Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-qsmjn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-15T19:42:27.779Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Radiocarbon Dating, Stable Isotope Analysis, and Diet-Derived Offsets in 14C Ages from the Klin-Yar Site, Russian North Caucasus

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Thomas Higham ,
Rebecca Warren ,
Andrej Belinskij ,
Heinrich Härke  and
Rachel Wood
Thomas Higham*
Affiliation:
Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, RLAHA, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
Rebecca Warren
Affiliation:
Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, RLAHA, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
Andrej Belinskij
Affiliation:
“Nasledie” Cultural Heritage Unit, Stavropol, Russia
Heinrich Härke
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Reading, Reading, United Kingdom
Rachel Wood
Affiliation:
Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, RLAHA, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
*
Corresponding author. Email: thomas.higham@rlaha.ox.ac.uk
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The influence of geothermally derived carbon on the radiocarbon dating of human bone from archaeological sites is poorly understood and has rarely been rigorously examined. This study identifies a previously unknown reservoir effect at the archaeological site of Klin-Yar in the Russian North Caucasus. AMS-dated human bones yielded results that were older than expected when compared with dates of coins found in the same grave contexts. We investigated the reasons for this offset by AMS dating modern plant, fish, and water samples to examine the source of the old carbon. We identified a potential source in geothermally derived riverine and spring water, with an apparent age of several thousand years, and hypothesize that carbon from here is being transferred through the food chain to humans. If humans consume resources from the local rivers, such as fish, then they ought to be affected by this reservoir offset. An extensive analysis of carbon and nitrogen isotopes of human and animal bone showed evidence for a mixed diet that may be masking the amount of freshwater-derived protein being consumed. Due to the highly variable nature of the 14C offset (0 to ∼350 yr), no suitable average correction factor is applicable to correct for the human dates at the site. A 14C chronology based on dates obtained from terrestrial ungulate bones, which we subsequently obtained, is instead a more reliable indicator of age.

Type
Bone Dating and Paleodiet Studies
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 52 , Issue 2: 20th Int. Radiocarbon Conference Proceedings , 2010 , pp. 653 - 670
Copyright
Copyright © 2010 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

References

Beavan-Athfield, NR, McFadgen, BG, Sparks, RJ. 2001. Environmental influences on dietary carbon and 14C ages in modern rats and other species. Radiocarbon 43(1):7–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berger, R, Taylor, RE, Libby, WF. 1966. Radiocarbon content of marine shells from the Californian and Mexican west coast. Science 153(3738):864–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bogaard, A, Heaton, THE, Poulton, P, Merbach, I. 2007. The impact of manuring on nitrogen isotope ratios in cereals: archaeological implications for reconstruction of diet and crop management practices. Journal of Archaeological Science 34(3):335–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bonsall, C, Cook, GT, Hedges, REM, Higham, TFG, Pickard, C. 2002. Radiocarbon and stable isotope evidence of dietary change from the Mesolithic to the Middle Ages in the Iron Gates: new results from Lepenski Vir. Radiocarbon 46(1):293–300.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boric, D, Miracle, P. 2004. Mesolithic and Neolithic (dis)continuities in the Danube gorges: new AMS dates from Padina and Hajducka Vodenica (Serbia). Oxford Journal of Archaeology 23(4):341–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C. 2009. Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon dates. Radiocarbon 51(1):337–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C, Hedges, REM. 1999. Hybrid ion sources: radiocarbon measurements from microgram to milligram. Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research B 123(1–4):539–45.Google Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C, Pettitt, PB, Hedges, REM, Hodgins, GWL, Owen, DC. 2000. Radiocarbon dates from the Oxford AMS system: Archaeometry Datelist 30. Archaeometry 42(2):459–79.Google Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C, Higham, TFG, Owen, DC, Pike, AWG, Hedges, REM. 2002. Radiocarbon dates from the Oxford AMS system: Archaeometry Datelist 31. Archaeometry 44(3S):1–149.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bronk Ramsey, C, Higham, TFG Bowles, A, Hedges, REM. 2004. Improvements to the pretreatment of bone at Oxford. Radiocarbon 46(1):155–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bruns, M, Levin, I, Munnich, KO, Hubberten, HW, Fillipakis, S. 1980. Regional sources of volcanic carbon dioxide and their influence on 14C content of present-day plant material. Radiocarbon 22(2):532–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buzhilova, AP, Dobrovolskaya, MV, Mednikova, MB, Bogatenkov, DV, Lebedinskaya, GV. In press. Anthropological analysis of Klin Yar III. In: Belinskij, AB, Härke, H. The Iron Age to Early Medieval Cemetery of Klin Yar: Excavations 1994–96. Forschungen in Eurasien Series. Berlin: Deutsches Archäologisches Institut.Google Scholar
