Elaine Dunbar
Dados Biográficos
| ID | 82645 |
|---|---|
| NOME | Elaine Dunbar |
| PRENOMES | Elaine |
| SOBRENOME | Dunbar |
| ASSINATURA | DUNBAR E |
| AFILIAÇÕES | Scottish Enterprise |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-5183-5583 |
| VERIFICADO | Sim |
| TOTAL DE OBRAS | 43 |
| TOTAL DE CITAÇÕES | 510 |
| TOTAL COMO AUTOR | 43 |
| TOTAL COMO EDITOR | 0 |
| PRIMEIRO ANO DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2005 |
| ANO MAIS RECENTE DE PUBLICAÇÃO | 2025 |
| ÍNDICE H | 14 |
Establishing a Chronology for Roman and Post-Roman Stanwick, Northamptonshire
The programme of radiocarbon dating undertaken at Stanwick, Northamptonshire, demonstrates the value of scientific dating of Romano-British sites, including those with good pottery sequences and large numbers of datable coins and other finds. It has refined and clarified the chronology and phasing of the site, particularly in its final phase of occupation. It confirmed some of our original dating of the human burials, and showed other dates were …
If I Were White
Our study demonstrated that the socio-structural processes related to ethnicity, namely racism, social deprivation, stereotyping and institutional bias, impact the medical experiences of SARDs patients in multitudinous ways. Some patients reported systemic and interpersonal racism, racialized stereotyping, and mistrust in care, while others listed factors that they considered were protective against discrimination, such as education and location.…
Preliminary Results From Glasgow International Radiocarbon Intercomparison
GIRI (Glasgow International Radiocarbon Intercomparison) was designed to meet a number of objectives, including to provide an independent assessment of the analytical quality of the laboratory/measurement and an opportunity for a laboratory to participate and improve (if needed). The principles in the design of GIRI were to provide the following: (a) a series of unrelated individual samples, spanning the dating age range, (b) linked samples to ea…
Routine Quality Assurance in the Suerc Radiocarbon Laboratory
The SUERC Radiocarbon Laboratory reports approximately 3000 unknown samples per year with an additional 1200 samples processed for quality assurance purposes. In addition to the primary OxII standard (SRM-4990C) required for AMS batch normalization, secondary “known-age” standards have been used over many years to evaluate individual batch quality. These have included wood (as prepared alpha-cellulose), barley mash, humic acid, a background mammo…
Carbon Isotope Changes Through the Recent Past
Radiocarbon (F 14 C) and stable carbon (δ 13 C) values were measured in single grains of spring barley (Hordeum vulgare L. ) from the sample archive from two adjacent sites of the Long-term Experiments (LTEs) Hoosfield Spring Barley at Rothamsted Research (Harpenden, Hertfordshire, UK), covering the growing periods (March to September) of 1852 to 2020. F 14 C data of the barley grain confirm that recent values are approaching and will decline bel…
Titelseiten
Some Balaton-Lasinja Graves from Veszprém-Jutasi Út and an Outline Chronology for the Earlier Copper Age in Western Hungary
A handful of new radiocarbon dates from three Balaton-Lasinja culture graves at the site of Veszprém-Jutasi út in western Hungary form the starting point for formal models for late Lengyel and post-Lengyel chronology in that region. The graves date to the later fifth millennium cal BC. They provide the opportunity to put the earlier Copper Age Balaton-Lasinja culture of Transdanubia into its regional and wider context, and to highlight both gradu…
A history of the LBK in the central Polish lowlands
A new chronological study of the LBK in the central Polish lowlands shows that it emerged later, lasted for a shorter period, and ended sooner than has been supposed up till now. LBK communities emerged, probably in the middle of the 53 rd century cal BC, to form an enclave in the central Polish lowlands, probably as a result of colonisation from loess areas in the south of Poland. Settlement steadily intensified throughout the 52 nd century cal …
Landscapes for Neolithic People in Mainland, Orkney
Neolithic occupation of the Orkney Islands, in the north of Scotland, probably began in the mid fourth millennium cal BC, culminating in a range of settlements, including stone-built houses, varied stone-built tombs and two noteworthy stone circles. The environmental and landscape context of the spectacular archaeology, however, remains poorly understood. We applied the Multiple Scenario Approach (MSA) to Neolithic pollen records from Mainland, O…
Middle Neolithic pits and a burial at West Amesbury, Wiltshire
Excavations on the south-eastern slopes of King Barrow Ridge, 1.5 km east of Stonehenge, revealed five pits, a grave and other features of Middle Neolithic date. Analysis of the pit assemblages and the partial inhumation interred in the grave has provided insights into lifeways in this landscape in the late fourth millennium cal BC. Evidence suggests that the area was visited by a pastoralist, mobile community on a semi-regular basis for a signif…
