Abstract
The freshwater reservoir effect is a potential problem when radiocarbon dating fishbones, shells, human bones or food crusts on pottery from sites next to rivers or lakes. The reservoir age in rivers containing considerable amounts of dissolved 14C-free carbonates can be up to several thousand years and may be highly variable. For accurate radiocarbon dating of freshwater-based samples, the order of magnitude of the reservoir effect as well as the degree of variability has to be known.
The initial problem in this case was the accurate dating of food crusts on pottery from the Mesolithic sites Kayhude at the river Alster and Schlamersdorf at the river Trave, both in Schleswig-Holstein, Northern Germany. Measurements on modern materials from these rivers may not give a single reservoir age correction that can be applied to archaeological samples, but they will show the order of magnitude and variability that can also be expected for the past.
Water DIC from different seasons, and from the same season in different years, has been dated because it is the carbon source in photosynthesis and thus at the basis of the rivers’ food webs. The radiocarbon ages of underwater plants and different parts (underwater or floating) of emerging water plants are compared, as it might be expected that the reservoir age is higher for plants that assimilate DIC as for plants or parts of plants that assimilate atmospheric CO2. Mollusc shells as well as flesh and bone collagen of fish are dated as well.
Radiocarbon datings of archaeological samples from the two Mesolithic sites will be analysed, considering the insights provided by the study of modern material.
The initial problem in this case was the accurate dating of food crusts on pottery from the Mesolithic sites Kayhude at the river Alster and Schlamersdorf at the river Trave, both in Schleswig-Holstein, Northern Germany. Measurements on modern materials from these rivers may not give a single reservoir age correction that can be applied to archaeological samples, but they will show the order of magnitude and variability that can also be expected for the past.
Water DIC from different seasons, and from the same season in different years, has been dated because it is the carbon source in photosynthesis and thus at the basis of the rivers’ food webs. The radiocarbon ages of underwater plants and different parts (underwater or floating) of emerging water plants are compared, as it might be expected that the reservoir age is higher for plants that assimilate DIC as for plants or parts of plants that assimilate atmospheric CO2. Mollusc shells as well as flesh and bone collagen of fish are dated as well.
Radiocarbon datings of archaeological samples from the two Mesolithic sites will be analysed, considering the insights provided by the study of modern material.
| Originalsprog | Engelsk |
|---|---|
| Publikationsdato | 2012 |
| Status | Udgivet - 2012 |