C Dating of Humic Acids from Bronze and Iron Age Plant Remains from the Eastern Mediterranean

Dados Bibliográficos

ID9243148
AutoresE M Wild, Eva Wild, P Steier, P Fischer (0000-0002-3762-3805), F Höflmayer
Ano2013
Volume55
Fascículo2
Páginas599-607
Data de publicação2013-01-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoRadiocarbon (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0033-8222 • E-ISSN: 1945-5755
EditoraCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s003382220005774x
OpenAlexW2008577431
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas14
Referências citadas9

Radiocarbon dating of plant remains is often difficult due to the complete dissolution of the samples in the alkaline step of the ABA pretreatment. At the VERA laboratory, this problem was encountered frequently when numerous Bronze and Early Iron Age samples from the eastern Mediterranean were dated in the course of the special research program SCIEM2000 and in other collaborations with archaeologists focused on that area and time period. For these samples, only a 14 C age determination of the humic acid fraction was possible. Humic acids from archaeological samples are always assessed as a second-choice material for 14 C dating. It is assumed that the 14 C ages may be affected by the presence of humic acids originating from other (younger) organic material, e.g. from soil horizons located above a sample. Therefore, when humic acids are dated a verification of the dates is crucial. To address this basic requirement, we started some time ago to date both fractions of charred seeds, wood, and charcoal samples whenever available, i.e. the residue after the ABA treatment and the humic acids extracted from the samples in the alkaline step. The results of this comparison showed that for the investigated eastern Mediterranean archaeological sites, 50 (out of 52) humic acid dates were in agreement with the 14 C dates of the respective ABA-treated samples. Statistical analysis of the age differences leads to the conclusion that the extracted humic acids originated from the samples themselves or from contemporaneous material and were not appreciably contaminated by extraneous material of different age

Archaeology · Charcoal · Geography · Humic acid · Mediterranean climate · Mineralogy · Radiocarbon dating · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Chemistry · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Isotope Analysis in Ecology · Marine and environmental studies · Environmental Chemistry · Geology · Organic Chemistry