Tempo of a Mega-henge
Radiocarbon dating and Bayesian chronological modelling have provided precise new dating for the henge monument of Mount Pleasant in Dorset, excavated in 1970–1. A total of 59 radiocarbon dates are now available for the site and modelling of these has provided a revised sequence for the henge enclosure and its various constituent parts: the timber palisaded enclosure, the Conquer Barrow, and the ditch surrounding Site IV, a concentric timber and …
Using Carbon Isotopes to Fight the Rise in Fraudulent Whisky
A major threat to the Scotch whisky industry is the sale of counterfeit single malt whiskies with purported distillation years in the 19th and early- to mid-20th centuries. However, these are often much more recent spirits, distilled in the latter part of the 20th or first part of the 21st centuries. These sales impinge upon the reputation of auction houses, retailers, brand owners and distillers. The atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons in the…
The chronology of Glastonbury Lake Village
The Glastonbury Lake Village in Somerset, UK, is made up of 90 mounds comprising 40 roundhouses. Excavations between 1892 and 1907 revealed Iron Age structural and material remains unparalleled in Western Europe. The settlement's exact chronology, however, has remained uncertain. Here, the authors present a programme of radiocarbon and dendrochronological dating and chronological modelling on samples from recent excavations. The results indicate …
Understanding Middle Neolithic food and farming in and around the Stonehenge World Heritage Site
Little synthesis of evidence for Middle Neolithic food and farming in Wiltshire, particularly in and around the Stonehenge World Heritage Site (WHS) has been possible, until now, due to a paucity of assemblages. The excavation of a cluster of five Middle Neolithic pits and an inhumation burial at West Amesbury Farm (WAF) has prompted a review of our understanding of pit sites of this period from the county. Bioarchaeological assemblages are used …
Humics—Their History in the Radiocarbon Intercomparison Studies
Over the past 30 years, the format of the radiocarbon ( 14 C) intercomparison studies has changed, however, the selection of sample types used in these studies has remained constant—namely, natural and routinely dated materials that could subsequently be used as in-house reference materials. One such material is peat which has been used 12 times, starting with the ICS in 1988. Peat from Iceland (TIRI), Ellanmore (TIRI), Letham Moss (ICS, VIRI, an…
Island questions
Lives before and after Stonehenge
Osteobiographies of four individuals whose skeletal remains were recovered in 2015–16 from the Stonehenge World Heritage Site are constructed, drawing upon evidence from funerary taphonomy, radiocarbon dating, osteological study, stable isotope analyses, and microscopic and biomolecular analyses of dental calculus. The burials comprise an adult from the Middle Neolithic period, immediately prior to the building of Stonehenge, and two adults and a…
Recent Investigations at Two Long Barrows and Reflections on their Context in the Stonehenge World Heritage Site and Environs
Recent geophysical surveys and excavations at Druid's Lodge Estate, in fields west of the Diamond Wood in the Stonehenge World Heritage Site (SWHS), have confirmed the existence of the Winterbourne Stoke 71 long barrow and discovered a new long barrow (Winterbourne Stoke 86) a short distance to the south. Survey and excavation show internal features at both barrows and, alongside aerial photography, suggest that both monuments were destroyed duri…
When and Why? The Chronology and Context of Flint Mining at Grime’s Graves, Norfolk, England
New radiocarbon dating and chronological modelling have refined understanding of the character and circumstances of flint mining at Grime’s Graves through time. The deepest, most complex galleried shafts were worked probably from the third quarter of the 27th century cal bc and are amongst the earliest on the site. Their use ended in the decades around 2400 cal bc , although the use of simple, shallow pits in the west of the site continued for pe…
Refining the Hallstatt Plateau
Radiocarbon ( 14 C) wiggle-match dating is a technique with a substantial potential to improve the precision of dating timbers in situations where dendrochronology is not tenable. However, one of the key reasons why obtaining a dendrochronological determination might be difficult is the short-lived nature of timbers on a range of archaeological sites, something that also affects the efficiency of the wiggle-match dating technique. Combined with t…
Assembling the Dead, Gathering the Living
