Dietary freshwater reservoir effects and the radiocarbon ages of prehistoric human bones from Zvejnieki, Latvia

Meadows, John; Bērziņš, Valdis; Brinker, Ute; Lübke, Harald; Schmölcke, Ulrich; Staude, Andreas; Zagorska, Ilga; Zariņa, Gunita

doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2015.10.024

Cited by 19 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…The majority of FRE research has focussed on Europe (Cook et al 2001(Cook et al , 2002Fischer and Heinemeier 2003;Olsen et al 2010;Keaveney and Reimer 2012;Lougheed et al 2013;Fernandes et al 2014;Meadows et al 2016) and North America (Ingram and Southon 1996;Goodfriend and Flessa 1997;Culleton 2006), and only recently has the importance of freshwater reservoir effects been highlighted for Russia and the Eurasian steppe zone, including the upper Lena River and Lake Baikal region (Nomokonova et al 2013;Schulting et al 2014Schulting et al , 2015, Caspian steppes and lower Don River (Shishlina et al 2007(Shishlina et al , 2009(Shishlina et al , 2012(Shishlina et al , 2014Motuzaite-Matuzeviciute et al 2015), middle and lower reaches of the Dnieper River (Lillie et al 2009), NorthEastern Kazakhstan (Svyatko et al 2015), Sertejka River in Smolensk Oblast (Kulkova et al 2015) and Kubenskoye Lake in Vologda Oblast (Wood et al 2013). The main finding from this research is that freshwater reservoir effects are extremely variable geographically (spanning from zero to several thousand years), and that when dealing with archaeological human remains Beach population thought to be affected by a FRE must be examined individually^ (Wood et al 2013, p. 163).…”

Section: The Fre In Eurasiamentioning

confidence: 99%

A lack of freshwater reservoir effects in human radiocarbon dates in the Eneolithic to Iron Age in the Minusinsk Basin

Svyatko

Polyakov

Ogle

et al. 2016

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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A number of recent studies have highlighted the importance of freshwater reservoir effects (FRE) when dating human remains across large parts of Eurasia, including the Eurasian steppes. Here, we address this question in the context of the Early Bronze Age (Okunevo), Late Bronze Age (Karasuk) and Late Iron Age (Tashtyk culture) of the Minusinsk Basin, Southern Siberia. The issue is important given the large number of radiocarbon dates that have been published on human remains here, which have been used both to refine the cultural historical sequence (Svyatko et al. 2009), as well as to suggest a date of ca. 1400 BC for the appearance of millet agriculture (Svyatko et al. 2013). In these studies, it was argued that there was little or no freshwater reservoir effect to take into account, despite the likely consumption of freshwater fish. Subsequent work across the steppe raised a legitimate question concerning this assumption. Here, we present the first set of paired dates on late prehistoric humans and terrestrial fauna from the Minusinsk Basin, as well as data from modern fish for the region. The results, with one exception, show no clear evidence for a reservoir effect, with the human-fauna difference averaging −31 ± 95 14 C years. Yet, dating of modern fish from the Yenisei River and its tributary Karasuk River does show a variable but significant FRE. Either this effect has changed radically over time, or the contribution of fish to human diets in the Minusinsk Basin was less than previously thought.

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Section: The Fre In Eurasiamentioning

confidence: 99%

A lack of freshwater reservoir effects in human radiocarbon dates in the Eneolithic to Iron Age in the Minusinsk Basin

Svyatko

Polyakov

Ogle

et al. 2016

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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“…HoVi-609) are also unsurprising (e.g. Meadows et al 2016). Thus there is no indication in the EA-IRMS data that the 14 C results might be compromised.…”

Section: Ea-irmsmentioning

confidence: 98%

Radiocarbon dating bone and antler artefacts from Mesolithic Hohen Viecheln (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany)

Meadows¹,

Boudin²,

Groß³

et al. 2020

UuM Steinzeit

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“…Samples were also taken from an awl/dagger made of an elk ulna found close to the right arm of the male in the double grave. The main reason for taking this sample was to get a date from a terrestrial species of the same age as the humans in order to learn whether there was a fresh-water reservoir eff ect of freshwater because a considerable intake of freshwater fi sh could have altered the apparent age of the humans (Meadows et al 2015). The dagger was dated to 4865±60 BP, 3786-3521 cal BC (LuS 7852).…”

Section: The Past In the Pastmentioning

confidence: 99%

New Aspects of the Mesolithic-Neolithic Cemeteries and Settlement at Zvejnieki, Northern Latvia

Larsson¹,

Stutz

Zagorska

et al. 2017

ACAR

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The paper reflects upon recent international research at Zvejnieki in northern Latvia, a renowned complex of a burial ground and two settlement sites used in the Mesolithic and Neolithic. Since its discovery and first excavations in the 1960s, Zvejnieki continues to produce evidence that provides new grounds for understanding mortuary practises and ancient lifeways. This information is relevant for other contemporary sites in Europe revealing new and hitherto unexpected elements of burial traditions. It is suggested that the Zvejnieki population was partly mobile, and the site was one of the places to bury the dead. The ancestral link was established through transportation and use of occupational debris from more ancient sites and through the incorporation of earlier burial space or even burials into the new graves. The depth of a burial also appears to be a significant variable in ancient mortuary practices.

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Dietary freshwater reservoir effects and the radiocarbon ages of prehistoric human bones from Zvejnieki, Latvia

Cited by 19 publications

References 31 publications

A lack of freshwater reservoir effects in human radiocarbon dates in the Eneolithic to Iron Age in the Minusinsk Basin

A lack of freshwater reservoir effects in human radiocarbon dates in the Eneolithic to Iron Age in the Minusinsk Basin

Radiocarbon dating bone and antler artefacts from Mesolithic Hohen Viecheln (Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany)

New Aspects of the Mesolithic-Neolithic Cemeteries and Settlement at Zvejnieki, Northern Latvia

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