Marine Reservoir Effects in Seal (Phocidae) Bones in the Northern Bering and Chukchi Seas, Northwestern Alaska

Reuther, Joshua D.; Shirar, Scott; Mason, Owen K.; Anderson, Shelby; Coltrain, Joan Brenner; Freeburg, Adam; Bowers, Peter M.; Alix, Claire; Darwent, Christyann M.; Norman, Lauren

doi:10.1017/rdc.2020.127

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…The same argument applies to the possible effect of permafrost burial in time. Another possible alteration of the 14 C content of the wood may come from contamination by external elements in the house, such as marine mammal oil, but the offset of marine carbon measurements is a few hundred years, not several thousand (Dumond & Griffin, 2002;Krus et al, 2019;Reuther et al, 2020). Moreover, wood cross-sections were not impregnated with chemicals in the 1950's as it was usual to glue archaeological cross-sections to consolidate them.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contribution of 14C wiggle-matching to dendroarchaeology of coastal Birnirk and Thule sites in northern Alaska

Taïeb,

Daux,

Alix

et al. 2023

ASE

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Along the coast of Northern Alaska, wood remains from Birnirk and Thule archaeological sites are extremely well-preserved and have the potential to document climatic variations and cultural transformations in the early 2 nd millennium CE in northwest Alaska. In this treeless coastal tundra, the primary wood resource is driftwood that come from the boreal forest carried by major interior rivers and ocean currents. While in northern Alaska, some Birnirk and Thule archaeological wood samples can be dated using the rare existing millennial tree ring master chronologies, many come from geographical areas where tree-ring master chronologies are too short (250-300 years). Here, we explore the potential of high-resolution wiggle-matching to accurately date tree-ring series that cannot be dated by conventional dendrochronology and develop preliminary tree-ring chronologies. We present the wiggle-matching results based on 75 radiocarbon dates for eight archaeological timbers from the Piġniq, Rising Whale and Pingusugruk coastal sites in northern Alaska. Wiggle-matching makes it possible to reduce the calendrical interval of these timbers' last growth ring from centennial to decadal range and position 22 timbers in calendar time. These results open new insights into tree-ring dating of others Birnirk and Thule architectural treering samples and analyzing climatic variations of the early 2 nd millennium CE, in different regions of Alaska. RÉSUMÉ. Le long des littoraux nord alaskiens, les bois d'architecture des sites archéologiques des cultures Birnirk et Thulé sont extrêmement bien conservés et ont le potentiel de documenter les variations climatiques et les transformations culturelles du début du II e millénaire de notre ère dans le nord-ouest de l'Alaska. Dans ce milieu de toundra sans arbres, les bois flottés provenant de la forêt boréale et transportés par les principaux fleuves de l'intérieur et les courants océaniques constituent la principale ressource en bois. Si, dans le nord de l'Alaska, certains bois archéologiques peuvent être datés à l'aide des rares séquences dendrochronologiques millénaires, beaucoup proviennent de zones géographiques où les chronologies de largeurs de cernes sont trop courtes (300-350 ans). Nous explorons ici les possibilités offertes par la méthode de datation à haute résolution du wiggle-matching pour situer avec précision dans le temps calendaire les bois non datés par la dendrochronologie conventionnelle et pour développer des chronologies préliminaires. Nous présentons ici les résultats du wigglematching basés sur 75 datations radiocarbone de huit pièces de bois archéologiques provenant des sites côtiers nord-alaskiens de Piġniq, Rising Whale et Pingusugruk. Le wiggle-matching de ces bois appartenant à des séquences flottantes a permis de contraindre au plus près l'intervalle calendaire dans lequel se situe le dernier cerne de croissance présent et de positionner dans le temps calendaire 22 bois archéologiques. Ces datations ouvrent de nouvelles perspectives pour la datation croisée d'a...