The great site of Valencina de la Concepción, near Seville in the lower Guadalquivir valley of southwest Spain, is presented in the context of debate about the nature of Copper Age society in southern Iberia as a whole. Many aspects of the layout, use, character and development of Valencina remain unclear, just as there are major unresolved questions about the kind of society represented there and in southern Iberia, from the late fourth to the l…
Rows with the neighbours
The Cultural Project
Starting from questions about the nature of cultural diversity, this paper examines the pace and tempo of change and the relative importance of continuity and discontinuity. To unravel the cultural project of the past, we apply chronological modelling of radiocarbon dates within a Bayesian statistical framework, to interrogate the Neolithic cultural sequence in Lower Alsace, in the upper Rhine valley, in broad terms from the later sixth to the en…
Preliminary Results for Estimating the Bone Background Uncertainties at Suerc Using Statistical Analysis
Bone is frequently dated in archaeological studies and, especially for very old bones (more than 40,000 years old), it is critical to have an accurate and precise measure of the material-specific background value and its associated uncertainty. The SUERC Radiocarbon Laboratory has obtained a mammoth bone as a background bone standard and an appropriate number are now routinely prepared and measured in each AMS batch, resulting in the accumulation…
Investigation of the Analytical F 14 C Bone Background Value at Suerc
The SUERC Radiocarbon Laboratory employs a one-step “background subtraction” method when calculating 14 C ages. An interglacial wood (VIRI Sample K) is employed as the non-bone organic background standard, while a mammoth bone (LQH12) from Latton Quarry is used as the bone background standard. Results over several years demonstrate that the bone background is consistently around a factor of two higher and more variable than the wood background. A…
Landscapes of Settlement in Northern Iceland
Early settlement in the North Atlantic produced complex interactions of culture and nature. The sustained program of interdisciplinary collaboration is intended to focus on ninth- to 13th-century sites and landscapes in the highland interior lake basin of Mývatn in Iceland and to contribute a long-term perspective to larger issues of sustainable resource use, soil erosion, and the historical ecology of global change
Assembling the Dead, Gathering the Living
The great site of Valencina de la Concepción, near Seville in the lower Guadalquivir valley of southwest Spain, is presented in the context of debate about the nature of Copper Age society in southern Iberia as a whole. Many aspects of the layout, use, character and development of Valencina remain unclear, just as there are major unresolved questions about the kind of society represented there and in southern Iberia, from the late fourth to the l…
AMS 14 C Dating at the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (Suerc) Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory
This paper describes all the major procedures adopted by the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC) Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory. This includes sample pretreatment, graphite production, accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) measurement, associated stable isotope measurements, data handling, and age calculations, but with the main emphasis being on the chemical pretreatment methods. All of the above enable the laboratory to pro…
Between the Vinča and Linearbandkeramik Worlds
The Cultural Project
Starting from questions about the nature of cultural diversity, this paper examines the pace and tempo of change and the relative importance of continuity and discontinuity. To unravel the cultural project of the past, we apply chronological modelling of radiocarbon dates within a Bayesian statistical framework, to interrogate the Neolithic cultural sequence in Lower Alsace, in the upper Rhine valley, in broad terms from the later sixth to the en…
Temporal and Spatial Variations in Freshwater 14 C Reservoir Effects
Lake Mývatn is an interior highland lake in northern Iceland that forms a unique ecosystem of international scientific importance and is surrounded by a landscape rich in archaeological and paleoenvironmental sites. A significant freshwater reservoir effect (FRE) has been identified in carbon from the lake at some Viking (about AD 870–1000) archaeological sites in the wider region (Mývatnssveit). Previous accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) measu…
Radiocarbon reservoir effects in human bone collagen from northern Iceland
Reservoirs and Radiocarbon
