of the archaeological record juxtaposed with the wealth of detailed documentary data and fieldwork experiences led to the operationalization of the heuristic tool of ‘scapes’. A critical construction of these socially alive portions of the island landscape and seascape demonstrates 1) how north-western European conceptions of the cultural control of nature were embodied in Dutch orderliness and industriousness; 2) how the strategy of maximization of extractive practices and minimization of risk was evidenced in the overall ephemerality of structures; and 3) how these structural imperatives were imbricated in the prose of human life and death that was unfolding from one small-scale event to another on this desolate island.     

Human bioarchaeology: Group identity and individual life histories – Introduction

The approach of individual life histories has been facilitated by a rapid growth in the area of bio- and archaeological sciences, and in human osteology. Concurrent improvements to radiocarbon dating and focus on high resolution paleoenvironmental reconstructions have moved the new research to the annual or decadal scale of analysis. Together, this new approach allows us: (1) to reconstruct long segments of individual life histories from birth to death; (2) to assess variation in prehistoric human behaviour; and (3) to place this behaviour in the context of dynamic interactions with the natural environment. The emphasis on individuals rather than groups or cultures feeds naturally into the modern scientific-evolutionary archaeology, a school of thought which focuses on mechanisms generating human cultural diversity. While it is the populations that evolve, it is the variation generated at the individual level that is necessary to set this process in motion. To an evolutionary archaeologist and anthropologist it is the behavioural variability that is of primary research interest. Hence the paramount importance of documenting and understanding what people do on a daily basis and how they differ from each other in their needs, preferences, choices, decisions, and strategies developed and employed to satisfy them.     

Combined pollen and macrofossil data as a source for reconstructing mosaic patterns of the early medieval urban habitats – a case study from Gdańsk,N. Poland

Plant macrofossils, pollen, fungal spores and other non-pollen palynomorphs (NPPs), were analyzed in three archaeological exposures established in a small area in the oldest part of the historic city of Gdańsk. One of the aims was to investigate how precisely the combined pollen and macrofossil data may reflect the diversity of local habitats within an urban archaeological site and to compare the range of information obtained using each of the methods separately. The other aim of the study was to reconstruct the environmental conditions in the earliest occupied area of the historic centre of Gdańsk. The repeatable composition and, in many points, consistency among pollen and macrofossil data in all three profiles strongly suggest that the apparently biased structure of these fossil remains in fact reflects a mosaic pattern of the vegetation in the area of the site. The combined pollen and macrofossil data enabled separation of local elements from those transported to the site by different means. The results show that already at the beginning of the 12th c., the area was almost totally deforested, but up to the mid-13th c. the settlement organization was still relatively loose, resembling a rather rural structure with well-developed ruderal plant communities and patches of semi-natural vegetation. At the coring area, strongly eutrophic riparian vegetation was bordering patches of dry grassland on a sandy holm. The large proportion of pollen of various entomophilous plants mostly from meadows and pastures is explained as a result of the presence of dung, as confirmed by the abundances of coprophilous fungal spores. The study indicates that parallel pollen and macrofossil analysis is essential for correct interpretation of fossil assemblages. Application of both methods enables broadening of the range of remains representing various organisms and obtaining more precise tools for environmental reconstruction and better understanding of the taphonomic processes at the archaeological site.     

Paleodiet reconstruction of Bronze Age Siberians from the mortuary site of Khuzhir-Nuge XIV,Lake Baikal

Paleodiet reconstruction using stable isotopes of carbon and nitrogen was carried out on individuals from the Bronze Age cemetery, Khuzhir-Nuge XIV on the western shore of Lake Baikal, Russian Federation. The cemetery contained 79 graves with 89 individuals and was in use between approximately 2700 and 2000 cal. B.C. with the exception of one burial, dated to around 4000 B.C. Archaeological and ethnographic evidence indicates that hunting and fishing were the main subsistence activities while gathering was less important. δ¹³C from collagen and carbonate apatite was analysed, along with δ¹⁵N from collagen. Bone mineral preservation was evaluated using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N of collagen are positively correlated and reflect varying reliance on terrestrial mammals, fish, and seals from Lake Baikal. Lake Baikal biota exhibit considerable variation in δ¹³C at the base of the food web thus; there is variation in human δ¹³C (−20.1‰ to −16.2‰) despite the fact that there are no C₄ plants in the region. δ¹⁵N results (range 10.3‰–16.5‰) indicate that fish, and possibly seals, made up some of the diet for everyone, but in varying amounts relative to terrestrial herbivores. δ¹³C from carbonate is not correlated with δ¹³C from collagen, a situation that has been found in remains from other coastal sites. A mixed diet from both terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems is the most likely explanation. Analysis of mortuary variables within the cemetery reveals three distinct clusters of graves with variations in burial treatment among the clusters. δ¹⁵N values are significantly different among these clusters, suggesting an association between diet and mortuary customs.     

Mapping the Activities Between a Public Research Organization and Interest Groups: A Case Study of LUT CST in Finland

The management of interest groups is the key element of fund raising and project development for a public research organization (PRO). Management is never a simple task. However, its complexity increases considerably when the research field of the PRO is generic, with numerous potential industries utilizing the research results. This paper discusses the identification and managing of interactions between a PRO and its interest groups. The case example is the Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT), hosting the Centre for Separation Technology (CST).     

Social context of the unchambered megalithic long barrows in Middle Pomerania,Poland

This paper is an attempt at defining the social functions of the unchambered megalithic long barrows found in the ?upowa group of the Funnel Beaker Culture (TRB). The authors assume that their aim can be achieved by employing a cultural ecological approach, which leads to a determination of the following variables: exploitation efficiency of the local population, local territory, and size of that population. The values determined for these variables imply that only a small, limited number of the deceased members of the group were buried in the long barrows discussed. Thus, it is possible that burial functions were not the only and most important ones. The authors try to define the remaining functions of the long barrows.     

Hunter–gatherer migrations,mobility and social relations: A case study from the Early Bronze Age Baikal region,Siberia

A large data set of geochemical data (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr, ¹⁴C, δ¹³C, and δ¹⁵N) was obtained for a middle Holocene Early Bronze Age Khuzhir-Nuge XIV cemetery (∼4650–3950 cal. BP) in the Baikal region of Siberia. This material is analyzed at the individual level and in the context of demographic data and spatial arrangements within the cemetery revealing a number of new insights about hunter–gatherer adaptive strategies in the region. During the Early Bronze Age, the Little Sea area of the Baikal region witnessed entire hunter–gatherer families migrating there from other parts of the Cis-Baikal, such as the Angara and upper Lena valleys. While all larger spatial units discernible at Khuzhir-Nuge XIV, such as the East, Centre, and West Sectors, scattered graves, and rows of graves, included individuals of local and non-local birth, it is evident that the area of origin was an important cultural variable well marked in the various smaller spatial arrangements such as the rows, sub-sectors, and groups of graves. The two different diets identified among the analyzed group of people (Game-Fish-Seal and Game-Fish) show interesting spatial distribution patterns. While both diets are present in the East and Centre Sectors, the West Sector is composed only of individuals characterized by the GFS diet. All locals subsisted on the GFS diet, while the non-locals featured a mix of individuals with either GFS or GF diet. It appears that status was not linked to the area of origin, for individuals of both local (GFS) and non-local diet (GF) were buried within the “rich” East Sector, however, in spatially separate arrangements suggesting further that the area of origin was an important social distinction among these high status individuals. The similarity in diet catchment patterns and diets for individuals interred in the same graves and row, and the differences between some rows, suggest existence of distinct foraging ranges used by separate social units, such as families.