Chapter 8. Isotopic evidence for protohistoric field locations in northeastern Illinois

Peatland degradation indicated by stable isotope depth profiles and soil carbon loss

The chronology and cause of millennial depositional oscillations within last glacial loess of the Central Lowlands of the United States are uncertain. Here, we present a new age model that indicates the Peoria Silt along the Illinois River Valley accumulated episodically from ~28,500 to 16,000 cal yr BP, as the Lake Michigan Lobe margin fluctuated within northeastern Illinois. The age model indicates accelerated loess deposition coincident with regional glacial advances during the local last glacial maximum. A weakly developed paleosol, the Jules Geosol, represents a period of significantly slower deposition, from 23,700 to 22,000 cal yr BP. A gastropod assemblage-based reconstruction of mean July temperature shows temperatures 6–10°C cooler than modern during Peoria Silt deposition. Stable oxygen and carbon isotope values (δ18O and δ13C) of gastropod carbonate do not vary significantly across the pedostratigraphic boundary of the Jules Geosol, suggesting slower loess accumulation was a result of reduced glacial sediment supply rather than direct climatic factors. However, a decrease in δ18O values occurred between 26,000 and 24,000 cal yr BP, synchronous with the Lake Michigan Lobe’s southernmost advance. This δ18O decrease suggests a coupling of regional summer hydroclimate and ice lobe position during the late glacial period.

Detailed and accurate information on the spatial variation of soil over low-relief areas is a critical component of environmental studies and agricultural management. Early studies show that the pattern of soil dynamics provides comprehensive information about soil and can be used as a new environmental covariate to indicate spatial variation in soil in low relief areas. In practice, however, data gaps caused by cloud cover can lead to incomplete patterns over a large area. Missing data reduce the accuracy of soil information and make it hard to compare two patterns from different locations. In this study, we introduced a new method to fill data gaps based on historical data. A strong correlation between MODIS band 7 and cumulated reference evapotranspiration has been confirmed by theoretical derivation and by the real data. Based on this correlation, data gaps in MODIS band 7 can be predicted by daily evaporation data. Furthermore, correlations among bands are used to predict soil reflectance in MODIS bands 1–6 from MODIS band 7. A location in northeastern Illinois with a large area of low relief farmland was selected to examine this idea. The results show a good exponential relationship between MODIS band 7 and CET00.5 in most locations of the study area (with average R2 = 0.55, p < 0.001, and average NRMSE 10.40%). A five-fold cross validation shows that the approach proposed in this study captures the regular pattern of soil surface reflectance change in bands 6 and 7 during the soil drying process, with a Normalized Root Mean Square Error (NRMSE) of prediction of 13.04% and 10.40%, respectively. Average NRMSE of bands 1–5 is less than 20%. This suggests that the proposed approach is effective for filling the data gaps from cloud cover and that the method reduces the data collection requirement for understanding the dynamic feedback pattern of soil, making it easier to apply to larger areas for soil mapping.

The Wisconsin glacial deposits in the classic area of the Upper Mississippi Valley have long been important in the classification of the last glacial stage. A review of these elements, including recent findings, is made to weigh better some views that have arisen during the past few years. Labradorean or Patrician Iowan and Farmdale drifts have been differentiated in northern Illinois west of the border of the Tazewell substage. Northeastern Illinois is classic for the Patrician and Labradorean Tazewell and for the Patrician Cary. The Mankato and Valders drifts of the Patrician field lie to the north and northeast, but their lacustrine equivalents are recognized in the Lake Chicago area, as are the terrace remnants and backwater silts from the Keewatin field along the Mississippi River and its tributaries. Thus there occur in Illinois many of the facies of all the Wisconsin glacial substages. Their correlation and integration into the history of the last glaciation afford the proper basis for their classi...

Corema album archaeobotanical remains in western Mediterranean basin. Assessing fruit consumption during Upper Palaeolithic in Cova de les Cendres (Alicante, Spain)

A forest‐stream trophic link was examined by stable carbon isotope analyses which evaluated the relationship of aquatic insects emerging from a stream to the diets of web‐building spiders. Spiders, aquatic and terrestrial prey, and basal resources of forest and stream food webs were collected in a deciduous forest along a Japanese headwater stream during May and July 2001. The δ 13 C analyses suggested that riparian tetragnathid spiders relied on aquatic insects and that the monthly variation of such dependence is partly associated with the seasonal dynamics of aquatic insect abundance in the riparian forest. Similarly, linyphiid spiders in the riparian forest exhibited δ 13 C values similar to aquatic prey in May. However, their δ 13 C values were close to terrestrial prey in both riparian and upland (150 m away from the stream) forests during June to July, suggesting the seasonal incorporation of stream‐derived carbon into their tissue. In contrast, araneid spiders relied on terrestrial prey in both riparian and upland forests throughout the study period. These isotopic results were consistent with a previous study that reported seasonal variation in the aquatic prey contribution to total web contents for each spider group in this forest, implying that spiders assimilate trapped prey and that aquatic insect flux indeed contributes to the energetics of riparian tetragnathid and linyphiid spiders.

