Published Radiocarbon Dates Research Articles

Where is everybody? The unburied dead in late Roman and early medieval England

Substantial debate surrounds the relative lack of formal burials in Britain during the fifth century AD, which was a key period of social and economic transition following the withdrawal of the Roman army. Here, the authors argue that the ‘missing fifth century’ may be explained, in part, by the continuation of archaeologically invisible mortuary treatments practised in the preceding Iron Age and Roman period. Compilation of published radiocarbon dates from human remains found in cave and riverine contexts demonstrates that a variety of methods for the disposal of the dead—outside of formal cemeteries—existed in the first millennium AD.

Demographic dynamics between 5500 and 3500 calBP (3550-1550 BCE) in selected study regions of Central Europe and the role of regional climate influences.

With their rich Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age archives, the Circumharz region, the Czech Republic/Lower Austria region, and the Northern Alpine Foreland are well-suited for research on potential links between human activities and climate fluctuations of this period with pronounced archaeological changes. In this paper, we reconstruct the rate and density of the available 14C data from 5500 to 3500 calBP (3550-1550 BCE). We ask to what extent population patterns varied over time and space, and whether fluctuations in human populations and their activities varied with local/regional climate changes. To answer these questions, we have compiled an extensive list of published radiocarbon dates and created 14C sum calibrations for each region. We also compare population dynamics with local and regional palaeoclimate records derived from high-resolution speleothems. At the regional scale, the results suggest a causal relationship between regional climate and population trends. Climate and associated environmental changes were thus at least partly responsible for demographic trends. These results also allow us to question the motivation for the construction of so-called "Early Bronze Age princely tombs" in the Circumharz region during a period of population decline. Among other things, it can be argued that the upper echelons of society may have benefited from trade relations. However, this process was accompanied by ecological stress, a cooling of the winter climate, a decline in the total population and an increase in social inequality.

Tracing past extreme floods on an alluvial fan using geophysical surveying

SummarySedimentary units in alluvial fans may record gradual transport and deposition during multiple floods or sediment‐laden flows or, conversely, during few catastrophic events. While outcrops are a valuable source of direct information to constrain past geomorphic and hydrologic processes, such exposures are scarce, especially along aggrading rivers or those that have been subject to recent catastrophic sedimentation. In this context, near‐surface geophysical techniques can constrain the dimensions, internal architecture, composition, and petrophysical properties of different sedimentary units. We consider the Grimmbach alluvial fan in the cuesta landscape of southwestern Germany, which was heavily impacted by sediment and wood loads during a flash flood in 2016; published radiocarbon dates indicate that at least three floods similar to the one in 2016 may have occurred since the 17th century. To test whether and to which detail near‐surface geophysics might reveal the sedimentary legacy of these floods, we survey the Grimmbach alluvial fan using detailed topographic data and geophysical imaging based on electromagnetic induction, electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), and ground‐penetrating radar. Our geophysical results indicate former channel courses and two coarse bar deposits up to 3 m below the surface, which are comparable with the more extensive bar deposits of the 2016 flood. From the ERT models, we interpret coarse, up to 5 m thick, gravel lag overlying bedrock at a maximum depth of 10 m. Our geophysical results also highlight patches of finer materials derived from gradual sedimentation and soil development. Overall, our results show that the Grimmbach alluvial fan may have formed and reshaped during catastrophic flows, which likely caused channel avulsions. Our findings point to the need to reconsider flash flood and debris‐flow hazards in similar headwaters and fans of this seemingly quiescent cuesta landscape in southern Germany.