This paper examines 2 potential sources of the radiocarbon offset between human and terrestrial mammal (horse) bones recovered from Norse (∼AD 870–1000) pagan graves in Mývatnssveit, north Iceland. These are the marine and freshwater 14 C reservoir effects that may be incorporated into human bones from dietary sources. The size of the marine 14 C reservoir effect (MRE) during the Norse period was investigated by measurement of multiple paired sam…
House time
The settlement of Racot 18 in the western Polish lowlands is used as a case study in the investigation of continued development and expansion following initial Neolithic beginnings, and in the formal chronological modeling, in a Bayesian framework, of settlement development. The site belongs to the Late Lengyel Culture of the later 5th millennium cal b.c., and represents the intake of new land following earlier initial colonization. The formally …
An Icelandic freshwater radiocarbon reservoir effect
A freshwater radiocarbon ( 14 C) reservoir effect (FRE) is a 14 C age offset between the atmospheric and freshwater carbon reservoirs. FREs can be on the order of 10 000 14 C yr in extreme examples and are a crucial consideration for 14 C dating of palaeoenvironmental and archaeological samples. Correction for a FRE may be possible, provided the FRE and the proportion of FRE-affected carbon within a sample can be accurately quantified. However, a…
Puffins, Pigs, Cod and Barley
This paper reports on the zooarchaeological and archaeobotanical remains from the initial season of excavations at the Norse period site at Undir Junkarinsfløtti in the Faroe islands. These remains represent the first zooarchaeological analysis undertaken for the Faroes and only the third archaeobotanical assemblage published from the islands. The excavated deposits are described and the key findings from the palaeoenvironmental remains highlight…
C AMS at Suerc
In 2003, a National Electrostatics Corporation (NEC) 5MV tandem accelerator mass spectrometer was installed at SUERC, providing the radiocarbon laboratory with 14 C measurements to 4–5‰ repeatability. In 2007, a 250kV single-stage accelerator mass spectrometer (SSAMS) was added to provide additional 14 C capability and is now the preferred system for 14 C analysis. Changes to the technology and to our operations are evident in our copious quality…
To Cut a Long Story Short
In the context of unanswered questions about the nature and development of the Late Neolithic in Orkney, we present a summary of research up to 2015 on the major site at the Ness of Brodgar, Mainland Orkney, concentrating on the impressive buildings. Finding sufficient samples for radiocarbon dating was a considerable challenge. There are indications, from both features and finds, of activity pre-dating the main set of buildings exposed so far by…
A Preliminary Assessment of Age at Death Determination Using the Nuclear Weapons Testing 14 C Activity of Dentine and Enamel
Calibration (using CALIBomb) of radiocarbon measurements made on the enamel of human teeth from people born during the nuclear era typically produce 2 possible age ranges that potentially reflect the period of tooth formation. These ranges correspond to periods before and after the 1963 atmospheric 14 C maximum. Further measurements made on the collagen component of the combined dentine and cementum from the roots of the same teeth enable the app…
Refining the Hallstatt Plateau
Radiocarbon ( 14 C) wiggle-match dating is a technique with a substantial potential to improve the precision of dating timbers in situations where dendrochronology is not tenable. However, one of the key reasons why obtaining a dendrochronological determination might be difficult is the short-lived nature of timbers on a range of archaeological sites, something that also affects the efficiency of the wiggle-match dating technique. Combined with t…
A history of the LBK in the central Polish lowlands
A new chronological study of the LBK in the central Polish lowlands shows that it emerged later, lasted for a shorter period, and ended sooner than has been supposed up till now. LBK communities emerged, probably in the middle of the 53 rd century cal BC, to form an enclave in the central Polish lowlands, probably as a result of colonisation from loess areas in the south of Poland. Settlement steadily intensified throughout the 52 nd century cal …
Middle Neolithic pits and a burial at West Amesbury, Wiltshire
Excavations on the south-eastern slopes of King Barrow Ridge, 1.5 km east of Stonehenge, revealed five pits, a grave and other features of Middle Neolithic date. Analysis of the pit assemblages and the partial inhumation interred in the grave has provided insights into lifeways in this landscape in the late fourth millennium cal BC. Evidence suggests that the area was visited by a pastoralist, mobile community on a semi-regular basis for a signif…
Settlement Duration and Materiality
