Accessing Hunter-Gatherer site structures using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy: applications at a Taltheilei settlement in the Canadian Sub-Arctic
| Autor: | Don H. Butler, Peter C. Dawson |
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| Rok vydání: | 2013 |
| Předmět: |
Calcite
010506 paleontology Archeology 060102 archaeology Hearth Mineralogy 06 humanities and the arts 15. Life on land 01 natural sciences Tundra Diagenesis Midden chemistry.chemical_compound chemistry visual_art visual_art.visual_art_medium Carbonate 0601 history and archaeology Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy Charcoal Geology 0105 earth and related environmental sciences |
| Zdroj: | Journal of Archaeological Science. 40:1731-1742 |
| ISSN: | 0305-4403 |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.jas.2012.11.015 |
| Popis: | The results of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy on soils and caribou bone from a Taltheilei culture settlement in northern Canada contribute to developing micro-archaeological approaches suitable for locating and characterizing hearth and midden features on hunter-gatherer sites. A weak yet pervasive signal for montgomeryite was developed from the diagenesis of dispersed ash and caribou processing residues. Disordered calcite, carbonate hydroxylapatite, charcoal, and burned bone in two pit-house hearth deposits indicate that both wood and bone were used for fuel. Crystallinity indices and carbonate/phosphate ratios for bone indicate high intensity burning. These data, in tandem with the presence of semi-subterranean dwellings, demonstrate that this particular tundra-based encampment was occupied during cold seasons, a type of settlement behaviour previously unrecognized in the Taltheilei archaeological record. Our results confirm that Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy is an accessible, rapid, and cost effective means of discovering micro-archaeological evidence valuable for reconstructing hunter-gatherer site structures. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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