REASSESSING THE CHRONOLOGY OF TOPARÁ EMERGENCE AND PARACAS DECLINE ON THE PERUVIAN SOUTH COAST: A BAYESIAN APPROACH

ABSTRACTThrough Bayesian analysis of new radiocarbon dates, this paper demonstrates that the Topará tradition did not emerge until after Paracas monumental sites were ritually closed in the Chincha Valley of the Peruvian south coast. These findings controvert a long-held hypothesis of Topará as a foreign tradition which intruded into the Paracas heartland and initiated the period of transformation known as the Paracas-Nasca transition. We present the first radiocarbon dates from Jahuay, the earliest accepted Topará site. These dates are compared with new analyses of published radiocarbon dates from three other sites associated with this transitional period: a Late Paracas politico-ceremonial site in the Chincha Valley, a Late Paracas settlement in the Palpa Valley in the Río Grande de Nasca Drainage, and an Initial Nasca site in the same valley. This work shows Paracas site closures began earlier than has previously been appreciated and demonstrates that the first appearance of the Topará ceramic style post-dates the onset of Paracas decline in the region’s northern valleys. This analysis represents a successful attempt to develop a radiocarbon-based chronology across a calibration plateau by incorporating stratigraphic data into a Bayesian model.

The effect of the introduction of livestock on the erosion of alpine soils: a comparison of five dating techniques applied to sediments of the Australian alpine Blue Lake

210Pb and 137Cs dating of bulk sediments obtained from the alpine Blue Lake, located in the Snowy Mountains of southeastern Australia, was applied here to date recent lacustrine sediments. In addition, the presence of Pinus pollen (a taxon introduced in Australia about 150 years ago) down to a sediment depth of 56 cm in the core is used to obtain a chronology for the upper part of the core. Accelerated Mass Spectrometry radiocarbon dates obtained from organic muds from the same core do not agree with the chronology constructed using the three other dating techniques. In addition, optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of single quartz grains, from sediment-core samples collected from the same lake, was applied to date recent lacustrine sediments. The optical age of 185 ± 20 years for a sample at 60–62 cm depth, and 470 ± 50 years at 116–118 cm depth are well over 1000 years younger than the ages inferred from radiocarbon dates. We therefore infer that the ‘old’ radiocarbon ages result from carbon stored for considerable time within the catchment prior to its transport and deposition on the lake floor. As plant decomposition occurs at much slower rates in high altitude environments, these results bring into question the veracity of previously published radiocarbon dates from Blue Lake and alpine lake sediments in general. The deposition ages inferred from the 210Pb-137Cs and OSL dating, and the first appearance of Pinus pollen, indicate that for the 100-year period after European settlement (from the mid 1800s to early 1900s) the sediment-accumulation rate increased by a factor of about 2, from 0.19 ± 0.01 cm yr−1 to 0.35 ± 0.02 cm yr−1. In the 1900s the accumulation rate increased further to 0.60 cm yr−1. The accumulation rate was particularly rapid in the 20-year period from 1940–1960, reaching a rate 18 times higher than the pre-European rate in the mid-1950s. The increase in sedimentation rate is attributed to changes in land use resulting from European activities in the lake catchment, primarily through sheep and cattle grazing in the Blue Lake catchment.

The 14Canarias web application. An interactive radiocarbon database for the Canary Islands

The dataset described in this work represents the first open-access compilation of uncalibrated radiocarbon dates for the archaeology of the Canary Islands (Spain). This collaborative ongoing dataset will be updated step by step with newly published radiocarbon dates. Finally, this database has a Shiny application hosted at the Universidad de la Laguna and is freely accessible.

Re-dating the Early Upper Paleolithic Levels of Le Trou Magrite (Pont-à-Lesse, Belgium)

