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In this article, the authors present an analysis of radiocarbon dates from a stratified deposit at the Greek Geometric period settlement of Zagora on the island of Andros, which are among the few absolute dates measured from the period in Greece. The dates assigned to Greek Geometric ceramics are based on historical and literary evidence and are found to contradict absolute dates from the central Mediterranean which suggest that the traditional dates are too young. The results indicate the final period at Zagora, the Late Geometric, should be seen as starting at least a century earlier than the traditional date of 760 BC. Keywords: Mediterranean Europe, Greece, Early Iron Age, Geometric period, radiocarbon, chronology, Introduction The Greek Geometric period, named after the patterns painted on the ceramics produced at the time, spanned the latter part of the Early Iron Age. One of its sub-phases, [...]

Monte Verde II in southern Chile is one of the most important, and debated, sites for understanding of the early peopling of the Americas. The authors present 43 radiocarbon measurements based on cores of sediments that overlie the archaeological deposits adjacent to the site. Statistical analysis of these dates narrows the deposition of the earliest sediments sealing the occupational layer to c. 14 550 cal BP. The consistency between the dates of the site's archaeological strata and its adjacent deposits allows not only consolidation of the site's chronology, but also illustration of how a multi-pronged approach can inform debates surrounding the peopling of new lands--in the Americas or elsewhere. Keywords: Patagonia, Monte Verde, Late Pleistocene, human migration, AMS radiocarbon dating, sedimentology, Introduction The initial peopling of the Americas has been one of the most intriguing questions debated by archaeologists, palaeoanthropologists, geneticists and geologists in recent years (e.g. Waters & Stafford 2014; [...]

Studies of ancient Mediterranean trade and economy have made increasing use of sophisticated modelling and network analyses of shipwreck evidence. The dating of most of these wrecks, however, is based solely on assessments of associated ceramic material, especially transport amphorae. The resulting dates are approximate at best, and, as the example of the recently investigated Mazotos ship highlights, sometimes incorrect. Here, the authors describe a widely applicable independent approach based on the integration of tree-ring analysis and radiocarbon dating. Interrogating the subjective assumptions and stepwise logic transfers involved in ceramic-based dating, the authors demonstrate how to produce a more robust and better-defined basis for the analysis of the ancient Mediterranean shipwreck record. Keywords: Mediterranean, Cyprus, Mazotos ship, shipwrecks, Bayesian modelling, radiocarbon dating, dendrochronology, Introduction Quantitative analysis of ancient shipwreck databases has developed into an important method of research with which to address broad questions about past socio-economic organisation. A case in point concerns [...]

The human remains recovered from the famous Bjerringhoj Viking Age burial in Denmark have been missing for more than 100 years. Recently, an assemblage of bones resembling those recorded at Bjerringhoj--some with adherent textiles--were discovered in a misplaced box in the National Museum of Denmark. Here, the authors use new skeletal and comparative textile analyses, along with radiocarbon dating, to confirm that the bones are indeed those from the Bjerringhoj burial. This rediscovery offers new data for interpreting Viking Age clothing, including the presence of long trousers, and emphasises the importance of reinvestigating old archaeological collections housed within museums and archives. Keywords: Denmark, Bjerringhoj, