Archaeological otoliths as environmental recorders: high resolution sampling of pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus) otoliths from Kiska Island, Alaska
Archaeological fish otoliths have the potential to serve as proxies for both season of site occupation and palaeoclimate conditions. By sampling along the distinctive sub-annual seasonal bands of the otolith and completing a stable isotope (δ¹⁸O, δ¹³C) analysis, variations within the fish’s environm...
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Memorial University of Newfoundland
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ftmemorialuniv:oai:research.library.mun.ca:11744 2023-10-01T03:54:32+02:00 Archaeological otoliths as environmental recorders: high resolution sampling of pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus) otoliths from Kiska Island, Alaska Young-Boyle, Chandra 2015-12 application/pdf https://research.library.mun.ca/11744/ https://research.library.mun.ca/11744/1/thesis.pdf en eng Memorial University of Newfoundland https://research.library.mun.ca/11744/1/thesis.pdf Young-Boyle, Chandra <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Young-Boyle=3AChandra=3A=3A.html> (2015) Archaeological otoliths as environmental recorders: high resolution sampling of pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus) otoliths from Kiska Island, Alaska. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland. thesis_license Thesis NonPeerReviewed 2015 ftmemorialuniv 2023-09-03T06:48:25Z Archaeological fish otoliths have the potential to serve as proxies for both season of site occupation and palaeoclimate conditions. By sampling along the distinctive sub-annual seasonal bands of the otolith and completing a stable isotope (δ¹⁸O, δ¹³C) analysis, variations within the fish’s environment can be identified. Through the analysis of cod otoliths from two archaeological sites on Kiska Island, Gertrude Cove (KIS-010) and Witchcraft Point (KIS-005), this research evaluates a micromilling methodological approach to extracting climatic data from archaeological cod otoliths. In addition, δ¹⁸Ootolith data and radiocarbon dates frame a discussion of Pacific cod harvesting, site occupation, and changing climatic conditions on Kiska Island. To aid in the interpretation of the archaeological Pacific cod results, archaeological and modern Atlantic cod otoliths were also analyzed as a component of this study to develop. The Atlantic cod otoliths provided the methodological and interpretative framework for the study, and also served to assess the efficacy of this sampling strategy for archaeological materials and to add time-depth to existing datasets. The δ¹⁸Ootolith values successfully illustrate relative variation in ambient water temperature. The Pacific cod δ¹⁸O values demonstrate a weak seasonal signal identifiable up to year 3, followed by relatively stable values until year 6/7 when values continuously increase. Based on the δ¹⁸O values, the Pacific cod were exposed to the coldest water temperatures immediately prior to capture. The lack of a clear cycle of seasonal variation and the continued increase in values towards the otolith edge obscures the season of capture, and indicates that other behavioural, environmental, or methodological factors influenced the otolith δ¹⁸O values. It is suggested that Pacific cod would have been harvested throughout the year, and the presence of cod remains in Aleutian archaeological sites cannot be used as a reliable indicator of summer occupation. In addition, when the ... Thesis atlantic cod Alaska Memorial University of Newfoundland: Research Repository Pacific Gertrude ENVELOPE(70.217,70.217,-49.517,-49.517) Kiska ENVELOPE(155.830,155.830,50.258,50.258) Kiska Island ENVELOPE(177.460,177.460,51.964,51.964) Gertrude Cove ENVELOPE(177.436,177.436,51.929,51.929) Witchcraft Point ENVELOPE(177.499,177.499,52.050,52.050) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Memorial University of Newfoundland: Research Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftmemorialuniv |
language |
English |
description |
Archaeological fish otoliths have the potential to serve as proxies for both season of site occupation and palaeoclimate conditions. By sampling along the distinctive sub-annual seasonal bands of the otolith and completing a stable isotope (δ¹⁸O, δ¹³C) analysis, variations within the fish’s environment can be identified. Through the analysis of cod otoliths from two archaeological sites on Kiska Island, Gertrude Cove (KIS-010) and Witchcraft Point (KIS-005), this research evaluates a micromilling methodological approach to extracting climatic data from archaeological cod otoliths. In addition, δ¹⁸Ootolith data and radiocarbon dates frame a discussion of Pacific cod harvesting, site occupation, and changing climatic conditions on Kiska Island. To aid in the interpretation of the archaeological Pacific cod results, archaeological and modern Atlantic cod otoliths were also analyzed as a component of this study to develop. The Atlantic cod otoliths provided the methodological and interpretative framework for the study, and also served to assess the efficacy of this sampling strategy for archaeological materials and to add time-depth to existing datasets. The δ¹⁸Ootolith values successfully illustrate relative variation in ambient water temperature. The Pacific cod δ¹⁸O values demonstrate a weak seasonal signal identifiable up to year 3, followed by relatively stable values until year 6/7 when values continuously increase. Based on the δ¹⁸O values, the Pacific cod were exposed to the coldest water temperatures immediately prior to capture. The lack of a clear cycle of seasonal variation and the continued increase in values towards the otolith edge obscures the season of capture, and indicates that other behavioural, environmental, or methodological factors influenced the otolith δ¹⁸O values. It is suggested that Pacific cod would have been harvested throughout the year, and the presence of cod remains in Aleutian archaeological sites cannot be used as a reliable indicator of summer occupation. In addition, when the ... |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Young-Boyle, Chandra |
spellingShingle |
Young-Boyle, Chandra Archaeological otoliths as environmental recorders: high resolution sampling of pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus) otoliths from Kiska Island, Alaska |
author_facet |
Young-Boyle, Chandra |
author_sort |
Young-Boyle, Chandra |
title |
Archaeological otoliths as environmental recorders: high resolution sampling of pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus) otoliths from Kiska Island, Alaska |
title_short |
Archaeological otoliths as environmental recorders: high resolution sampling of pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus) otoliths from Kiska Island, Alaska |
title_full |
Archaeological otoliths as environmental recorders: high resolution sampling of pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus) otoliths from Kiska Island, Alaska |
title_fullStr |
Archaeological otoliths as environmental recorders: high resolution sampling of pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus) otoliths from Kiska Island, Alaska |
title_full_unstemmed |
Archaeological otoliths as environmental recorders: high resolution sampling of pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus) otoliths from Kiska Island, Alaska |
title_sort |
archaeological otoliths as environmental recorders: high resolution sampling of pacific cod (gadus macrocephalus) otoliths from kiska island, alaska |
publisher |
Memorial University of Newfoundland |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://research.library.mun.ca/11744/ https://research.library.mun.ca/11744/1/thesis.pdf |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(70.217,70.217,-49.517,-49.517) ENVELOPE(155.830,155.830,50.258,50.258) ENVELOPE(177.460,177.460,51.964,51.964) ENVELOPE(177.436,177.436,51.929,51.929) ENVELOPE(177.499,177.499,52.050,52.050) |
geographic |
Pacific Gertrude Kiska Kiska Island Gertrude Cove Witchcraft Point |
geographic_facet |
Pacific Gertrude Kiska Kiska Island Gertrude Cove Witchcraft Point |
genre |
atlantic cod Alaska |
genre_facet |
atlantic cod Alaska |
op_relation |
https://research.library.mun.ca/11744/1/thesis.pdf Young-Boyle, Chandra <https://research.library.mun.ca/view/creator_az/Young-Boyle=3AChandra=3A=3A.html> (2015) Archaeological otoliths as environmental recorders: high resolution sampling of pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus) otoliths from Kiska Island, Alaska. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland. |
op_rights |
thesis_license |
_version_ |
1778522292844756992 |