Experimental soil insecticides to control larvae of the corn root-worm were evaluated in 6 field locations in Illinois during 1978. Corn plots were planted on April 15 at Parkland College, April 26, 27 at Western Illinois University, May 2 at Cerro Gordo, May 19 at Raritan, and May 20 at Cisco. All experiments were in a randomized block design with 4 replicates. Indivisual plots were one row approximately 90 ft long on 30 in. centers. Applications were applied over the row in a 7-in. incorporated band. Treatments were evaluated by stand counts, root damage ratings (Iowa 1-6 system), and percent lodging. The differences in the data were calculated by analysis of variance and the means were compared by Duncan’s Multiple Range Test.

Ba and Ti in a sediment core (10 m long) from the Okhotsk Sea, covering the last 120 kyrs, were measured. The authigenic Ba (Baex) contents were calculated and compared with the opal. The correlation coefficient between Baex and opal was quite small (r = 0.34), but it greatly grew larger (r = 0.90), if the Baex contents were multiplied by a simple function increasing with depth, except for two intervals. This may be due to the gradual change in the sedimentation environment during the glacial ages. One of the exceptional interval is found at 60–170 cm in depth, corresponding to 10–17 calendar kyr ago, the last termination period of glacial ages, where the Baex began to increase prior to opal. Since the calcium carbonate contents similarly increased prior to the opal increase, the Baex may be also related to calcareous organisms besides siliceous ones. The other is the last interglacial period around 120 kyr ago when the opal contents were high, but those of the Baex were not increased. This can be explained, if the Baex was reduced to sulfide and dissolved away in a strongly anoxic environment during the biologically productive period. During the glacial ages, the mass accumulation rate (MAR) of lithogenic Ti was about twice the amount of that during the interglacial ages. For opal, however, the contrast between the glacial and interglacial ages was more remarkable in its MAR than in its concentration in sediments, due to the larger variation in the bulk sedimentation rates.

Radiocarbon evidence for reduced deep water ventilation of the northern Indian Ocean during the last glacial maxima and early deglaciation

Diet and habitat of the saiga antelope during the late Quaternary using stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios

Quaternary chronostratigraphy and stable isotope paleoecology of Big Bone Lick, Kentucky, USA

Glacial differences of Southern Ocean Intermediate Waters in the Central South Pacific

The stable isotope analysis of preserved proteinaceous tissues, such as bone collagen and hair keratin, offers a powerful means of examining individual dietary practices in archaeology and, through this, inferring the subsistence behaviours, socio-cultural practices, and food preferences of past populations. Previous isotope research at the precontact Yup’ik village site of Nunalleq, Alaska, has provided evidence of a mixed diet of marine and terrestrial foods (but likely dominated by salmonids), but also highlighted some dietary variability amongst the inhabitants of the site. However, materials from the older rescue excavations were insufficient to infer whether this variability was interpersonal and/or diachronic in nature. Here, new stable carbon and nitrogen isotope data from human hair are presented. These were obtained during the research excavations at Nunalleq from temporally constrained, well-stratified contexts. The new data reveal dietary change through time at the site, highlighting changes in resource use and subsistence practices during the Little Ice Age. During the middle phase of occupation at the site (Phase III; cal AD 1620–1650), diet is more varied, most likely relating to the differing relative contribution of salmon versus higher trophic level marine mammal protein to the diet of some individuals at the site. Analysis reveals these differences to be site-spatial, possibly indicating differences with the use of space at the site, and/or hinting at possible social differentiation in diet during Phase III. In the final occupation phase (Phase II; cal AD 1640–1660), diet is more homogeneous and demonstrates an increased exploitation of higher-trophic level marine foods.

A shaft-like room at the Middle Bronze Age site of Buklukale in central Turkey preserved a rich archaeobotanical assemblage of charred and mineralised plant remains, dominated by fruits, spices and nuts mixed with probable bread and wood charcoals. The remains were recovered in association with numerous ceramic vessels, jewellery and exotic artefacts. We combine identification and analysis of the seeds and wood charcoals contained in this deposit with studies of Old Assyrian and Hittite textual records to investigate the circumstances of the assemblage’s formation and its significance for further understanding trade and plant consumption in Bronze Age Anatolia. We present the earliest archaeobotanical example in the region of rare and exotic plant species being consumed in the context of one or more social gatherings, including those possibly linked to ceremonial or ritual events. This offers new insights into the role of plants in the economic and social life of the southwest Asian Bronze Age, as well as the role of commensality and feasting in early states.

Contribution to Longobard dietary studies: Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope data from Castel Trosino (6th-8th c. CE, Ascoli Piceno, central Italy)