Radiocarbon dating and Bayesian chronological modelling, undertaken as part of the investigation by the Times of Their Lives project into the development of Late Neolithic settlement and pottery in Orkney, has provided precise new dating for the Grooved Ware settlement of Barnhouse, excavated in 1985–91. Previous understandings of the site and its pottery are presented. A Bayesian model based on 70 measurements on 62 samples (of which 50 samples …
Tempo of a Mega-henge
Radiocarbon dating and Bayesian chronological modelling have provided precise new dating for the henge monument of Mount Pleasant in Dorset, excavated in 1970–1. A total of 59 radiocarbon dates are now available for the site and modelling of these has provided a revised sequence for the henge enclosure and its various constituent parts: the timber palisaded enclosure, the Conquer Barrow, and the ditch surrounding Site IV, a concentric timber and …
Interwoven Strands for Refining the Chronology of the Neolithic Tell of Vinča-Belo Brdo, Serbia
A formally modeled radiocarbon chronology for a new profile through the great Neolithic tell of Vinča-Belo Brdo, Serbia, is the third interwoven strand in refining the chronology of the tell. This now joins models for the whole sequence based on the archive of early excavations, and for the last two known horizons at the top of the settlement mound, investigated in recent decades. In the new deep sounding, Vinča culture occupation from the 52nd c…
Landscapes for Neolithic People in Mainland, Orkney
Neolithic occupation of the Orkney Islands, in the north of Scotland, probably began in the mid fourth millennium cal BC, culminating in a range of settlements, including stone-built houses, varied stone-built tombs and two noteworthy stone circles. The environmental and landscape context of the spectacular archaeology, however, remains poorly understood. We applied the Multiple Scenario Approach (MSA) to Neolithic pollen records from Mainland, O…
Island questions
When and Why? The Chronology and Context of Flint Mining at Grime’s Graves, Norfolk, England
New radiocarbon dating and chronological modelling have refined understanding of the character and circumstances of flint mining at Grime’s Graves through time. The deepest, most complex galleried shafts were worked probably from the third quarter of the 27th century cal bc and are amongst the earliest on the site. Their use ended in the decades around 2400 cal bc , although the use of simple, shallow pits in the west of the site continued for pe…
Preliminary Results From Glasgow International Radiocarbon Intercomparison
GIRI (Glasgow International Radiocarbon Intercomparison) was designed to meet a number of objectives, including to provide an independent assessment of the analytical quality of the laboratory/measurement and an opportunity for a laboratory to participate and improve (if needed). The principles in the design of GIRI were to provide the following: (a) a series of unrelated individual samples, spanning the dating age range, (b) linked samples to ea…
Using Carbon Isotopes to Fight the Rise in Fraudulent Whisky
A major threat to the Scotch whisky industry is the sale of counterfeit single malt whiskies with purported distillation years in the 19th and early- to mid-20th centuries. However, these are often much more recent spirits, distilled in the latter part of the 20th or first part of the 21st centuries. These sales impinge upon the reputation of auction houses, retailers, brand owners and distillers. The atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons in the…
Puffins, Pigs, Cod and Barley
This paper reports on the zooarchaeological and archaeobotanical remains from the initial season of excavations at the Norse period site at Undir Junkarinsfløtti in the Faroe islands. These remains represent the first zooarchaeological analysis undertaken for the Faroes and only the third archaeobotanical assemblage published from the islands. The excavated deposits are described and the key findings from the palaeoenvironmental remains highlight…
A Preliminary Assessment of Age at Death Determination Using the Nuclear Weapons Testing 14 C Activity of Dentine and Enamel
Calibration (using CALIBomb) of radiocarbon measurements made on the enamel of human teeth from people born during the nuclear era typically produce 2 possible age ranges that potentially reflect the period of tooth formation. These ranges correspond to periods before and after the 1963 atmospheric 14 C maximum. Further measurements made on the collagen component of the combined dentine and cementum from the roots of the same teeth enable the app…
Conference Participants
From the 19th International Radiocarbon Conference held in Keble College, Oxford, England, April 3-7, 2006
Reservoirs and Radiocarbon
This paper examines 2 potential sources of the radiocarbon offset between human and terrestrial mammal (horse) bones recovered from Norse (∼AD 870–1000) pagan graves in Mývatnssveit, north Iceland. These are the marine and freshwater 14 C reservoir effects that may be incorporated into human bones from dietary sources. The size of the marine 14 C reservoir effect (MRE) during the Norse period was investigated by measurement of multiple paired sam…
