Highly Variable Freshwater Reservoir Offsets Found along the Upper Lena Watershed, Cis-Baikal, Southeast Siberia

Dados Bibliográficos

ID9244845
AutoresR J Schulting (0000-0002-4444-766X), Christopher B Ramsey (0000-0002-8641-9309), Vladimir I Bazaliiskii, Andrzej Weber (0000-0001-9336-9672)
Ano2015
Volume57
Fascículo4
Páginas581-593
Data de publicação2015-01-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoRadiocarbon (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0033-8222 • E-ISSN: 1945-5755
EditoraCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2458/azu_rc.57.18458
OpenAlexW1923960168
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas32
Referências citadas68

A program of paired dating of human and faunal remains on a sample of 11 prehistoric (Mesolithic/Neolithic to Early Bronze Age) graves in the Upper Lena basin, southeast Siberia, was initiated to investigate the freshwater reservoir effect (FRE). The results show the presence of a substantial but highly variable offset, ranging from 255 to 1010 14 C yr. In contrast to previous studies centered on Lake Baikal and the Angara River, human stable nitrogen isotope values show little or no correlation with the radiocarbon offset, despite the clear trophic differences seen in δ 15 N between terrestrial and aquatic sources of protein in the region's isotope ecology. However, stable carbon isotope measurements show a moderate negative correlation of some predictive value ( r = −0.70, p = 0.016, df = 10). Two different regression equations have been calculated, the first using human δ 13 C values for the entire data set ( r 2 = 0.49) and the second, using both δ 13 C and δ 15 N values, limited to the Early Bronze Age of the southern Upper Lena ( r 2 = 0.84, p = 0.030, df = 5). The source of the old carbon in the Upper Lena River system is not clear. While the river flows over carbonate bedrock and is moderately alkaline, we suggest that old terrestrial carbon entering the riverine foodweb through bank erosion and other processes is a more likely candidate for the majority of the 14 C offset

Archaeology · Bedrock · Bronze Age · Carbonate · Drainage basin · Geography · Holocene · Isotopes of carbon · Isotopes of nitrogen · Mesolithic · Physical geography · Radiocarbon dating · Stable isotope ratio · Total organic carbon · Trophic level · Watershed · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Chemistry · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research · Isotope Analysis in Ecology · Ecology · Geology · Oceanography · Paleontology