All but one of the published radiocarbon dates from the 1991–1992 excavations of Strata 3 and 2 at le Trou Magrite are considered too recent because the dating was done with then-standard chemical pretreatment protocols. This study re-dates Stratum 2 using the same, then-pioneering, XAD-2 purification method on bone collagen as had been used for the 44,650cal BP date from Stratum 3. The results are two averaged dates that are in stratigraphic order between themselves and in relation to the Stratum 3 date: 43,400 and 43,500cal BP, according to the IntCal20 curve. These dates are very similar to recently published dates for the earliest Aurignacian in SW Germany and the latest Neanderthal remains in Belgium and they are associated with artifact assemblages that, without obvious evidence of mixture (other than that which was highly localized), include Upper Paleolithic stone tools and blades/bladelets together with numerous sidescrapers, denticulates and notches which are not exclusively Mousterian artifacts. Nineteenth-century excavations in the cave of le Trou Magrite yielded unambiguously diagnostic Aurignacian artifacts and works of portable art that could conceivably have been from a deposit equivalent in age to these strata on the contiguous terrace. It is clear that the first blade(let)-rich assemblages in the site were created on the cusp of the transition from the Middle-to-Upper Paleolithic transition and replacement of the Neanderthals in NW Europe.

Preceramic riverside hunter-gatherers and the arrival of Neolithic farmers in northern Luzon

The most westerly Pacific island chain, running from Taiwan southwards through the Philippines, has long been central in debates about the origins and early migrations of Austronesian-speaking peoples from the Asian mainland into the islands of Southeast Asia and Oceania. Focusing on the Cagayan Valley of northern Luzon in the Philippines, the authors combine new and published radiocarbon dates to underpin a revised culture-historical synthesis. The results speak to the initial contacts and long-term relationships between Indigenous hunter-gatherers and immigrant Neolithic farmers, and the question of how the early speakers of Malayo-Polynesian languages spread into and through the Philippines.

The NERD Dataset: Near East Radiocarbon Dates between 15,000 and 1,500 cal. yr. BP

To our knowledge, the dataset described in this paper represents the largest existing repository of uncalibrated radiocarbon dates for the whole Near East from the Late Pleistocene to the Late Holocene (15,000 – 1,500 cal. yr. BP). It is composed of 11,027 radiocarbon dates from 1,023 sites that have been collected comprehensively by cross-checking multiple sources (extant digital archives and databases, edited volumes, monographs, journals papers, archaeological excavation reports, etc.) under the umbrella of the Leverhulme Trust funded project “Changing the Face of the Mediterranean” and of the ERC project “CLASS – Climate, Landscape, Settlement and Society: Exploring Human-Environment Interaction in the Ancient Near East”. This is an ongoing dataset that will be updated step by step with newly published radiocarbon dates.

Long-Term Demographic Trends in Prehistoric Italy: Climate Impacts and Regionalised Socio-Ecological Trajectories

The Italian peninsula offers an excellent case study within which to investigate long-term regional demographic trends and their response to climate fluctuations, especially given its diverse landscapes, latitudinal range and varied elevations. In the past two decades, summed probability distributions of calibrated radiocarbon dates have become an important method for inferring population dynamics in prehistory. Recent advances in this approach also allow for statistical assessment of spatio-temporal patterning in demographic trends. In this paper we reconstruct population change for the whole Italian peninsula from the Late Mesolithic to the Early Iron Age (10,000–2800 cal yr BP). How did population patterns vary across time and space? Were fluctuations in human population related to climate change? In order to answer these questions, we have collated a large list of published radiocarbon dates (n = 4010) and use this list firstly to infer the demographic trends for the Italian peninsula as a whole, before addressing each of five sub-regions in turn (northern, central, and southern Italy, Sicily, Sardinia). We also compare population fluctuations with local paleoclimate proxies (cave, lake, marine records). At a pan-regional scale, the results show a general rapid and substantial increase in population in the Early Neolithic with the introduction of farming at around 8000 cal yr BP and further dramatic increases during the Bronze and Iron Age (~ 3800–2800 cal yr BP). However, different regional demographic trajectories exist across different regions of Italy, suggesting a variety of localised human responses to climate shifts. Population and climate appear to have been more closely correlated during the early–mid Holocene (Mesolithic–Neolithic), while later in the Holocene (Bronze–Iron Ages) they decouple. Overall, across the Holocene the population dynamics varied by region and depended on the long-term socio-ecological dynamics prevailing in a given area. Finally, we include a brief response to the paper ‘Radiocarbon dated trends and central Mediterranean prehistory’ by Parkinson et al. (J Word Prehist 34(3), 2021)—synchronously published by Journal of World Prehistory but wholly independently developed—indicating how our conclusions accord with or differ from one another.