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Contribution of 14C wiggle-matching to dendroarchaeology of coastal Birnirk and Thule sites in northern Alaska

Taïeb,

Daux,

Alix

et al. 2023

ASE

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“…The 14 C dates run on marine-based organisms (marine mammals; dogs at maritime sites; and humans with a significant part of the diet from marine food) are also excluded, especially from records for the Zhokhov and Ekven sites (see Khassanov and Savinetsky 2006;. It is now clear that the reservoir age for marine-based substances in the Arctic (Sea of Okhotsk, Bering Sea, and seas of the Arctic Ocean) is quite high, with the R value up to 750-1100 years (see Dumond and Griffin 2002;Khassanov and Savinetsky 2006;Kuzmin et al 2007;Yoneda et al 2007;Khasanov et al 2015Khasanov et al , 2022Reuther et al 2021). It is therefore impossible to use 14 C values run on marine samples (or bones of humans who consumed significant amounts of aquatic food) to establish their true age.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Reconstructing Human−environmental Relationship in the Siberian Arctic and Sub-Arctic: A Holocene Overview

Kuzmin

2023

Radiocarbon

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This paper examines patterns of human–environmental interactions across northern Asia during the Holocene, in order to summarize current knowledge and identify key areas for future research. To achieve these goals, currently available chronological, cultural, and paleoenvironmental datasets from the east Russian Arctic for the last 10,000 14C years were integrated. Study regions include the Taymyr Peninsula, Lena River basin (except its southern part), northeastern Siberia, and Kamchatka Peninsula. Several broad-scale correlations between climatic fluctuations and cultural responses (e.g., subsistence strategies and occupation densities) were identified; however, these are not straightforward. For example, the increase of occupations during the warm periods in the Early–Middle Holocene are notable while the most pronounced rises coincide with a cooling trend in the Late Holocene. This shows that the human–environmental relationships in the Holocene were not linear; more interdisciplinary research will be needed to construct higher resolution data for understanding prehistoric cultural responses to past environmental changes in the Asian Arctic.

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“…Paired ringed seal and terrestrial sample 14 C dates from Walakpa, on the northern tip of Alaska ( Krus et al, 2019 ), yield an average R ( t ) of 864 ± 105 years. Paired terrestrial and seal sample data from Reuther et al (2021) , from the region in question ( Figure 1 ), yield a reservoir age of 831 ± 132 years.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Species-specific reservoir effect estimates: A case study of archaeological marine samples from the Bering Strait

et al. 2021

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Due to the marine reservoir effect, radiocarbon dates of marine samples require a correction. Marine reservoir effects, however, may vary among different marine species within a given body of water. Factors such as diet, feeding depth and migratory behaviour all affect the 14C date of a marine organism. Moreover, there is often significant variation within single marine species. Whilst the careful consideration of the Δ R values of a single marine species in a given location is important, so too is the full range of Δ R values within an ecosystem. This paper illustrates this point, using a sample pairing method to estimate the reservoir effects in 17 marine samples, of eight different species, from the archaeological site of Ekven (Eastern Chukotka, Siberia). An OxCal model is used to assess the strength of these estimates. The marine reservoir effects of samples passing the model range from Δ R (Marine20) = 136 ± 41–Δ R = 460 ± 40. Marine reservoir effect estimates of these samples and other published samples are used to explore variability in the wider Bering Strait region. The archaeological implications of this variability are also discussed. The calibrating of 14C dates from human bone collagen, for example, could be improved by applying a dietary relevant marine reservoir effect correction. For humans from the site of Ekven, a Δ R (Marine20) correction of 289 ± 124 years or reservoir age correction of 842 ± 123 years is suggested.

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Marine Reservoir Effects in Seal (Phocidae) Bones in the Northern Bering and Chukchi Seas, Northwestern Alaska

Cited by 4 publications

References 49 publications

Contribution of 14C wiggle-matching to dendroarchaeology of coastal Birnirk and Thule sites in northern Alaska

Contribution of 14C wiggle-matching to dendroarchaeology of coastal Birnirk and Thule sites in northern Alaska

Reconstructing Human−environmental Relationship in the Siberian Arctic and Sub-Arctic: A Holocene Overview

Species-specific reservoir effect estimates: A case study of archaeological marine samples from the Bering Strait

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