Building Confidence in Shell: Variations in the Marine Radiocarbon Reservoir Correction for the Northwest Coast Over the Past 3,000 Years
| Autor: | Jennie N. Deo, Julie K. Stein, John O. Stone |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2004 |
| Předmět: |
010506 paleontology
Archeology History geography geography.geographical_feature_category 060102 archaeology Museology Shell (structure) 06 humanities and the arts 01 natural sciences Archaeology law.invention Oceanography Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous) law Upwelling 0601 history and archaeology Seawater Submarine pipeline Radiocarbon dating Geology Holocene Sound (geography) 0105 earth and related environmental sciences |
| Zdroj: | American Antiquity. 69:771-786 |
| ISSN: | 2325-5064 0002-7316 |
| DOI: | 10.2307/4128449 |
| Popis: | In many regions, fluctuations have occurred through time in the local 14C activity of seawater. Evaluating these shifts and their effects on 14C age estimates is difficult, and, as a result, archaeologists working in coastal settings tend to preferentially date charcoal samples over shell. Our research on 18 charcoal–shell pairs from Puget Sound and Gulf of Georgia archaeological sites helps elucidate the spatial and temporal dynamics associated with marine reservoir effects in the Pacific Northwest. This analysis suggests that between 0 and 500 B.P. the regional correction value (ΔR) is 400 years, which agrees with the modern value determined by Stuiver and others. Between 500 and 1200 B.P., however, ΔR dips close to zero, possibly reflecting a decrease in offshore upwelling. From 1200 to 3000 B.P., ΔR returns to 400 years. These data are presented as a Puget Sound/Gulf of Georgia regional correction curve for the late Holocene, which local researchers may use to calibrate dates of marine shell. In addition, we detail our methods for constructing calibration curves and present guidelines for archaeologists working in other coastal settings to develop calibration curves for their regions. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
|