The Phoenician diaspora in the westernmost Mediterranean: recent discoveries

Important discoveries over the past 15 years in the coastal area between Huelva and Málaga in Spain have illuminated the beginnings of the eighth-century BC Phoenician diaspora into the Western Mediterranean. Here, the authors combine Bayesian modelling of recently published radiocarbon dates with the latest archaeological data to investigate the Phoenician presence in southern Iberia. Their assessment of its significance for the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages in the Western Mediterranean contributes not only to understanding the integration of the Phoenicians into local communities, but also to apprehending the mechanisms of colonisation and pre-colonial situations elsewhere in protohistoric Europe and other world contexts.

Late Pleistocene chronology and environment of woolly rhinoceros (Coelodonta antiquitatis (Blumenbach, 1799)) in Beringia

Uncertain chronology and data scarcity have impeded realistic reconstructions of megafauna extinctions in the Late Pleistocene in several key regions of the Northern Hemisphere such as Beringia. This region was a refuge for several plants, animals during the extremely cold period of the Late Pleistocene in high Arctic latitudes. The woolly rhinoceros was one of the most widespread members of the megafauna in the Asiatic part of the region (West Beringia) between ∼60 and 14 cal ka BP. This study is based on statistical analyses of 20 newly obtained and 110 previously published radiocarbon dates. We found three large “waves” in the woolly rhinoceros range changes separated between themselves by the cold climatic Heinrich events (H2 and H4). The chronology of the woolly rhinoceros was overlaid on data of environmental changes obtained basing on 504 generalized early published pollen spectra throughout the species range and, separately, outside the range – in the east of the West Beringia realm and in East Beringia. In general, milder environmental conditions of MIS3 (57–29 ka BP) were more favourable for the woolly rhinoceros than the harsh conditions of the Last Glacial Maximum (∼29–15 cal ka BP) in MIS2. We have concluded that the feed base was unlikely the main limiting factor in the distribution of woolly rhinoceros in Western Beringia, and other ecological factors (temperature/precipitation) determined the species range and its oscillation over the MIS3–MIS2 stages. Based on summarizing available data and this research, we have proposed that there were sets of different reasons that prevented the woolly rhinoceros migration to the east of Beringia in different periods of the Late Pleistocene. Abrupt woolly rhinoceros extinction in Beringia between 15 and 14 cal ka BP coincided with the Bölling warming and the Older Dryas cooling. The ecological situation just before the extinction, associated with climate warming, moisture increasing and shrub tundra expansion in West Beringia, was qualitatively different from previous cases of the species range degradations in the second half of the Late Pleistocene. This multi-proxy study of woolly rhinoceros chronology provide a new basis for further understanding of its population history, demography, and biology in Beringia before its extinction.

Reassessing Eastern Mediterranean Tectonics and Earthquake Hazard From the 365 CE Earthquake

AbstractThe hallmark of great earthquakes in the Mediterranean is the 21 July 365 CE earthquake and tsunami that destroyed cities and killed thousands of people throughout the Eastern Mediterranean. This event is intriguing because most Mediterranean subduction forearcs exhibit pervasive crustal extension and minimal definitive evidence exists for great subduction megathrust earthquakes, consistent with weak seismic coupling. This conundrum has led many to favor rupture of a previously unrecognized upper plate splay fault south of Crete in an M w 8.3–8.5 earthquake, uplifting a Cretan Holocene paleoshoreline by up to 9 m. Similar source mechanisms have been adapted for the region, which are commonly used for seismic and tsunami hazard estimation. We present an alternative model for Holocene paleoshoreline uplift and the 365 CE tsunami that centers on known active normal fault systems offshore of western and southwestern Crete. We use new and published radiocarbon dates and historical records to show that uplift of the Cretan paleoshoreline likely occurred during two or more earthquakes within 2–3 centuries. Visco‐elastic dislocation modeling demonstrates that the rupture of these normal faults fits observed data as well as reverse fault models but requires reduced slip and lower cumulative earthquake energy release (∼M w 7.9). Tsunami modeling shows that normal‐fault ruptures produce strong tsunamis that better match historical reports than a hypothetical reverse fault. Our findings collectively favor the interpretation that damaging earthquakes and tsunamis in the Eastern Mediterranean can originate on normal faults, highlighting the potential hazard from tsunamigenic upper plate normal fault earthquakes.

