Implications of a freshwater radiocarbon reservoir correction for the timing of late Holocene settlement of the Elk Hills, Kern County, California
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Date
2006
Authors
Culleton, Brendan J.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Elsevier
Abstract
Uncertainties regarding the magnitude of freshwater radiocarbon reservoir effects can introduce random errors into dates on archaeological
freshwater carbonates. As a result, many archaeologists avoid dating freshwater shells unless no other datable materials are available. The
chronology of prehistoric occupation of the former Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 1 (NPR-1) at Elk Hills, Kern County, has been established
with 50 radiocarbon dates on freshwater mussels (Gonidea and Anodonta sp.). Characterization of any freshwater radiocarbon reservoir effect
is crucial for the accurate interpretation of inferred settlement and subsistence changes on the Elk Hills. Paired charcoal and freshwater mussels
sampled from closely associated contexts were dated to identify a freshwater reservoir effect. Paired Anodonta and Gonidea sp. shells were dated
to investigate interspecific differences in fractionation. Results indicate that a 340 20 14C yr correction should be applied to conventional 14C
dates on freshwater carbonates in the Buena Vista Basin before calendar calibration. Evidence of interspecific differences is inconclusive. Dates
recalibrated with the reservoir correction indicate that widespread occupation of the Elk Hills is correlated with increasing precipitation towards
the end of the Medieval Climatic Anomaly and during the Little Ice Age, suggesting that slough resource exploitation may have been driven by
regional population pressure rather than drought-related declines in aquatic productivity.
Description
Keywords
Freshwater Radiocarbon Reservoir, Anodonta sp., Gonidea angulata, Medieval Climatic Anomaly, Elk Hills (Calif.), San Joaquin Valley (Calif.)
Citation
Journal of Archaeological Science 33 (2006) 1331-1339