Peter Ditchfield
Biographic Data
| ID | 625117 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Peter Ditchfield |
| GIVEN NAMES | Peter |
| FAMILY NAME | Ditchfield |
| SIGNATURE | DITCHFIELD P |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Oxford |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 31 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 1017 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 31 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1999 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2019 |
| H-INDEX | 12 |
Middle-Neolithic agricultural practices in the Oldenburger Graben wetlands, northern Germany: First results of the analysis of arable weeds and stable isotopes
A number of small middle-Neolithic (3300–2800 BC) settlements flourished in the Oldenburger Graben area of northern Germany. The excavations yielded large amounts of crop remains, suggesting that agrarian production was a cornerstone of subsistence economy. Until about 3000 BC, Oldenburger Graben was a fjord, which over time was separated from the Baltic Sea and became a lagoon. The location of the settlement in the wetlands would have been highl…
The ups & downs of Iron Age animal management on the Oxfordshire Ridgeway, south-central England: A multi-isotope approach
Palaeoenvironmental dynamics and Palaeolithic occupation at Katoati, Thar Desert, India
Late Pleistocene palaeoenvironments in the Thar Desert (India), located at the eastern extent of the Saharo-Arabian desert belt, have fluctuated considerably as a result of the varying range and intensity of the Indian summer monsoon. Phases of widespread Pleistocene aridity are well documented in the Thar Desert, but research focusing on humid proxies is critical to examine how the region may have facilitated population expansions across souther…
Dietary reconstruction of the Iron Age population at the Fantzuyuan site, Taiwan, revealed by isotopic analysis on human and faunal bone collagen
Appendix: Dating Methods Applied to Azokh Cave Sites
The utility of livestock dung for reconstructing recent ethnological and environmental histories
Animal dung is evaluated here as a tool to reconstruct recent societal and environmental changes. Studies completed on the macro- and micro-contents from dung deposited in a mountain cave in Catalonia during the 1970–1980s, preceding the socio-economic changes in the area, was supplemented by the testimony of the last shepherd alive in the area. This information was also compared with evidence from aerial photographs of the area surrounding the c…
Analytical framework for reconstructing heterogeneous environmental variables from mammal community structure
Grain size distribution analysis of sediments containing Younger Toba tephra from Ghoghara, Middle Son valley, India
Mid-Holocene age obtained for nested diamond pattern petroglyph in the Billasurgam Cave complex, Kurnool District, southern India
Reliability of Nitrogen Content (%N) and Carbon: Nitrogen Atomic Ratios (C:N) as Indicators of Collagen Preservation Suitable for Radiocarbon Dating
A recent study into prescreening techniques to identify bones suitable for radiocarbon dating from sites known for poor or variable preservation (Brock et al. 2007, 2010a) found that the percent nitrogen (%N) content of whole bone powder was the most reliable indicator of collagen preservation. Measurement of %N is rapid, requires little preparation or material, and is relatively cheap. The technique reduces the risk of needlessly sampling valuab…
The men of Nelson's navy: A comparative stable isotope dietary study of late 18th century and early 19th century servicemen from Royal Naval Hospital burial grounds at Plymouth and Gosport, England
We present stable isotopic analyses of collagen from 80 servicemen excavated from the late 18th/early 19th century naval hospitals at Plymouth (50) and Haslar, Gosport (30) in southern England. Historical records suggest that, the diets of these two populations should be essentially identical. While δ 15 N of the rib collagen confirmed that naval servicemen were relatively well‐catered for in terms of meat allowance (Plymouth average δ 15 N = 11.…
Late Acheulean hominins at the Marine Isotope Stage 6/5e transition in north-central India
Single-grain optically stimulated luminescence dating was applied to Late Quaternary sediments at two sites in the Middle Son Valley, Madhya Pradesh, India. Designated Bamburi 1 and Patpara, these sites contain Late Acheulean stone tool assemblages, which we associate with non-modern hominins. Age determinations of 140–120 ka place the formation of these sites at around the Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 6–5 transition, placing them among the younge…
Sedimentology, Lithostratigraphy and Depositional History of the Laetoli Area
Mesowear as a means of determining diets in African antelopes
Dhaba: An initial report on an Acheulean, Middle Palaeolithic and microlithic locality in the Middle Son Valley, north-central India
A southern Indian Middle Palaeolithic occupation surface sealed by the 74 ka Toba eruption: Further evidence from Jwalapuram Locality 22
The Toba volcanic super-eruption, environmental change, and hominin occupation history in India over the last 140,000 years
In Foote's Steps: The History, Significance and Recent Archaeological Investigation of the Billa Surgam Caves in Southern India
The ossiferous Billa Surgam cave complex in southern India has the longest record of archaeological and palaeoenvironmental exploration of any Indian cave system, commencing in the first half of the nineteenth century. The remarkable record of these investigations, which have paralleled and even driven the understanding of Palaeolithic occupation in the sub-continent, has to date never been comprehensively reviewed and placed in historical contex…
The 74 ka Toba super-eruption and southern Indian hominins: Archaeology, lithic technology and environments at Jwalapuram Locality 3
Current Pretreatment Methods for AMS Radiocarbon Dating at the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit (Orau)
In this paper, we summarize the main chemical pretreatment protocols currently used for AMS radiocarbon dating at the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, updating the protocols last described by Hedges et al. (1989)
Population increase and environmental deterioration correspond with microlithic innovations in South Asia ca. 35,000 years ago
Genetic studies of South Asia's population history have led to postulations of a significant and early population expansion in the subcontinent, dating to sometime in the Late Pleistocene. We evaluate this argument, based on new mtDNA analyses, and find evidence for significant demographic transition in the subcontinent, dating to 35–28 ka. We then examine the paleoenvironmental and, particularly, archaeological records for this time period and n…
Raw material quality and Oldowan hominin toolstone preferences: Evidence from Kanjera South, Kenya
Oldowan behavior and raw material transport: Perspectives from the Kanjera Formation
Small Mid-Pleistocene Hominin Associated with East African Acheulean Technology
Hominin fossils from the African mid-Pleistocene are rare despite abundant Acheulean tools in Africa and apparently African-derived hominins in Eurasia between 1.0 and 0.5 million years ago (Ma). Here we describe an African fossil cranium constrained by 40 Ar/ 39 Ar analyses, magnetostratigraphy, and sedimentary features to 0.97 to 0.90 Ma, and stratigraphically associated with Acheulean handaxes. Although the cranium represents possibly the smal…
Using a Gas Ion Source for Radiocarbon AMS and GC-AMS
This paper reports on the performance of a new method of sample injection using the High Voltage Engineering Europa (HVEE) SO-110 ion source jointly developed between HVEE and Oxford. In order to use this source, we have developed a new gas handling system which works on the direct injection of carbon dioxide mixed into a continuous flow of helium. Preliminary work has also been carried out on online gas chromatography-accelerator mass spectromet…
Current Pretreatment Methods for AMS Radiocarbon Dating at the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit (Orau)
In this paper, we summarize the main chemical pretreatment protocols currently used for AMS radiocarbon dating at the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, updating the protocols last described by Hedges et al. (1989)
Raw material quality and Oldowan hominin toolstone preferences: Evidence from Kanjera South, Kenya
Paleolandscape variation and Early Pleistocene hominid activities: Members 1 and 7, Olorgesailie Formation, Kenya
Oldowan behavior and raw material transport: Perspectives from the Kanjera Formation
Research on Late Pliocene Oldowan Sites at Kanjera South, Kenya
The Toba volcanic super-eruption, environmental change, and hominin occupation history in India over the last 140,000 years
Current research on the Late Pliocene and Pleistocene deposits north of Homa Mountain, southwestern Kenya
The 74 ka Toba super-eruption and southern Indian hominins: Archaeology, lithic technology and environments at Jwalapuram Locality 3
Reliability of Nitrogen Content (%N) and Carbon: Nitrogen Atomic Ratios (C:N) as Indicators of Collagen Preservation Suitable for Radiocarbon Dating
A recent study into prescreening techniques to identify bones suitable for radiocarbon dating from sites known for poor or variable preservation (Brock et al. 2007, 2010a) found that the percent nitrogen (%N) content of whole bone powder was the most reliable indicator of collagen preservation. Measurement of %N is rapid, requires little preparation or material, and is relatively cheap. The technique reduces the risk of needlessly sampling valuab…
A southern Indian Middle Palaeolithic occupation surface sealed by the 74 ka Toba eruption: Further evidence from Jwalapuram Locality 22
Dhaba: An initial report on an Acheulean, Middle Palaeolithic and microlithic locality in the Middle Son Valley, north-central India
Using a Gas Ion Source for Radiocarbon AMS and GC-AMS
This paper reports on the performance of a new method of sample injection using the High Voltage Engineering Europa (HVEE) SO-110 ion source jointly developed between HVEE and Oxford. In order to use this source, we have developed a new gas handling system which works on the direct injection of carbon dioxide mixed into a continuous flow of helium. Preliminary work has also been carried out on online gas chromatography-accelerator mass spectromet…