Commisso, RG, Nelson, DE. 2006. Modern plant δ15N values reflect ancient human activity. Journal of Archaeological Science 33(8):1167–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cook, GT, Bonsall, C, Hedges, REM, McSweeney, K, Boroneant, V, Pettitt, PB. 2001. A freshwater diet-derived 14C reservoir effect at the Stone Age sites in the Iron Gates gorge. Radiocarbon 43(2A):453–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coplen, TB. 1994. Reporting of stable hydrogen, carbon and oxygen isotopic abundances. Pure and Applied Chemistry 66(2):273–6.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
France, R. 1995. Stable nitrogen isotopes in fish: literature synthesis on the influence of ecotonal coupling. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science 41(6):737–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fuller, BT, Richards, MP, Mays, SA. 2003. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope variations in tooth dentine serial sections from Wharram Percy. Journal of Archaeological Science 30(12):1673–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gannes, LZ, Martinez del Rio, C, Koch, P. 1998. Natural abundance variations in stable isotopes and their potential uses in animal physiological ecology. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology A 119 (3):725–37.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Härke, H, Belinsky, A. 2000. Nouvelles fouilles de 1994–1996 dans la nécropole de Klin-Yar. In: Kazanski, M, Soupault, V, editors. Les sites archaeologiques en Crimée et au Caucase durant L'Antiquité tardive et le haut Moyen Age. Colloquia Pontica 5. Leiden: Brill. p 193–210.Google Scholar
Hedges, REM. 2004. Isotopes and red herrings: comments on Milner et al. and Lidén et al. Antiquity 78(299):34–7.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hedges, REM, Reynard, LM. 2007. Nitrogen isotopes and the trophic level of humans in archaeology. Journal of Archaeological Science 34(8):1240–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hedges, REM, Thompson, JMA, Hull, BD. 2005. Stable isotope variation in wool as a means to establish Turkish carpet provenance. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry 19(22):3187–91.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Higham, TFG, Jacobi, RM, Bronk Ramsey, C. 2006. AMS radiocarbon dating of ancient bone using ultrafiltration. Radiocarbon 48(2):179–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hollund, HI, Higham, TFG, Belinskij, A, Korenevskij, S. 2009. The use of carbon (C12/C13) and nitrogen (N15/N14) stable isotopes for investigation of palaeodiet in the North Caucasus (South Russia) Bronze Age [abstract]. UK Archaeological Sciences 2009 Biennial Conference, 8–10 September 2009, Keyworth, Nottingham, UK.Google Scholar
Iacumin, P, Nikolaev, V, Genoni, L, Ramigni, M, Ryskov Ya, G, Longinelli, A. 2004. Stable isotope analyses of mammal skeletal remains of Holocene age from European Russia: a way to trace dietary and environmental changes. Geobios 37(1):37–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Khokhlova, OS, Khokhlov, AA, Oleynik, SA, Gabuev, TA, Malashev, VY. 2007. Paleosols from the groups of burial mounds provide paleoclimatic records of centennial to intercentennial time scale: a case study from the Early Alan cemeteries in the Northern Caucasus (Russia). Catena 71(3):477–86.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lanting, JN, van der Plicht, J. 1998. Reservoir effects and apparent 14C-ages. Journal of Irish Archaeology IX:151–65.Google Scholar
Leach, BF, Quinn, C, Morrison, J, Lyon, G. 2001. The use of multiple isotope signatures in reconstructing prehistoric human diet from archaeological bone from the Pacific and New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Archaeology 23:31–98.Google Scholar
