‘Old wood’ effect in radiocarbon dating of prehistoric cremated bones?

Olsen, Jesper; Heinemeier, Jan; Hornstrup, Karen Margrethe; Bennike, Pia; Thrane, Henrik

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2012.05.034

Cited by 72 publications

(53 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…Experimental evidence suggests that the carbon in calcined bone apatite may derive not only from the dated individual, but from the fuel used in the cremation process, and the atmosphere during the time of cremation (Snoeck et al 2014). This can lead to offsets in dates on calcined bone (Olsen et al 2013). We believe that this is not a significant issue at Barnhouse.…”

Section: A Stratigraphic Modelmentioning

confidence: 90%

Settlement Duration and Materiality: Formal Chronological Models for the Development of Barnhouse, a Grooved Ware Settlement in Orkney

Richards¹,

Jones

MacSween

et al. 2016

Proc. Prehist. Soc.

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Section: A Stratigraphic Modelmentioning

confidence: 90%

Settlement Duration and Materiality: Formal Chronological Models for the Development of Barnhouse, a Grooved Ware Settlement in Orkney

Richards¹,

Jones

MacSween

et al. 2016

Proc. Prehist. Soc.

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“…The number of dates used to draw maps, the number of sites with dating in different regions and the average standard deviation (Ascough et al 2005), and although a correction factor can be applied, a considerable variation still exists (Soares and Dias 2006). We should also highlight some problems related to bone samples: more specifically, whether or not particular methods of ultrafiltration are used to control the quality of the collagen (Motuzaite-Matuzeviciute et al 2015;Wood 2015), as well as problems related to the use of bones affected by fire, similar to the old wood effect (Olsen et al 2013). Finally, dates of domestic samples are not without problems, in particular those associated with distinguishing some domestic species (animal or plant) from their wild counterparts: although the application of protein analysis (Martins et al 2015) seems to be a valid method for solving this problem in the near future.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

New insights into the neolithisation process in southwest Europe according to spatial density analysis from calibrated radiocarbon dates

Puchol

Castillo

Gordó

2017

Archaeol Anthropol Sci

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The agricultural way of life spreads throughout Europe via two main routes: the Danube corridor and the Mediterranean basin. Current archaeological literature describes the arrival to the Western Mediterranean as a rapid process which involves both demic and cultural models, and in this regard, the dispersal movement has been investigated using mathematical models, where the key factors are time and space. In this work, we have created a compilation of all available radiocarbon dates for the whole of Iberia, in order to draw a chronological series of maps to illustrate temporal and spatial patterns in the neolithisation process. The maps were prepared by calculating the calibrated 14C date probability density curves, as a proxy to show the spatial dynamics of the last hunter-gatherers and first farmers. Several scholars have pointed out problems linked with the variability of samples, such as the overrepresentation of some sites, the degree of regional research, the nature of the dated samples and above all the archaeological context, but we are confident that the selected dates, after applying some filters and statistical protocols, constitute a good way to approach settlement spatial patterns in Iberia at the time of the neolithisation process.

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“…Generally, c. 1 g samples of undetermined bones found in the sieve Rangifer, 36, (1) 2016 were used for 14 C-dating. The use of bones for dating poses several problems that were raised by Lanting et al (2001) and have been heavily discussed since then (see, for example, Van Strydonck et al, 2009;Van Strydonck et al, 2010;Zazzo et al, 2009;Hüls et al, 2010;Olsen et al, 2013;Taylor & Yosef 2014;Philippsen 2015;Ekholm 2015). However, the soils in the boreal study area are mostly podzols, which are acidic and do not contain dissolved carbonates, thus minimizing one potential source of errors.…”

Section: Sampling Strategy and Field Investigationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hearths in the coastal areas of northernmost Sweden, from the period AD 800 to 1950

Liedgren¹,

Bergman²,

Ramqvist³

et al. 2016

Ran

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This paper presents a study of the chronological setting of hearths registered in FMIS (digital register containing records of all known ancient monuments in Sweden) in the provinces of Västerbotten and Norrbotten, Northern Sweden. A total of c. 1500 hearths are known in the area, mainly situated north of the river Skellefteälven. Within a study area of 107 x 94 km, 32 hearths were randomly selected for excavation, each site embracing 1-14 hearths. The sites were scanned using a metal detector and nearly all artifacts found were from the period AD 1600-1900. 14 C-datings of charcoal and burned bones corroborated that most hearths were used during this period, with a large number dating to the 19 th and 20 th centuries. Many hearths contained bones from mature reindeer, indicating that the hearths were related to reindeer herding. We suggest that most hearths are related to nomadic Sami reindeer herders using coastal areas for winter pasture, possibly resulting from the breakdown of the "lappskatteland" (taxation lands) system and an increase in reindeer numbers.

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‘Old wood’ effect in radiocarbon dating of prehistoric cremated bones?

Cited by 72 publications

References 39 publications

Settlement Duration and Materiality: Formal Chronological Models for the Development of Barnhouse, a Grooved Ware Settlement in Orkney

Settlement Duration and Materiality: Formal Chronological Models for the Development of Barnhouse, a Grooved Ware Settlement in Orkney

New insights into the neolithisation process in southwest Europe according to spatial density analysis from calibrated radiocarbon dates

Hearths in the coastal areas of northernmost Sweden, from the period AD 800 to 1950

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