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 Freshwater Reservoir Effect in 14C Dates of Food Residue on Pottery

Radiocarbon ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 449-466 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anders Fischer ◽  
Jan Heinemeier
Keyword(s):  
Freshwater Fish ◽  
Freshwater Ecosystems ◽  
Stone Age ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Reservoir Effect ◽  
Food Residue ◽  
Northern European ◽  
Food Residues ◽  
Freshwater Reservoir

Radiocarbon dates of food residue on pottery from northern European inland areas seem to be influenced significantly by the freshwater reservoir effect (“hardwater” effect) stemming from fish and mollusks cooked in the pots. Bones of freshwater fish from Stone Age åmose, Denmark, are demonstrated to be 100 to 500 14C yr older than their archaeological context. Likewise, food residues on cooking pots, seemingly used for the preparation of freshwater fish, are shown to have 14C age excesses of up to 300 yr. It is probable that age excesses of similar or even larger magnitude are involved in food residue dates from other periods and regions. Since this effect cannot, so far, be quantified and corrected for, 14C dating of food residue, which may potentially include material from freshwater ecosystems, should be treated with reserve.

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.

Fishing for Dog Food: Ethnographic and Ethnohistoric Insights on the Freshwater Reservoir in Northeastern North America

Radiocarbon ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 57 (4) ◽  
pp. 557-570 ◽  
Author(s):  
William A Lovis ◽  
John P Hart
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Critical Threshold ◽  
Northeastern North America ◽  
Food Residue ◽  
Accelerator Mass Spectrometer ◽  
Food Residues ◽  
Freshwater Reservoir ◽  
Processing Techniques ◽  
Analytic Problem

A review of current research reveals multiple lines of evidence suggesting that no single freshwater reservoir offset (FRO) correction can be applied to accelerator mass spectrometer (AMS) ages obtained on carbonized food residue from cooking vessels. Systematically evaluating the regional presence, magnitude, and effects of a freshwater reservoir effect (FRE) is a demonstrably difficult analytic problem given the variation of ancient carbon reservoirs in both space and time within water bodies, and which should be performed in advance of AMS assays. In coastal and estuarine contexts,a prioripartitioning FRE from known marine reservoir effects (MRE) is also necessary to eliminate potential mixed effects. Likewise, any FRE varies based on the proportional mix of resources producing the residues and the ancient carbon uptake of those products. Processing techniques are a significant component of assessing potential FRE, and each pot/cooking vessel is therefore an independent context requiring analytic evaluation. In northeastern North America, there is little ethnohistoric/ethnographic evidence for fish boiling/stewing in ceramic cooking vessels; rather, fish were more often dried, smoked, or cooked for immediate consumption on open fires. Assays of fatty acids extracted from prehistoric vessel fabrics even on known fishing sites reveals no evidence for fish in the food mix. These observations suggest that the likelihoods of FRE in carbonized food residue in northeastern North America is therefore low, and that assays potentially suffering from FRO are minimal. In turn, this suggests that AMS ages from carbonized food residues are reliable unless analytically demonstrated otherwise for specific cases, and should take primacy over ages on other associated materials that have historically been employed for critical threshold chronological events.

scholarly journals Freshwater reservoir offsets on radiocarbon-dated dog bone from the headwaters of the St. Lawrence River, USA

PeerJ ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. e7174
Author(s):  
John P. Hart ◽  
Robert S. Feranec ◽  
Timothy J. Abel ◽  
Jessica L. Vavrasek
Keyword(s):  
Native Americans ◽  
Radiocarbon Dating ◽  
Aquatic Organisms ◽  
Human Bone ◽  
Bone Collagen ◽  
Canis Lupus Familiaris ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Dog Bone ◽  
Freshwater Reservoir ◽  
St Lawrence River

Isotopic analysis of dog (Canis lupus familiaris) bone recovered from archaeological sites as proxies for human bone is becoming common in North America. Chronological placement of the dogs is often determined through radiocarbon dating of dog bone. The Great Lakes, their tributaries, and nearby lakes and streams were important fisheries for Native Americans prior to and after sustained European presence in the region. Carbon entering the food web in freshwater systems is often not in full isotopic equilibrium with the atmosphere, giving rise to spuriously old radiocarbon ages in fish, other aquatic organisms, and their consumers. These freshwater reservoir offsets (FROs) have been noted on human and dog bone in several areas of the world. Here we report the results of multi-tracer Bayesian dietary modeling using δ15N and δ13C values on dog bone collagen from mid-fifteenth to mid-sixteenth-century Iroquoian village sites at the headwaters of the St. Lawrence River, New York, USA. Results indicate that fish was an important component of dog diets. A comparison of radiocarbon dates on dog bone with dates on deer bone or maize from the same sites indicate FROs ranging from 97 ± 24 to 220 ± 39 14Cyr with a weighted mean of 132 ± 8 14Cyr. These results suggest that dog bone should not be used for radiocarbon dating in the absence of modeling to determine fish consumption and that previously reported radiocarbon dates on human bone from the larger region are likely to have FROs given the known importance of fish in regional human diets.

