Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of coastal aeolian sand accumulation in Sanday, Orkney Islands, Scotland

Bibliographic Data

ID12266335
AuthorsAnne Sommerville (University of Glasgow), A A Sommerville (Department of Geographical and Earth Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK, Jacques Whitford/AXYS Environmental Consulting, Suite 203, 4208 97th Street, Edmonton T6E 5Z9, Canada), James D Hansom (University of Glasgow, corresponding author), Rupert A Housley (University of Glasgow), D C W Sanderson (0000-0002-9615-4412, Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre, East Kilbride G75 0QF, UK)
Year2007
Volume17
Issue5
Pages627-637
Publication date2007-07-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Holocene (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0959-6836 • E-ISSN: 1477-0911
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0959683607078987
OpenAlexW2039008604
LanguageEN
Citations received11
References cited59

Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of sand has been used to identify periods of enhanced aeolian activity at two coastal archaeological sites in Orkney that coincide with periods of Holocene climatic deterioration recorded elsewhere in both Scotland and W Europe. Areas of Tofts Ness, Sanday were settled from the Neolithic, abandoned in the late Neolithic/early Bronze Age, reoccupied and permanently abandoned in the Iron Age. Sand layers above the Neolithic soils have been OSL dated to about 4000 BP, correlating well with a period of increased aeolian activity elsewhere in W Europe. OSL dating of aeolian sands above midden deposits and a Bronze Age burial at Lopness on Sanday suggest dune development by 3000 BP, although both sites also contain sand that was deposited during the `Little Ice Age'. Several possible mechanisms may have contributed to an increase in aeolian activity during the Holocene that led to the abandonment of these sites. Although volcanic eruptions in Iceland cannot be discounted as a contributory factor, a more likely driver of change in sand dune systems is the enhanced N Atlantic storminess suggested by ice core records from Greenland. During periods of climatic deterioration the declining productivity of other agricultural land places enhanced demands on agriculturally marginal sand dunes, leading to further destabilization and the potential for enhanced sand transport events

Aeolian processes · Archaeology · Bronze Age · Geography · Geomorphology · Holocene · Ice core · Midden · Optically stimulated luminescence · Period (music · Physical geography · Quaternary · Sand dune stabilization · Thermoluminescence dating · Aeolian processes and effects · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Geology · Oceanography · Paleontology