Marine Reservoir Effects Deduced from 14C Dates on Pottery Residues, Bones, and Molluskan Shells from the Hamanaka 2 Archaeological Site, Rebun Island, Hokkaido, Japan

Yoshiki Miyata,Kunio Yoshida,Shin Onbe,Toyohiro Nishimoto,Seiya Nagao,Megumi Kondo,Akiko Horiuchi

doi:10.1017/rdc.2016.93

Yoshiki Miyata, Kunio Yoshida + Show 5 more

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https://doi.org/10.1017/rdc.2016.93

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Abstract

AbstractThis article investigates the marine reservoir effects from apparent age differences among molluskan shells, birds, and sea mammals from the Hamanaka 2 archaeological site, Rebun Island, Japan, which was occupied during the latter half of the Late Jomon period (1300−1200 cal BC). The radiocarbon ages were younger in the order of charred wood<marine molluskan shells<Alcidae<Japanese sea lion≤charred materials on potsherds. According to data from molluskan shells from the site, the local marine reservoir correction (ΔR) for the Soya Warm Current, which flows near Rebun Island, was 172±39 14C yr. ΔR values of bone collagen for Alcidae (a family of seabirds) and Japanese sea lion were 289 and 389 14C yr, respectively. A ΔR value of 447±55 14C yr was obtained on charred material from the inner surfaces of potsherds at Hamanaka 2. The different reservoir effects relate to the differences in the diets or habitats of the shellfish, sea lion, and seabird remains at the site.

Highlights

The marine reservoir effect is a well-known phenomenon in radiocarbon dating
This article investigates the marine reservoir effects from apparent age differences among molluskan shells, birds, and sea mammals from the Hamanaka 2 archaeological site, Rebun Island, Japan, which was occupied during the latter half of the Late Jomon period (1300−1200 cal BC)
We measured the 14C ages of two kinds of archaeological remains, molluskan shells and animal bones, from layer V, location R, at the Hamanaka 2 archaeological site, Rebun Island, Japan, which was occupied during the latter half of the Late Jomon period (1300–1200 cal BC)

Summary

Introduction

The marine reservoir effect is a well-known phenomenon in radiocarbon dating. The 14C age of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) in seawater is on average 400 yr older than that of the coeval atmosphere, and marine carbon is 400 14C yr older than terrestrial carbon (Stuiver et al 1986, 1998; Stuiver and Braziunas 1993; Hughen et al 2004). The marine reservoir effect is especially large in the North Pacific because 14C-depleted seawater that originates from North Atlantic Deep Water upwells there (Stommel 1958; Broecker et al 1985; Broecker 1991) Such local variations of the marine reservoir effect can be corrected by using a regional correction value (ΔR), which is estimated by subtracting model-based marine reservoir ages from the observed total marine reservoir ages of marine shells or other marine materials of known age (Stuiver et al 1986; Stuiver and Braziunas 1993; Southon et al 1995, 2002; Reimer et al 2002). The localization of ΔR and its changes with elapsed time are estimated by using the apparent 14C ages of pre-bomb molluskan shells or other marine materials of known calendar age

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