Radiocarbon Dating for the Reconstruction of the 1717 CE Triolet Rock Avalanche in the Mont Blanc Massif, Italy

The Arp Nouva peat bog located in the upper Ferret Valley in the Mont Blanc massif was critically evaluated since published radiocarbon dates have led to controversial conclusions on the formation of this swamp. Radiocarbon dating of woody fragments from three pits of up to 1 m depth was used to discuss the question of whether the historically documented rock avalanche occurring in 1717 CE overran the peat bog or settled prior to its formation. For the deepest samples in the pits, calibrated radiocarbon ages between 1,652 and 1950 CE (95.4%; confidence level) were obtained, which fit very well into the time frame of the historical documented 1717 CE rock avalanche event. It can, therefore, be concluded that the Arp Nouva peat bog was formed by blockage of the Bella Combe torrent by the rock avalanche deposits. Furthermore, careful sample preparation with consequent separation of woody fragments from the bulk peat sample has shown that the problem of too old14C ages can be circumvented. This work demonstrates that a combined geomorphological and geochronological approach is the most reliable way to reconstruct landscape evolution. The key to successful14C dating is careful sample selection and the identification of the material that might not be ideal for chronological reconstructions.

Marine reservoir corrections for the Caribbean demonstrate high intra- and inter-island variability in local reservoir offsets

The abundance of marine mollusks found in Pre-Columbian archaeological sites in the Caribbean has made them enticing sample types for radiocarbon dating. Unfortunately, a paucity of local marine reservoir corrections (ΔR) for most of the region limits building chronologies using marine-based carbonates. Here we present a suite of 33 new ΔR values for 22 islands in both the Greater and Lesser Antilles derived from known-age shells pre-dating A.D. 1950 (i.e., pre-atomic testing) and is the first intensive radiocarbon dating effort in the region to examine ΔR effects. The spatial coverage and corrections presented here demonstrate wide variation within and between islands across the Antilles, Bahamian archipelago, and islands that skirt the coast of northern South America. Correction values range from 282 ± 24 yr in Grenada to −547 ± 36 yr in Anegada. Calibration of published radiocarbon dates on archaeological marine shell using these new ΔR values demonstrates the need for caution when dating marine shell in the Caribbean, but illustrates the potential for these corrections to provide more accurate radiocarbon chronologies. Research is now focused on identifying the causal mechanisms behind the high variability in Caribbean ΔR and the implications these data have for refining radiocarbon sequences in the region, particularly for islands where there are currently no ΔR values.

An Aegean History and Archaeology Written through Radiocarbon Dates

This dataset is the outcome of an INSTAP-funded project “An Aegean Prehistory Written in Radiocarbon Dates”. It includes 3159 14C dates from 353 sites in Greece and reflects an attempt to exhaustively collect and cross-check all published radiocarbon dates from existing databases, original publications and preliminary reports using both international and Greek sources (376 sources in total). Although originally targeting prehistoric dates, all dates coming from archaeological or environmental sampling were integrated in the final dataset regardless of chronological period. Sites have been identified and positioned as accurately as possible, while additional information on sampling procedures, sample material and stratigraphic context have been recorded. Funding statement: The Institute for Aegean Prehistory (INSTAP) provided the core funding for the “An Aegean Prehistory Written in Radiocarbon Dates” project which ran between 2016–2017. Previous support by INSTAP to Yannis Maniatis for the radiocarbon dating of Early Neolithic settlements in Greece in NCSR Demokritos Radiocarbon Laboratory allowed for several dates to be processed and included in the present work. Work related to data cleaning and terminology mapping was implemented as part of the dataset preparation process to be ingested in the ARIADNEplus portal. ARIADNEplus (Advanced Research Infrastructure for Archaeological Database Networking in Europe) is a project funded by the European Commission under the H2020 Programme, contract no. H2020-INFRAIA-2018-1-823914. The views and opinions expressed in this publication are the sole responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission.

