scholarly journals Freshwater Reservoir Effect Variability in Northern Germany

Radiocarbon ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 55 (3) ◽  
pp. 1085-1101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bente Philippsen ◽  
Jan Heinemeier
Keyword(s):  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Potential Problem ◽  
Northern Germany ◽  
Reservoir Effect ◽  
The Past ◽  
Human Bones ◽  
Age Correction ◽  
Order Of Magnitude ◽  
Freshwater Reservoir ◽  
Reservoir Age

The freshwater reservoir effect is a potential problem when radiocarbon dating fish bones, shells, human bones, or food crusts on pottery from sites near rivers or lakes. The reservoir age in hardwater rivers can be up to several thousand years and may be highly variable. Accurate 14C dating of freshwater-based samples requires knowing the order of magnitude of the reservoir effect and its degree of variability. Measurements on modern riverine materials may not give a single reservoir age correction that can be applied to archaeological samples, but they show the order of magnitude and variability that can also be expected for the past. This knowledge will be applied to the dating of food crusts on pottery from the Mesolithic sites Kayhude at the Alster River and Schlamersdorf at the Trave River, both in Schleswig-Holstein, northern Germany.

scholarly journals Temporal Change of Radiocarbon Reservoir Effect in Sugan Lake, Northwest China during the Late Holocene

Radiocarbon ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 529-535 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ai-feng Zhou ◽  
Fa-hu Chen ◽  
Zong-li Wang ◽  
Mei-lin Yang ◽  
Ming-rui Qiang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Little Ice Age ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
Temporal Change ◽  
Northwest China ◽  
Climatic Changes ◽  
Lacustrine Sediment ◽  
Ice Age ◽  
Reservoir Effect ◽  
The Past ◽  
Reservoir Age

Many lacustrine chronology records suffer from radiocarbon reservoir effects. A continuous, accurate varve chronology, in conjunction with accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C dating, was used to determine the age of lacustrine sediment and to quantify the past 14C reservoir effect in Sugan Lake (China). Reservoir age varied from 4340 to 2590 yr due to 14C-depleted water in the late Holocene. However, during the Little Ice Age (LIA), 14C reservoir age was relatively stable. According to this study, 14C reservoir age in the late Holocene may be driven by hydrological and climatic changes of this period. Therefore, special caution should be paid to the correction of the 14C reservoir effect by a unique 14C reservoir age in paleoclimatic and paleolimnological study of northwest China.

scholarly journals Radiocarbon Age Calibration of Marine Samples Back to 9000 Cal Yr BP

Radiocarbon ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 28 (2B) ◽  
pp. 980-1021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Minze Stuiver ◽  
G W Pearson ◽  
Tom Braziunas
Keyword(s):  
Special Issue ◽  
Reservoir Effect ◽  
Radiocarbon Age ◽  
Marine Samples ◽  
Calibration Curves ◽  
Age Correction ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Reservoir Age ◽  
Age Determinations

Calibration curves spanning several millennia are now available in this special issue of Radiocarbon. These curves, nearly all derived from the 14C age determinations of wood samples, are to be used for the age conversion of samples that were formed through use of atmospheric CO2. When samples are formed in reservoirs (eg, lakes and oceans) that differ in specific 14C content from the atmosphere, an age adjustment is needed because a conventional 14C age, although taking into account 14C (and 13C) fractionation, does not correct for the difference in specific 14C activity (Stuiver & Polach, 1977). The 14C ages of samples grown in these environments are too old, and a reservoir age correction has to be applied. This phenomenon has been referred to as the reservoir effect (Stuiver & Polach, 1977).

scholarly journals New 14C Dates of Neolithic and Early Metal Period Ceramics in Lithuania

Radiocarbon ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 629-643 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gytis Piličiauskas ◽  
Mika Lavento ◽  
Markku Oinonen ◽  
Gytis Grižas
Keyword(s):  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Reservoir Effect ◽  
Human Bones ◽  
Three Samples ◽  
Absolute Dating ◽  
Freshwater Reservoir ◽  
Prehistoric Ceramics ◽  
Ams Dates

Twenty-three samples of charred food remains, charcoal, burned animals, and human bones from 14 Lithuanian prehistoric sites were dated by radiocarbon as part of a dating project oriented towards renewing the prehistoric ceramics chronology. The new dates modified the dating of ceramic styles by hundreds to a thousand years. Three Textile Ware sherds were dated to 4230–2920 cal BC—the oldest known dates of Textile Ware pottery in the East Baltic. The organic-tempered pointed-bottomed Narva and Combed-like Wares were dated to 3970–3370 cal BC, while Bay Coast Ware (Haffküstenkultur, Rzucewo), including vessels decorated with cord impressions, were dated to 3940–3540 cal BC, i.e. to a period well preceding the Corded Ware/Battle Axe horizon in Europe. Three dates of Globular Amphorae Ware placed the phenomenon directly beyond the Bay Coast chronology, i.e. in 3450–2920 cal BC. Chamotte-tempered Corded Ware from SE Lithuania was dated to 2840–2570 cal BC. The first absolute dating of coarse ware of the Žalioji type pointed to a period of 760–515 cal BC instead of the previously assumed 2nd millennium cal BC. Cremated human bones from urns found at Paveisininkai, Kernavė, and Naudvaris cemeteries were dated to 790–380 cal BC. Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dates obtained from charred food remains should be treated with a certain caution due to a possible freshwater reservoir effect that has not yet been examined in Lithuania.

scholarly journals A Freshwater Diet-Derived 14C Reservoir Effect at the Stone Age Sites in the Iron Gates Gorge

Radiocarbon ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 43 (2A) ◽  
pp. 453-460 ◽  
Author(s):  
G T Cook ◽  
C Bonsall ◽  
R E M Hedges ◽  
K McSweeney ◽  
V Boronean ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Dietary Protein ◽  
Human Bone ◽  
Bone Collagen ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
Human Diet ◽  
Reservoir Effect ◽  
Human Bones ◽  
Direct Association ◽  
Freshwater Reservoir ◽  
Isotope Analyses

Human bones from single inhumation burials and artifacts made from terrestrial mammal (ungulate) bone found in direct association with the skeletons were obtained from the Stone Age site of Schela Cladovei situated just below the Iron Gates Gorge of the River Danube. The results of stable isotope analyses of the human bone collagen are consistent with a heavy dependence on aquatic protein while radiocarbon dating of the samples reveals an offset of 300–500 years between the two sample types, indicating a freshwater reservoir effect in the human bone samples. Since protein consumption is by far the major source of nitrogen in the human diet we have assumed a linear relationship between δ15N and the level of aquatic protein in each individual's diet and derived a calibration for 14C age offset versus δ15N which has been applied to a series of results from the site at Lepenski Vir within the gorge. The corrected 14C ages (7310-6720 BP) are now consistent with the previous 14C age measurements made on charcoal from related contexts (7360–6560 BP). In addition, the data indicate a change from a primarily aquatic to a mixed terrestrial/aquatic diet around 7100 BP and this may be argued as supporting a shift from Mesolithic to Neolithic. This study also has wider implications for the accurate dating of human bone samples when the possibility exists of an aquatic component in the dietary protein and strongly implies that δ15N analysis should be undertaken routinely when dating human bones.

scholarly journals Hard water and old food. The freshwater reservoir effect in radiocarbon dating of food residues on pottery

2015 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bente Philippsen
Keyword(s):  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Hard Water ◽  
Reservoir Effect ◽  
Food Residue ◽  
Food Residues ◽  
Freshwater Reservoir

This paper discusses the problem of the freshwater reservoir effect in the radiocarbon dating of different sample materials, in particular food crusts on pottery. Charred food residue can be used to directly date of the use of the pottery. However, this material is highly complex, which can lead to various dating errors. 

scholarly journals Radiocarbon Chronology for Prehistoric Complexes of the Russian Far East: 15 Years Later

Radiocarbon ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 54 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 727-736 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yaroslav V Kuzmin
Keyword(s):  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Russian Far East ◽  
Far East ◽  
Pottery Production ◽  
Ams Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Age Correction ◽  
Radiocarbon Chronology ◽  
Far Eastern ◽  
Reservoir Age ◽  
The Russian Far East

The recent progress in radiocarbon dating of the prehistoric cultural complexes in the Russian Far East is discussed against the background of ancient chronologies for greater East Asia. Since 1997, the wide use of accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating along with the continuation of conventional dating has allowed us to establish the age of several key Paleolithic, Neolithic, and Paleometal sites. It has also contributed to advancing a deeper understanding of the timing for the beginning of pottery production, maritime adaptation, and agriculture, and several other important issues in prehistoric chronology for the studied region. Reservoir age correction values for the Japan and Okhotsk seas are now used to adjust the age for samples of marine origin. Some of the cultural-chronological models for prehistoric far eastern Russian complexes put forward in the last 10 yr lack a solid basis, and are critically evaluated herein.

scholarly journals Freshwater reservoir effect and the radiocarbon chronology of the cemetery in Ząbie, Poland

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Łukasz Pospieszny
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Significant Proportion ◽  
Large Lakes ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Reservoir Effect ◽  
Human Bones ◽  
Local Water ◽  
Freshwater Reservoir ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
Radiocarbon Chronology

In the 3rd millennium BC an island on the Łańskie Lake in north-eastern Poland was seasonally settled by a group of people practicing a syncretic burial ritual, exhibiting indigenous and foreign patterns. They left behind a small cemetery consisting of at least six graves. 14C dates made for samples of human bones until 2009 did not coincide with the expected age of the graves. Under a new pilot program in 2010–2013, a series of radiocarbon measurements was made for the human bones and an artefact of red deer antler, along with analyses of the stable isotopes ratios of carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) in the collagen. The results indicate a significant proportion of freshwater food in the diet, which caused the radiocarbon dates to be too old due to the freshwater reservoir effect (FRE). Based on the dating of the antler, unaffected by FRE, and comparative analysis, the reservoir offset for one of the graves was estimated to 740 radiocarbon years. The results, although limited by a low number of investigated humans and animals, indicate indirectly a specialization in the exploitation of local water resources. Such an economic strategy seems to be characteristic for the societies inhabiting the coasts of the Baltic Sea and littoral zones of large lakes in the Final Neolithic and at the beginning of the Early Bronze Age.

scholarly journals EXPERIMENTAL STUDIES ON ERTEBØLLE POTTERY: FOOD PREPARATION AND RADIOCARBON DATING

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 128-132
Author(s):  
Bente Philippsen
Keyword(s):  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Experimental Studies ◽  
Archaeological Research ◽  
Archaeological Record ◽  
Northern Germany ◽  
Archaeological Pottery ◽  
Reference Collection ◽  
And Function ◽  
Reservoir Age ◽  
Late Mesolithic

This article summarizes my experimental and archaeological research about the earliest pottery in Northern Germany and Denmark, belonging to the Erteblle culture, a Late Mesolithic hunter-gatherer-fisher culture. I will present firing and cooking experiments with copies of Erteblle pottery and how a reference collection of experimental food crusts can be used to understand issues of radiocarbon reservoir effects and stable isotope measurements in food crusts. It will be shown that cooking food resources with a reservoir age, such as marine or freshwater fish, leads to the same reservoir age in the pottery. The results from the experiments will be compared to the archaeological record. I will discuss the implications of the experimental studies for radiocarbon dating of archaeological pottery, and for studies of style and function of ceramics.

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