Freshwater Radiocarbon Reservoir Effects at the Burial Ground of Minino, Northwest Russia
If ancient carbon is incorporated into lakes and rivers, it can be transferred along the foodchain where it can cause radiocarbon dates to appear erroneously old. This effect is known as the 14 C freshwater reservoir effect (FRE), and causes particular problems when dating human remains. Several stu...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0033822200047883 |
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crcambridgeupr:10.1017/s0033822200047883 2024-03-03T08:47:30+00:00 Freshwater Radiocarbon Reservoir Effects at the Burial Ground of Minino, Northwest Russia Wood, R E Higham, T F G Buzilhova, A Suvorov, A Heinemeier, J Olsen, J 2013 http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0033822200047883 en eng Cambridge University Press (CUP) Radiocarbon volume 55, issue 01, page 163-177 ISSN 0033-8222 1945-5755 General Earth and Planetary Sciences Archeology journal-article 2013 crcambridgeupr https://doi.org/10.1017/s0033822200047883 2024-02-08T08:45:08Z If ancient carbon is incorporated into lakes and rivers, it can be transferred along the foodchain where it can cause radiocarbon dates to appear erroneously old. This effect is known as the 14 C freshwater reservoir effect (FRE), and causes particular problems when dating human remains. Several studies have attempted to use carbon and/or nitrogen stable isotopes to predict the size of the FRE, with mixed success. We have examined whether the FRE at the Mesolithic-Neolithic burial ground of Minino, northwest Russia, is correlated with these stable isotope systems. To assess the size of the FRE, 9 pairs of human bone and burial goods were dated, such as spears and pendants made of herbivore bone. In addition, further human and faunal bones were analyzed for carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes. Although these stable isotopes suggest that freshwater resources dominated the protein intake of those buried at Minino, no relationship between stable isotopes and the FRE was found. Instead, we found that the FRE was relatively consistent at 490 ± 80 14 C yr. With caution, this can be subtracted from burials at Minino to provide a low-resolution chronology for the burial ground. We demonstrate that it is not possible to assume that a relationship exists between stable isotopes and 14 C, and each population thought to be affected by a FRE must be examined individually. Article in Journal/Newspaper Northwest Russia Cambridge University Press Minino ENVELOPE(35.300,35.300,63.783,63.783) Radiocarbon 55 01 163 177 |
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Open Polar |
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Cambridge University Press |
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language |
English |
topic |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences Archeology |
spellingShingle |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences Archeology Wood, R E Higham, T F G Buzilhova, A Suvorov, A Heinemeier, J Olsen, J Freshwater Radiocarbon Reservoir Effects at the Burial Ground of Minino, Northwest Russia |
topic_facet |
General Earth and Planetary Sciences Archeology |
description |
If ancient carbon is incorporated into lakes and rivers, it can be transferred along the foodchain where it can cause radiocarbon dates to appear erroneously old. This effect is known as the 14 C freshwater reservoir effect (FRE), and causes particular problems when dating human remains. Several studies have attempted to use carbon and/or nitrogen stable isotopes to predict the size of the FRE, with mixed success. We have examined whether the FRE at the Mesolithic-Neolithic burial ground of Minino, northwest Russia, is correlated with these stable isotope systems. To assess the size of the FRE, 9 pairs of human bone and burial goods were dated, such as spears and pendants made of herbivore bone. In addition, further human and faunal bones were analyzed for carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes. Although these stable isotopes suggest that freshwater resources dominated the protein intake of those buried at Minino, no relationship between stable isotopes and the FRE was found. Instead, we found that the FRE was relatively consistent at 490 ± 80 14 C yr. With caution, this can be subtracted from burials at Minino to provide a low-resolution chronology for the burial ground. We demonstrate that it is not possible to assume that a relationship exists between stable isotopes and 14 C, and each population thought to be affected by a FRE must be examined individually. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Wood, R E Higham, T F G Buzilhova, A Suvorov, A Heinemeier, J Olsen, J |
author_facet |
Wood, R E Higham, T F G Buzilhova, A Suvorov, A Heinemeier, J Olsen, J |
author_sort |
Wood, R E |
title |
Freshwater Radiocarbon Reservoir Effects at the Burial Ground of Minino, Northwest Russia |
title_short |
Freshwater Radiocarbon Reservoir Effects at the Burial Ground of Minino, Northwest Russia |
title_full |
Freshwater Radiocarbon Reservoir Effects at the Burial Ground of Minino, Northwest Russia |
title_fullStr |
Freshwater Radiocarbon Reservoir Effects at the Burial Ground of Minino, Northwest Russia |
title_full_unstemmed |
Freshwater Radiocarbon Reservoir Effects at the Burial Ground of Minino, Northwest Russia |
title_sort |
freshwater radiocarbon reservoir effects at the burial ground of minino, northwest russia |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press (CUP) |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0033822200047883 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(35.300,35.300,63.783,63.783) |
geographic |
Minino |
geographic_facet |
Minino |
genre |
Northwest Russia |
genre_facet |
Northwest Russia |
op_source |
Radiocarbon volume 55, issue 01, page 163-177 ISSN 0033-8222 1945-5755 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/s0033822200047883 |
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Radiocarbon |
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55 |
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01 |
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163 |
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177 |
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