The men of Nelson's navy: A comparative stable isotope dietary study of late 18th century and early 19th century servicemen from Royal Naval Hospital burial grounds at Plymouth and Gosport, England
We present stable isotopic analyses of collagen from 80 servicemen excavated from the late 18th/early 19th century naval hospitals at Plymouth (50) and Haslar, Gosport (30) in southern England. Historical records suggest that, the diets of these two populations should be essentially identical. While δ 15 N of the rib collagen confirmed that naval servicemen were relatively well‐catered for in terms of meat allowance (Plymouth average δ 15 N = 11.…
The ups & downs of Iron Age animal management on the Oxfordshire Ridgeway, south-central England: A multi-isotope approach
Mid-Holocene age obtained for nested diamond pattern petroglyph in the Billasurgam Cave complex, Kurnool District, southern India
Analytical framework for reconstructing heterogeneous environmental variables from mammal community structure
Partial cranium of Cercopithecoides kimeui Leakey, 1982 from Rawi Gully, southwestern Kenya
The Rawi Gully, located on the Homa Peninsula in southwestern Kenya, has produced several fossil elements of a large cercopithecid from sediments approximately 2.5 million years old (Ma). Nearly all of these elements appear to represent a single adult male individual of the colobine species Cercopithecoides kimeui Leakey, 1982. Part of the face, mandible, dentition, and several small postcranial fragments were collected by the Homa Peninsula Pale…
Middle-Neolithic agricultural practices in the Oldenburger Graben wetlands, northern Germany: First results of the analysis of arable weeds and stable isotopes
A number of small middle-Neolithic (3300–2800 BC) settlements flourished in the Oldenburger Graben area of northern Germany. The excavations yielded large amounts of crop remains, suggesting that agrarian production was a cornerstone of subsistence economy. Until about 3000 BC, Oldenburger Graben was a fjord, which over time was separated from the Baltic Sea and became a lagoon. The location of the settlement in the wetlands would have been highl…
Mesowear as a means of determining diets in African antelopes
In Foote's Steps: The History, Significance and Recent Archaeological Investigation of the Billa Surgam Caves in Southern India
The ossiferous Billa Surgam cave complex in southern India has the longest record of archaeological and palaeoenvironmental exploration of any Indian cave system, commencing in the first half of the nineteenth century. The remarkable record of these investigations, which have paralleled and even driven the understanding of Palaeolithic occupation in the sub-continent, has to date never been comprehensively reviewed and placed in historical contex…
The utility of livestock dung for reconstructing recent ethnological and environmental histories
Animal dung is evaluated here as a tool to reconstruct recent societal and environmental changes. Studies completed on the macro- and micro-contents from dung deposited in a mountain cave in Catalonia during the 1970–1980s, preceding the socio-economic changes in the area, was supplemented by the testimony of the last shepherd alive in the area. This information was also compared with evidence from aerial photographs of the area surrounding the c…
Paleolandscape variation and Early Pleistocene hominid activities: Members 1 and 7, Olorgesailie Formation, Kenya
Current research on the Late Pliocene and Pleistocene deposits north of Homa Mountain, southwestern Kenya
Research on Late Pliocene Oldowan Sites at Kanjera South, Kenya
Paleolandscape variation and Early Pleistocene hominid activities: Members 1 and 7, Olorgesailie Formation, Kenya
Late Pliocene Oldowan excavations at Kanjera South, Kenya
The appearance of Oldowan sites c. 2.5 million years ago signals one of the most important adaptive shifts in human evolution. Large mammal u butchery, stone artefact manufacture and novel transport and discard behaviours led to the accumulation of the first recognized archaeological debris. Although the earliest instances of these behaviours are 2.5 million years ago, most of what we know about Oldowan palaeoecology and behaviour is derived from…
Partial cranium of Cercopithecoides kimeui Leakey, 1982 from Rawi Gully, southwestern Kenya
The Rawi Gully, located on the Homa Peninsula in southwestern Kenya, has produced several fossil elements of a large cercopithecid from sediments approximately 2.5 million years old (Ma). Nearly all of these elements appear to represent a single adult male individual of the colobine species Cercopithecoides kimeui Leakey, 1982. Part of the face, mandible, dentition, and several small postcranial fragments were collected by the Homa Peninsula Pale…
Small Mid-Pleistocene Hominin Associated with East African Acheulean Technology
Hominin fossils from the African mid-Pleistocene are rare despite abundant Acheulean tools in Africa and apparently African-derived hominins in Eurasia between 1.0 and 0.5 million years ago (Ma). Here we describe an African fossil cranium constrained by 40 Ar/ 39 Ar analyses, magnetostratigraphy, and sedimentary features to 0.97 to 0.90 Ma, and stratigraphically associated with Acheulean handaxes. Although the cranium represents possibly the smal…
Using a Gas Ion Source for Radiocarbon AMS and GC-AMS
