Palaeodietary implications from stable isotopic analysis of residues on prehistoric Ontario ceramics

Morton, June D.; Schwarcz, Henry P.

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2003.10.001

Cited by 50 publications

(70 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…This has been found in experiments [31], but also in one prehistoric vessel: An age difference of 1100 years was measured on food crusts on sherds that were believed to belong to the same vessel [87]. Furthermore, some ingredients char more easily on the vessel walls than others [31,60,88].…”

Section: Schlamersdorf/travementioning

confidence: 61%

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The freshwater reservoir effect in radiocarbon dating

2013

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The freshwater reservoir effect can result in anomalously old radiocarbon ages of samples from lakes and rivers. This includes the bones of people whose subsistence was based on freshwater fish, and pottery in which fish was cooked. Water rich in dissolved ancient calcium carbonates, commonly known as hard water, is the most common reason for the freshwater reservoir effect. It is therefore also called hardwater effect. Although it has been known for more than 60 years, it is still less well-recognized by archaeologists than the marine reservoir effect. The aim of this study is to examine the order of magnitude and degree of variability of the freshwater reservoir effect over short and long timescales. Radiocarbon dating of recent water samples, aquatic plants, and animals, shows that age differences of up to 2000 14 C years can occur within one river. The freshwater reservoir effect has also implications for radiocarbon dating of Mesolithic pottery from inland sites of the Ertebølle culture in Northern Germany. The surprisingly old ages of the earliest pottery most probably are caused by a freshwater reservoir effect. In a sediment core from the Limfjord, northern Denmark, the impact of the freshwater reservoir effect on radiocarbon dating in an estuarine environment is examined. Here, freshwater influence causes reservoir ages to vary between 250 and 700 14 C years during the period 5400 BC -AD 700. The examples in this study show clearly that the freshwater reservoir effect can seriously corrupt radiocarbon dating at inland sites. Reservoir effects should therefore be considered whenever food remains on pottery or the bones of omnivores are radiocarbon dated -irrespective of the site's distance to the coast.

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Section: Schlamersdorf/travementioning

confidence: 61%

“…Different experiments have shown that isotopic ratios of food only change slightly during cooking [88][89][90][91][92], and that food crust isotope ratios do not change during burial [89], or only change slightly [93]. Stable isotope measurements can therefore be useful for roughly distinguishing different food sources.…”

Section: Schlamersdorf/travementioning

confidence: 99%

The freshwater reservoir effect in radiocarbon dating

2013

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“…In other parts of the Americas, maize phytoliths and starch granules have been successfully extracted from food residue and soils, enabling key insight into the history of early agricultural economies (Hart et al, 2003;Pearsall, 2002;Pearsall et al, 2003;Pearsall et al, 2004b;Piperno, 2003;Staller and Thompson, 2002). In contrast, few previous studies have examined stable C and N isotope, and trace element, content of carbonized food residue (Barnard et al, 2007;Craig et al, 2007;Fie et al, 1990;Hart et al, 2007;Morton and Schwarcz, 2004;Sherriff et al, 1995), and no study has combined all of these analyses. We believe, however, that in combination these complementary proxies offer a powerful tool for understanding the relative importance, and possible provenience, of cultigens in small-scale prehistoric societies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reassessing the northern limit of maize consumption in North America: stable isotope, plant microfossil, and trace element content of carbonized food residue

Boyd

Varney

Surette

et al. 2008

Journal of Archaeological Science

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“…The presence of C 4 maize in a mixture with C 3 legumes would result in higher bulk δ 13 C values on residues. The -24‰ δ 13 C bulk value was recognised as a proxy signature of maize presence (Hastrof, DeNiro 1985;Morton, Schwarcz 2004). The analytical work focused on isotope ratio mass spectrometry and was first limited to 'bulk' carbon (δ 13 C) and nitrogen (δ 15 N) isotope compositions of carbonised food remains (DeNiro 1987).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%