Reservoirs and radiocarbon: 14 C dating problems in Myvatnssveit, Northern Iceland
This paper examines 2 potential sources of the radiocarbon offset between human and terrestrial mammal (horse) bones recovered from Norse (~AD 870–1000) pagan graves in Mývatnssveit, north Iceland. These are the marine and freshwater 14 C reservoir effects that may be incorporated into human bones f...
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ftuglasgow:oai:eprints.gla.ac.uk:5020 2024-06-02T08:09:00+00:00 Reservoirs and radiocarbon: 14 C dating problems in Myvatnssveit, Northern Iceland Ascough, P.L. Cook, G.T. Church, M.J. Dugmore, A.J. McGovern, T.G. Dunbar, E. Einarsson, E. Frioriksson, A. Gestsdottir, H. 2007 text https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/5020/ https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/5020/1/id5020.pdf http://www.radiocarbon.org/ en eng https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/5020/1/id5020.pdf Ascough, P.L. <http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/author/11034.html> , Cook, G.T. <http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/author/5255.html>, Church, M.J., Dugmore, A.J., McGovern, T.G., Dunbar, E. <http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/author/4662.html> , Einarsson, E., Frioriksson, A. and Gestsdottir, H. (2007) Reservoirs and radiocarbon: 14C dating problems in Myvatnssveit, Northern Iceland. Radiocarbon <https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/journal_volume/Radiocarbon.html>, 49(2), pp. 947-961. QE Geology GE Environmental Sciences Articles PeerReviewed 2007 ftuglasgow 2024-05-06T15:03:19Z This paper examines 2 potential sources of the radiocarbon offset between human and terrestrial mammal (horse) bones recovered from Norse (~AD 870–1000) pagan graves in Mývatnssveit, north Iceland. These are the marine and freshwater 14 C reservoir effects that may be incorporated into human bones from dietary sources. The size of the marine 14 C reservoir effect (MRE) during the Norse period was investigated by measurement of multiple paired samples (terrestrial mammal and marine mollusk shell) at 2 archaeological sites in Mývatnssveit and 1 site on the north Icelandic coast. These produced 3 new ΔR values for the north coast of Iceland, indicating a ΔR of 106 ± 10 14 C yr at AD 868–985, and of 144 ± 28 14C yr at AD 1280–1400. These values are statistically comparable and give an overall weighted mean ΔR of 111 ± 10 14 C yr. The freshwater reservoir effect was similarly quantified using freshwater fish bones from a site in Mývatnssveit. These show an offset of between 1285 and 1830 14 C yr, where the fish are depleted in 14 C relative to the terrestrial mammals. This is attributed to the input of geothermally derived CO 2 into the groundwater and subsequently into Lake Mývatn. We conclude the following: i) some of the Norse inhabitants of Mývatnssveit incorporated non-terrestrial resources into their diet that may be identified from the stable isotope composition of their bone collagen; ii) the MRE off the north Icelandic coast during the Norse period fits a spatial gradient of wider North Atlantic MRE values with increasing values to the northwest; and iii) it is important to consider the effect that geothermal activity could have on the 14 C activity of samples influenced by groundwater at Icelandic archaeological sites. Article in Journal/Newspaper Iceland Mývatn North Atlantic University of Glasgow: Enlighten - Publications Mývatn ENVELOPE(-16.985,-16.985,65.600,65.600) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Glasgow: Enlighten - Publications |
op_collection_id |
ftuglasgow |
language |
English |
topic |
QE Geology GE Environmental Sciences |
spellingShingle |
QE Geology GE Environmental Sciences Ascough, P.L. Cook, G.T. Church, M.J. Dugmore, A.J. McGovern, T.G. Dunbar, E. Einarsson, E. Frioriksson, A. Gestsdottir, H. Reservoirs and radiocarbon: 14 C dating problems in Myvatnssveit, Northern Iceland |
topic_facet |
QE Geology GE Environmental Sciences |
description |
This paper examines 2 potential sources of the radiocarbon offset between human and terrestrial mammal (horse) bones recovered from Norse (~AD 870–1000) pagan graves in Mývatnssveit, north Iceland. These are the marine and freshwater 14 C reservoir effects that may be incorporated into human bones from dietary sources. The size of the marine 14 C reservoir effect (MRE) during the Norse period was investigated by measurement of multiple paired samples (terrestrial mammal and marine mollusk shell) at 2 archaeological sites in Mývatnssveit and 1 site on the north Icelandic coast. These produced 3 new ΔR values for the north coast of Iceland, indicating a ΔR of 106 ± 10 14 C yr at AD 868–985, and of 144 ± 28 14C yr at AD 1280–1400. These values are statistically comparable and give an overall weighted mean ΔR of 111 ± 10 14 C yr. The freshwater reservoir effect was similarly quantified using freshwater fish bones from a site in Mývatnssveit. These show an offset of between 1285 and 1830 14 C yr, where the fish are depleted in 14 C relative to the terrestrial mammals. This is attributed to the input of geothermally derived CO 2 into the groundwater and subsequently into Lake Mývatn. We conclude the following: i) some of the Norse inhabitants of Mývatnssveit incorporated non-terrestrial resources into their diet that may be identified from the stable isotope composition of their bone collagen; ii) the MRE off the north Icelandic coast during the Norse period fits a spatial gradient of wider North Atlantic MRE values with increasing values to the northwest; and iii) it is important to consider the effect that geothermal activity could have on the 14 C activity of samples influenced by groundwater at Icelandic archaeological sites. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ascough, P.L. Cook, G.T. Church, M.J. Dugmore, A.J. McGovern, T.G. Dunbar, E. Einarsson, E. Frioriksson, A. Gestsdottir, H. |
author_facet |
Ascough, P.L. Cook, G.T. Church, M.J. Dugmore, A.J. McGovern, T.G. Dunbar, E. Einarsson, E. Frioriksson, A. Gestsdottir, H. |
author_sort |
Ascough, P.L. |
title |
Reservoirs and radiocarbon: 14 C dating problems in Myvatnssveit, Northern Iceland |
title_short |
Reservoirs and radiocarbon: 14 C dating problems in Myvatnssveit, Northern Iceland |
title_full |
Reservoirs and radiocarbon: 14 C dating problems in Myvatnssveit, Northern Iceland |
title_fullStr |
Reservoirs and radiocarbon: 14 C dating problems in Myvatnssveit, Northern Iceland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Reservoirs and radiocarbon: 14 C dating problems in Myvatnssveit, Northern Iceland |
title_sort |
reservoirs and radiocarbon: 14 c dating problems in myvatnssveit, northern iceland |
publishDate |
2007 |
url |
https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/5020/ https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/5020/1/id5020.pdf http://www.radiocarbon.org/ |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-16.985,-16.985,65.600,65.600) |
geographic |
Mývatn |
geographic_facet |
Mývatn |
genre |
Iceland Mývatn North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
Iceland Mývatn North Atlantic |
op_relation |
https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/5020/1/id5020.pdf Ascough, P.L. <http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/author/11034.html> , Cook, G.T. <http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/author/5255.html>, Church, M.J., Dugmore, A.J., McGovern, T.G., Dunbar, E. <http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/author/4662.html> , Einarsson, E., Frioriksson, A. and Gestsdottir, H. (2007) Reservoirs and radiocarbon: 14C dating problems in Myvatnssveit, Northern Iceland. Radiocarbon <https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/view/journal_volume/Radiocarbon.html>, 49(2), pp. 947-961. |
_version_ |
1800754587546681344 |