This paper reports on the performance of a new method of sample injection using the High Voltage Engineering Europa (HVEE) SO-110 ion source jointly developed between HVEE and Oxford. In order to use this source, we have developed a new gas handling system which works on the direct injection of carbon dioxide mixed into a continuous flow of helium. Preliminary work has also been carried out on online gas chromatography-accelerator mass spectromet…
Oldowan behavior and raw material transport: Perspectives from the Kanjera Formation
Population increase and environmental deterioration correspond with microlithic innovations in South Asia ca. 35,000 years ago
Genetic studies of South Asia's population history have led to postulations of a significant and early population expansion in the subcontinent, dating to sometime in the Late Pleistocene. We evaluate this argument, based on new mtDNA analyses, and find evidence for significant demographic transition in the subcontinent, dating to 35–28 ka. We then examine the paleoenvironmental and, particularly, archaeological records for this time period and n…
Raw material quality and Oldowan hominin toolstone preferences: Evidence from Kanjera South, Kenya
In Foote's Steps: The History, Significance and Recent Archaeological Investigation of the Billa Surgam Caves in Southern India
The ossiferous Billa Surgam cave complex in southern India has the longest record of archaeological and palaeoenvironmental exploration of any Indian cave system, commencing in the first half of the nineteenth century. The remarkable record of these investigations, which have paralleled and even driven the understanding of Palaeolithic occupation in the sub-continent, has to date never been comprehensively reviewed and placed in historical contex…
The 74 ka Toba super-eruption and southern Indian hominins: Archaeology, lithic technology and environments at Jwalapuram Locality 3
Current Pretreatment Methods for AMS Radiocarbon Dating at the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit (Orau)
In this paper, we summarize the main chemical pretreatment protocols currently used for AMS radiocarbon dating at the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, updating the protocols last described by Hedges et al. (1989)
Late Acheulean hominins at the Marine Isotope Stage 6/5e transition in north-central India
Single-grain optically stimulated luminescence dating was applied to Late Quaternary sediments at two sites in the Middle Son Valley, Madhya Pradesh, India. Designated Bamburi 1 and Patpara, these sites contain Late Acheulean stone tool assemblages, which we associate with non-modern hominins. Age determinations of 140–120 ka place the formation of these sites at around the Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 6–5 transition, placing them among the younge…
Sedimentology, Lithostratigraphy and Depositional History of the Laetoli Area
Mesowear as a means of determining diets in African antelopes
Dhaba: An initial report on an Acheulean, Middle Palaeolithic and microlithic locality in the Middle Son Valley, north-central India
A southern Indian Middle Palaeolithic occupation surface sealed by the 74 ka Toba eruption: Further evidence from Jwalapuram Locality 22
The Toba volcanic super-eruption, environmental change, and hominin occupation history in India over the last 140,000 years
Grain size distribution analysis of sediments containing Younger Toba tephra from Ghoghara, Middle Son valley, India
Mid-Holocene age obtained for nested diamond pattern petroglyph in the Billasurgam Cave complex, Kurnool District, southern India
Reliability of Nitrogen Content (%N) and Carbon: Nitrogen Atomic Ratios (C:N) as Indicators of Collagen Preservation Suitable for Radiocarbon Dating
A recent study into prescreening techniques to identify bones suitable for radiocarbon dating from sites known for poor or variable preservation (Brock et al. 2007, 2010a) found that the percent nitrogen (%N) content of whole bone powder was the most reliable indicator of collagen preservation. Measurement of %N is rapid, requires little preparation or material, and is relatively cheap. The technique reduces the risk of needlessly sampling valuab…
The men of Nelson's navy: A comparative stable isotope dietary study of late 18th century and early 19th century servicemen from Royal Naval Hospital burial grounds at Plymouth and Gosport, England
We present stable isotopic analyses of collagen from 80 servicemen excavated from the late 18th/early 19th century naval hospitals at Plymouth (50) and Haslar, Gosport (30) in southern England. Historical records suggest that, the diets of these two populations should be essentially identical. While δ 15 N of the rib collagen confirmed that naval servicemen were relatively well‐catered for in terms of meat allowance (Plymouth average δ 15 N = 11.…
Analytical framework for reconstructing heterogeneous environmental variables from mammal community structure
Geography (25 works) · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology (24 works) · Archaeology (19 works) · Geology (17 works) · Paleontology (17 works) · Biology (15 works) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (14 works) · Pleistocene (13 works) · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies (12 works) · Geology (10 works)