scholarly journals New occurrences of the White River Ash (east lobe) in Subarctic Canada and utility for estimating freshwater reservoir effect in lake sediment archives

2017 ◽  
Vol 477 ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Timothy Patterson ◽  
Carley A. Crann ◽  
Jamie A. Cutts ◽  
Colin J. Courtney Mustaphi ◽  
Nawaf A. Nasser ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lake Sediment ◽  
Reservoir Effect ◽  
White River ◽  
Freshwater Reservoir ◽  
New Occurrences

scholarly journals Investigation of Norovirus genogroups (GI, GII and GIV) in stool of pet dogs with diarrhea

2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (6) ◽  
pp. 402-408
Author(s):  
Sevinc Sokel ◽  
Mehmet Kale
Keyword(s):  
Real Time Pcr ◽  
Personal Hygiene ◽  
Human Norovirus ◽  
Pet Dogs ◽  
Food Residue ◽  
Home Food ◽  
Stool Samples ◽  
Pcr Method ◽  
Food Residues ◽  
Dry Food

ABSTRACT: In this study, we searched the existence of human norovirus (NoV) GI, GII and GIV in the stool of 128 pet dogs with diarrhea, of different sex, age and breed, in Burdur, Turkey, using Real-Time PCR method. Human NoV GII was found in only 5 of the 128 dog stool samples (3.91%). It was discovered that human NoV existed most in crossbreed, female and aged 24 months or over dogs. These dogs found with human NoV GII were either bought from pet shops, stray dogs or taken as puppy of another pet dog. The sheltering conditions of these dogs were moderate and they were fed with home food residue and dry food. It was also found that most of them were vaccinated and had certain walking sites. The owners of the animals detected with infection generally did not have the habit of washing their hands or changing their clothes before or after caring their pets. We strongly advice that dog owners’ personal hygiene, the necessity of changing their clothes during their contact with animals, the environment provided for the dog, the sensitivity in caring, use of strong and effective disinfectant, keeping the dogs away from toilets and sewerage systems, as well as not feeding them with food residues are crucial issues in dogs’ care. Owners of the dogs with NoV GII were middle aged or elderly people, male, and there were no children in their houses. As these dogs are treated like the owner’s child, it is assumed that they could be transmitted with NoV GII as a result of close interaction with their owner.

scholarly journals Radiocarbon and Stable Isotope Evidence of Dietary Change from the Mesolithic to the Middle Ages in the Iron Gates: New Results from Lepenski Vir

Radiocarbon ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 293-300 ◽  
Author(s):  
C Bonsall ◽  
G T Cook ◽  
R E M Hedges ◽  
T F G Higham ◽  
C Pickard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotope ◽  
Middle Ages ◽  
Dietary Change ◽  
Danube River ◽  
Southeast Europe ◽  
Reservoir Effect ◽  
Farming Communities ◽  
Dietary Component ◽  
Freshwater Reservoir ◽  
Stable Isotope Study

A previous radiocarbon dating and stable isotope study of directly associated ungulate and human bone samples from Late Mesolithic burials at Schela Cladovei in Romania established that there is a freshwater reservoir effect of approximately 500 yr in the Iron Gates reach of the Danube River valley in southeast Europe. Using the δ15N values as an indicator of the percentage of freshwater protein in the human diet, the 14C data for 24 skeletons from the site of Lepenski Vir were corrected for this reservoir effect. The results of the paired 14C and stable isotope measurements provide evidence of substantial dietary change over the period from about 9000 BP to about 300 BP. The data from the Early Mesolithic to the Chalcolithic are consistent with a 2-component dietary system, where the linear plot of isotopic values reflects mixing between the 2 end-members to differing degrees. Typically, the individuals of Mesolithic age have much heavier δ15N signals and slightly heavier δ13C, while individuals of Early Neolithic and Chalcolithic age have lighter δ15N and δ13C values. Contrary to our earlier suggestion, there is no evidence of a substantial population that had a transitional diet midway between those that were characteristic of the Mesolithic and Neolithic. However, several individuals with “Final Mesolithic” 14C ages show δ15N and δ13C values that are similar to the Neolithic dietary pattern. Provisionally, these are interpreted either as incomers who originated in early farming communities outside the Iron Gates region or as indigenous individuals representing the earliest Neolithic of the Iron Gates. The results from Roman and Medieval age burials show a deviation from the linear function, suggesting the presence of a new major dietary component containing isotopically heavier carbon. This is interpreted as a consequence of the introduction of millet into the human food chain.

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