Landscapes of Settlement in Northern Iceland
Early settlement in the North Atlantic produced complex interactions of culture and nature. The sustained program of interdisciplinary collaboration is intended to focus on ninth- to 13th-century sites and landscapes in the highland interior lake basin of Mývatn in Iceland and to contribute a long-term perspective to larger issues of sustainable resource use, soil erosion, and the historical ecology of global change
C AMS at Suerc
In 2003, a National Electrostatics Corporation (NEC) 5MV tandem accelerator mass spectrometer was installed at SUERC, providing the radiocarbon laboratory with 14 C measurements to 4–5‰ repeatability. In 2007, a 250kV single-stage accelerator mass spectrometer (SSAMS) was added to provide additional 14 C capability and is now the preferred system for 14 C analysis. Changes to the technology and to our operations are evident in our copious quality…
Temporal and Spatial Variations in Freshwater 14 C Reservoir Effects
Lake Mývatn is an interior highland lake in northern Iceland that forms a unique ecosystem of international scientific importance and is surrounded by a landscape rich in archaeological and paleoenvironmental sites. A significant freshwater reservoir effect (FRE) has been identified in carbon from the lake at some Viking (about AD 870–1000) archaeological sites in the wider region (Mývatnssveit). Previous accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) measu…
An Icelandic freshwater radiocarbon reservoir effect
A freshwater radiocarbon ( 14 C) reservoir effect (FRE) is a 14 C age offset between the atmospheric and freshwater carbon reservoirs. FREs can be on the order of 10 000 14 C yr in extreme examples and are a crucial consideration for 14 C dating of palaeoenvironmental and archaeological samples. Correction for a FRE may be possible, provided the FRE and the proportion of FRE-affected carbon within a sample can be accurately quantified. However, a…
Radiocarbon reservoir effects in human bone collagen from northern Iceland
Radiocarbon Analysis of Modern Skeletal Remains to Determine Year of Birth and Death—A Case Study
To aid in the development of a biological profile for human remains found in Collyhurst (Manchester, England), we undertook radiocarbon analysis of tooth enamel, tooth collagen, and bone collagen on behalf of the Greater Manchester Police. On the basis of the analyses of the teeth, we concluded that the person was born between 1950 and 1954, while on the basis of our analyses of cortical and trabecular bone we estimated the year of death to be be…
Titelseiten
Settlement Duration and Materiality
Radiocarbon dating and Bayesian chronological modelling, undertaken as part of the investigation by the Times of Their Lives project into the development of Late Neolithic settlement and pottery in Orkney, has provided precise new dating for the Grooved Ware settlement of Barnhouse, excavated in 1985–91. Previous understandings of the site and its pottery are presented. A Bayesian model based on 70 measurements on 62 samples (of which 50 samples …
Die Zeit der großen Gräben
Vorgestellt wird der Versuch einer präziseren Datierung des Erdwerks von Heilbronn-Klingenberg “Schlossberg” am mittleren Neckar. Die angewendete Methode empfiehlt sich als Ausgangspunkt für weitere Untersuchungen zur Datierung und Belegungsdauer anderer Michelsberger Erdwerke des späten 5. bis frühen 4. Jahrtausends calBC. Vom Erdwerk von Klingenberg wurden in den Jahren 1986–1987 zwei Abschnittsgräben ausgegraben, die einen Lößsporn abriegeln, …
Interwoven Strands for Refining the Chronology of the Neolithic Tell of Vinča-Belo Brdo, Serbia
A formally modeled radiocarbon chronology for a new profile through the great Neolithic tell of Vinča-Belo Brdo, Serbia, is the third interwoven strand in refining the chronology of the tell. This now joins models for the whole sequence based on the archive of early excavations, and for the last two known horizons at the top of the settlement mound, investigated in recent decades. In the new deep sounding, Vinča culture occupation from the 52nd c…
AMS 14 C Dating at the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (Suerc) Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory
This paper describes all the major procedures adopted by the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre (SUERC) Radiocarbon Dating Laboratory. This includes sample pretreatment, graphite production, accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) measurement, associated stable isotope measurements, data handling, and age calculations, but with the main emphasis being on the chemical pretreatment methods. All of the above enable the laboratory to pro…
House time