Lillie, MC, Richards, M. 2000. Stable isotope analysis and dental evidence of diet at the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in Ukraine. Journal of Archaeological Science 27(10):965–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mangerud, J. 1972. Radiocarbon dating of marine shells, including a discussion of apparent age of recent shells from Norway. Boreas 1:143–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marčenko, E, Srdoč, D, Golubić, S, Pezdič, J, Head, MJ. 1989. Carbon uptake in aquatic plants deduced from their natural 13C and 14C content. Radiocarbon 31(3):785–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCullagh, JSO, Juchelka, D, Hedges, REM. 2006. Analysis of amino acid 13C abundance from human and faunal bone collagen using liquid chromatography/isotope ratio mass spectrometry. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry 20(18):2761–8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nesbitt, N, Summers, GD. 1988. Some recent discoveries of millet (Panicum miliaceum L. and Setaria italica (L.) P. Beauv.) at excavations in Turkey and Iran. Anatolian Studies 38:85–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Connell, TC, Levine, MA, Hedges, REM. 2003. The importance of fish in the diet of central Eurasian peoples from the Mesolithic to the Early Iron Age. In: Levine, MA, Renfrew, C, Boyle, K, editors. Prehistoric Steppe Adaptation and the Horse. Cambridge: McDonald Institute Monograph. p 253–68.Google Scholar
Pasquier-Cardin, A, Allard, P, Ferreira, T, Hatté, C, Coutinho, R, Fontugne, M, Jaudon, M. 1999. Magma-derived CO2 emissions recorded in 14C and 13C content of plants growing in Furnas caldera, Azores. Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research 92(1–2):195–207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Privat, KL. 2004. Palaeoeconomy of the Eurasian Steppe: biomolecular studies [unpublished DPhil thesis]. University of Oxford.Google Scholar
Privat, KL, O'Connell, TC, Hedges, REM. 2007. The distinction between freshwater- and terrestrial-based diets: methodological concerns archaeological applications of sulphur stable isotope analysis. Journal of Archaeological Science 34(8):1197–204.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reimer, PJ, Reimer, RW. 2001. A marine reservoir correction database and on-line interface. Radiocarbon 43(2A):461–3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reimer, PJ, Baillie, MGL, Bard, E, Bayliss, A, Beck, JW, Bertrand, CJH, Blackwell, PG, Buck, CE, Burr, GS, Cutler, KB, Damon, PE, Edwards, RL, Fairbanks, RG, Friedrich, M, Guilderson, TP, Hogg, AG, Hughen, KA, Kromer, B, McCormac, G, Manning, S, Bronk Ramsey, C, Reimer, RW, Remmele, S, Southon, JR, Stuiver, M, Talamo, S, Taylor, FW, van der Plicht, J, Weyhenmeyer, CE. 2004. IntCal04 terrestrial radiocarbon age calibration, 0–26 cal kyr BP. Radiocarbon 46(3):1029–58.Google Scholar
Richards, MP, Hedges, REM. 1999. Stable isotope evidence for similarities in the types of marine foods used by late Mesolithic humans at sites along the Atlantic coast of Europe. Journal of Archaeological Science 26(6):717–22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rubin, M, Lockwood, JP, Friedman, I. 1987. Effects of volcanic emanations on carbon-isotope content of modern plants near Kilauea Volcano. In: Decker, RW, Wright, TL, Stauffer, PH, editors. Volcanism in Hawaii. USGS Professional paper 1350. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office. p 209–11.Google Scholar
Schoeninger, MJ, DeNiro, MJ. 1984. Nitrogen and carbon isotopic composition of bone collagen from marine and terrestrial animals. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 48(4):625–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shishlina, NI, van der Plicht, J, Hedges, REM, Zazovskaya, EP, Sevastnyanov, VS, Chichagova, OA. 2007. The Catacomb cultures of the North-West Caspian Steppe: 14C chronology, reservoir effect, and palaeodiet. Radiocarbon 49(2):713–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stevens, RE, Hedges, REM. 2004. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analysis of northwest European horse bone and tooth collagen, 40,000 BP–present: palaeoclimatic interpretations. Quaternary Science Reviews 23(7–8):977–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stuiver, M, Braziunas, TF. 1993. Modeling atmospheric 14C influences and 14C ages of marine samples to 10,000 BC. Radiocarbon 35(1):137–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tafuri, MA, Craig, OE, Canci, A. 2009. Stable isotope evidence for the consumption of millet and other plants in Bronze Age Italy. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 139(2):146–53.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tauber, H. 1981. Carbon isotope analysis of separate chemical phases in modern and fossil bone. Nature 292(5821):333–5.Google Scholar
van Klinken, GJ, van der Plicht, J, Hedges, REM. 2000. An overview of causes for stable isotopic variations in past European human populations: environmental, ecophysical and cultural effects. In: Ambrose, SN, Katzenberg, AM, editors. Biogeochemical Approaches to Palaeodietary Analysis. New York: Kluwer Academic. p 36–63.Google Scholar
Vogel, JC, van der Merwe, NJ. 1977. Isotopic evidence for early maize cultivation in New York State. American Antiquity 42(2):238–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Volodicheva, N. 2002. The Caucasus. In: Shahgedanova, M, editor. The Physical Geography of Northern Eurasia. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p 36–69.Google Scholar