Emergence of Hilltop Settlements in the Southeastern Baltic: New AMS14C Dates from Lithuania and Revised Chronology

ABSTRACTThe emergence of hilltop settlements presents a pattern of the first enclosed sites that reflect economic development in several regions within the Southeastern Baltic Bronze Age. This novelty reflects increasing social complexity, differentiating economic relations, as well as rising tension in the region. The phenomenon has received a great deal of interpretation, but chronological problems still remain understudied. Researchers tend to seek the start of hilltop settling practice from early to late II millennium BC. This paper presents14C dates from 7 sites in inland Lithuania, where hitherto no absolute dates were published. The majority of absolute dates has been calibrated to the Hallstatt radiocarbon calibration plateau (ca. 800–400 cal BC) which is significantly later than previously presumed based on dates from Belarusian sites. However, several dates from previously dated hilltop settlements in the region predate the effect. These results indicate the start of hilltop settling practice around 11th–9th centuries cal BC. Review of new and previously published radiocarbon dates suggests a different internal development between SE Baltic coastal and inland regions, likely locating zones, where economic outside stimulus preconditioning emergence of hilltop settlements occurred earlier.

An archaeological radiocarbon database for southern Africa

Abstract

Serpent Mound in its Woodland Period Context

Abstract The Serpent Mound in Adams County, Ohio, is probably the most widely recognized effigy mound in the world. Opinions differ, however, as to who built the effigy and when. Currently there are two conflicting positions. According to Lepper and colleagues (this volume and elsewhere) the effigy was built by people of the Fort Ancient culture circa AD 1070. According to the present author and colleagues, recently obtained radiocarbon dates and other data indicate that Serpent Mound was built much earlier, by people of the Adena culture, circa 320 BC. In this article, evidence is presented that corroborates the earlier published radiocarbon dates suggestive of an Adenaera construction. This evidence includes a review of findings that real serpents were sometimes buried with Adena and Hopewell people and consideration of a relational complex reaching back to the Early Woodland—wherein the Great Serpent of Native American legend is associated with the journey of the deceased person’s soul, the star constellation Scorpius, and the Lowerworld. Together, these data provide an Early Woodland cultural and interpretive context for Serpent Mound and further corroborate the Adena-era radiocarbon dates for its construction.

A cemetery of the Gáta–Wieselburg culture at Nagycenk (Western Hungary)

The 29 individuals found in 27 graves at Nagycenk were buried there in the time period between 2000–1700 BC, according to radiocarbon dates – i.e. at the beginning of the Middle Bronze Age in Hungary. The cemetery is of unique importance, both because of the richness of burial assemblages (altogether 30 bronze objects, 5 gold jewelries) and the scarcity of known Gáta–Wieselburg cemeteries. 15 percent of the ca. 180 burials in total, which relate to this culture in Hungary, are in this cemetery, and because of the few published burial sites, the cemetery at Nagycenk represents about one fourth of the materials published so far in the whole distribution area of the culture. Pottery style, typology and raw material of metal artefacts, as well as the radiocarbon dates (with the earliest among the published radiocarbon dates in context of this culture) support the dating of the cemetery section to the early phase of the Gáta–Wieselburg culture. The oval arrangement of burials around grave 55 and grave 1 suggest that each of these correspond to a household of high status men representing a few generations of the population living in the settlement excavated in the vicinity of Nagycenk.