The settlement of Racot 18 in the western Polish lowlands is used as a case study in the investigation of continued development and expansion following initial Neolithic beginnings, and in the formal chronological modeling, in a Bayesian framework, of settlement development. The site belongs to the Late Lengyel Culture of the later 5th millennium cal b.c., and represents the intake of new land following earlier initial colonization. The formally …
Between the Vinča and Linearbandkeramik Worlds
The Cultural Project
Starting from questions about the nature of cultural diversity, this paper examines the pace and tempo of change and the relative importance of continuity and discontinuity. To unravel the cultural project of the past, we apply chronological modelling of radiocarbon dates within a Bayesian statistical framework, to interrogate the Neolithic cultural sequence in Lower Alsace, in the upper Rhine valley, in broad terms from the later sixth to the en…
Preliminary Results for Estimating the Bone Background Uncertainties at Suerc Using Statistical Analysis
Bone is frequently dated in archaeological studies and, especially for very old bones (more than 40,000 years old), it is critical to have an accurate and precise measure of the material-specific background value and its associated uncertainty. The SUERC Radiocarbon Laboratory has obtained a mammoth bone as a background bone standard and an appropriate number are now routinely prepared and measured in each AMS batch, resulting in the accumulation…
Investigation of the Analytical F 14 C Bone Background Value at Suerc
The SUERC Radiocarbon Laboratory employs a one-step “background subtraction” method when calculating 14 C ages. An interglacial wood (VIRI Sample K) is employed as the non-bone organic background standard, while a mammoth bone (LQH12) from Latton Quarry is used as the bone background standard. Results over several years demonstrate that the bone background is consistently around a factor of two higher and more variable than the wood background. A…
To Cut a Long Story Short
In the context of unanswered questions about the nature and development of the Late Neolithic in Orkney, we present a summary of research up to 2015 on the major site at the Ness of Brodgar, Mainland Orkney, concentrating on the impressive buildings. Finding sufficient samples for radiocarbon dating was a considerable challenge. There are indications, from both features and finds, of activity pre-dating the main set of buildings exposed so far by…
Lives before and after Stonehenge
Osteobiographies of four individuals whose skeletal remains were recovered in 2015–16 from the Stonehenge World Heritage Site are constructed, drawing upon evidence from funerary taphonomy, radiocarbon dating, osteological study, stable isotope analyses, and microscopic and biomolecular analyses of dental calculus. The burials comprise an adult from the Middle Neolithic period, immediately prior to the building of Stonehenge, and two adults and a…
Recent Investigations at Two Long Barrows and Reflections on their Context in the Stonehenge World Heritage Site and Environs
Recent geophysical surveys and excavations at Druid's Lodge Estate, in fields west of the Diamond Wood in the Stonehenge World Heritage Site (SWHS), have confirmed the existence of the Winterbourne Stoke 71 long barrow and discovered a new long barrow (Winterbourne Stoke 86) a short distance to the south. Survey and excavation show internal features at both barrows and, alongside aerial photography, suggest that both monuments were destroyed duri…
When and Why? The Chronology and Context of Flint Mining at Grime’s Graves, Norfolk, England
New radiocarbon dating and chronological modelling have refined understanding of the character and circumstances of flint mining at Grime’s Graves through time. The deepest, most complex galleried shafts were worked probably from the third quarter of the 27th century cal bc and are amongst the earliest on the site. Their use ended in the decades around 2400 cal bc , although the use of simple, shallow pits in the west of the site continued for pe…
Refining the Hallstatt Plateau
Radiocarbon ( 14 C) wiggle-match dating is a technique with a substantial potential to improve the precision of dating timbers in situations where dendrochronology is not tenable. However, one of the key reasons why obtaining a dendrochronological determination might be difficult is the short-lived nature of timbers on a range of archaeological sites, something that also affects the efficiency of the wiggle-match dating technique. Combined with t…
Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (39 obras) · Geography (29 obras) · Radiocarbon dating (29 obras) · Archaeology (28 obras) · Geology (19 obras) · History (17 obras) · Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology (15 obras) · History (13 obras) · Paleontology (13 obras) · Isotope Analysis in Ecology (12 obras)