Reassessing the chronology of the archaeological site of Anzick (original) (raw)
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Should dates trump context? Evaluation of the Cave 7 skeletal assemblage radiocarbon dates
a b s t r a c t "Massacre" was the accepted interpretation for a prehistoric skeletal assemblage of around 90 individuals from Cave 7 in the SE Utah of the North American Southwest since the 1890s. Coltrain and others (Journal of Archaeological Science 39, 2220e2230) rejected this account based on a dispersed suite of AMS radiocarbon dates on purified bone collagen from the interred individuals. Since dates from skeletons exhibiting perimortem damage were scattered across some 400 radiocarbon years, Coltrain et al. argued for multiple interments of victims of violence and related kin spread across several centuries. The temporal placement of interment events in Cave 7 clearly cannot be known independent of radiocarbon assays but such assays should not be privileged above contextual information about which individuals were interred together unless verified by an independent dating laboratory. Only by ignoring important information about burial context in the 1893 field record can the dates of Coltrain et al. be accepted as accurate estimates of time of death. We redated residual collagen from 11 of the Cave 7 individuals because of significant contextual anomalies with some of the prior results. The new assays combined with contextual evidence demonstrate that some of Coltrain et al.'s dates are either too old or too young; the dates are neither sufficiently accurate (true estimates of sample age) nor sufficiently precise (small confidence intervals) to refute a single-event massacre or to confirm multiple interment events in Cave 7. Nonetheless, dates that meet these criteria disclose at least two interment events, a large one of mostly adult males, many exhibiting perimortem damage (a massacre assemblage), and a small one consisting of an adult female with three children. A third interment event of a few adult females and child is possible based primarily on context since the date distribution in this case overlaps substantially with that of the massacre victims; context also hints at other interment events. Aside from chronology we clarify the number of Basketmaker individuals interred at the site and the incidence of perimortem violence. A single-event mass killing continues to be the most likely interpretation for around 58 individuals, mostly adult males (at least 35) but also adult females and children. This incident occurred between cal. AD 20e80 and doubtless had a significant social impact at the time because of its scale, reverberating throughout the early farming communities of the Southwest.
A Non-Destructive Method for Dating Human Remains
The skeletal remains of several Native Americans were recovered in an eroded state from a creek bank in northeastern New Mexico. Subsequently stored in a nearby museum, the remains became lost for almost 36 years. In a recent effort to repatriate the remains, it was necessary to fit them into a cultural chronology in order to determine the appropriate tribe(s) for consultation pursuant to the Native American Grave Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA). Because the remains were found in an eroded context with no artifacts or funerary objects, their age was unknown. Having been asked to avoid destructive dating methods such as radiocarbon dating, the authors used Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) to date the sediments embedded in the cranium. The OSL analyses yielded reliable dates between A.D. 1415 and A.D. 1495. Accordingly, we conclude that the remains were interred somewhat earlier than A.D. 1415, but no later than A.D. 1495. We believe the remains are from individuals ancestral to the Ute Mouache Band, which is now being contacted for repatriation efforts. Not only do our methods contribute to the immediate repatriation efforts, they provide archaeologists with a versatile, non-destructive, numerical dating method that can be used in many burial contexts.
2013
During the summer of 1973, human skeletal remains were found eroding in the banks of the Cimarroncito Creek on the historic UU Bar Ranch in Colfax County, New Mexico (Figure 1). A young archaeologist from the adjoining Philmont Scout Ranch hastily recovered the remains and stored them in the Philmont Museum, where they became lost amid the collections for almost 36 years. In 2009, the newly appointed curator of the museum discovered the remains and asked that they be examined at the Research Laboratory of Anthropology at New Mexico Highlands University and that arrangements be made for their reinterment according to law. Among the museum records, only a single page of original field notes documenting the recovery was found. Unfortunately, the position along the creek from which the remains were recovered was not recorded. Loan documentation was completed, and the remains were transferred and housed in our curation facilities until the analysis could begin. After a cursory examination, we believed the remains to be those of a Native American. Moreover, we observed that the cranium had not been cleaned and was still filled with compacted sediments (Figure 2). We then asked and received permission to conduct a non-destructive analysis of the remains and to repatriate them consistent with the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA), 25 U.S.C. 3001 et seq. (1990),
In: ROUGIER H. & SEMAL P. (eds), Spy Cave. 125 years of multidisciplinary research at the Betche-aux-Rotches (Jemeppe-sur-Sambre, Province of Namur, Belgium). Volume I, Brussels, Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Anthropologica et Praehistorica 123/2012, p. 331-356.
Another Dating Revolution for Prehistoric Archaeology?
Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 2013
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Initial chronological determinations at an Archaic site discovered near Stockton, Utah
Numerous lithic artifacts eroding from a bluff within a classic spit-bar landform of Pleistocene Lake Bonneville attest to former cultural activities in the region near Stockton, Utah. Because extensive mining of the local sands and gravels threaten the site, the recent discovery of in situ finds preserved in stratified contexts prompted a pilot study to document the locale and test the suitability of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating techniques for geochronological determinations. We applied a modified single aliquot regenerative-dose (SAR) technique to resolve the formation of strata comprising the spit-bar sequence. The OSL determinations indicate a Pleistocene terminus post quem (that is, a maximum age) for the Archaic occupation. This is sensible because the unit in which we found in situ artifacts is older than the earliest possible date for site occupation during the Late Holocene. This study demonstrates the utility of OSL for further resolving the chronostratigraphic development of local landforms that were important landscape elements during antiquity.
Through the case study of the Thule-era village site of Nunalleq (GDN-248), this paper presents 14 C dating results and perspectives on the issues associated with radiocarbon dating stratified archaeological sites in circumpolar North America. The objective was to investigate relative variation in the 14 C age of ecofacts with the aim of establishing a hierarchy of dating suitability for Nunalleq that could more widely inform 14 C sample selection on archaeological sites across the North American sub-Arctic and Arctic and Greenland. Owing to the complexities associated with interpreting and establishing the relative chronology of the deeply stratified sod deposits at Nunalleq, we adopted open-area excavation and single-context recording methods. This approach, we suggest, allowed us to eliminate stratigraphic complexity as a source of variation in 14 C measurements and to assess the taphonomic issues associated with dating different ecofacts. In total, 16 samples were submitted for dating, comprising two sets of eight different ecofacts, one from each of two stratigraphically contemporary but spatially discrete contexts. In most instances, the 14 C ages of ecofacts were statistically indistinguishable between the two contexts and support the relative chronological relationships established by excavation. Only Elymus arenarius (grass) manufactures and Heleomyzidae (fly) puparia produced different ages in the two contexts, variations that suggest that these items are unreliable dating materials. As noted in previous studies, Phoca sp. (seal) and Oncorhynchus sp. (salmon) bone collagen demonstrated a strong marine reservoir effect (c. 700 14 C yr.). Picea sp. (wood chips) were marginally older than seeds from edible berries (Rubus chamaemorus and Empetrum nigrum) and caribou (Rangifer tarandus) bone collagen, which provided the most consistent ages. RÉSUMÉ. Par le biais d'une étude portant sur le village de Nunalleq (GDN-248), appartenant à l'ère thuléenne, cet article présente les résultats de datations par le carbone 14 ainsi que les problèmes liés à la datation des sites archéologiques stratifiés situés dans la zone circumpolaire de l'Amérique du Nord. L'objectif consistait à examiner les variations relatives entre les âges C14 obtenus pour différents types d'écofacts, dans le but d'établir une hiérarchie pour Nunalleq qui pourrait plus largement informer la sélection de matériel à dater sur les sites archéologiques à l'échelle des régions subarctiques et arctiques de l'Amérique du Nord ainsi que du Groenland. Afin de faciliter l'interprétation et l'établissement d'une chronologie relative pour les dépôts de tourbe profondément stratifiés à Nunalleq, nous avons effectué des fouilles archéologiques à aire ouverte et adopté le « single context recording » comme système d'enregistrement. Nous suggérons que cela nous a permis d'éliminer la complexité stratigraphique comme source de variation dans les mesures de l'activité radiologique du carbone 14 et d'examiner les processus taphonomiques liés à la datation de différents types d'écofacts. Au total, 16 échantillons, comprenant deux séries de huit types d'écofacts différents provenant d'unités archéologiques stratigraphiquement contemporaines, mais spatialement distinctes, ont été soumis pour datation par le radiocarbone. Dans la plupart des cas, les datations obtenues pour chaque type d'écofact sont statistiquement indiscernables pour les deux contextes, soutenant ainsi les relations concernant la chronologie relative établie lors des fouilles archéologiques. Seuls les objets faits avec Elymus arenarius (herbe) et les puparia Heleomyzidae (mouche) ont produit des âges qui diffèrent entre les contextes, ce qui suggère que ces types d'écofacts ne sont pas recommandables comme matériaux à dater. Comme anticipé, le collagène osseux de Phocas sp. (phoque) et Oncorhynchus sp. (saumon) démontre un fort effet 'réservoir marin' (environ 700 ans C 14). Les copeaux de bois (Picea sp.) sont marginalement plus âgés que les graines de baies comestibles (Rubus chamaemorus et Empetrum nigrum) et le collagène osseux de caribou (Rangifer tarandus), qui ont produit les datations les plus cohérentes.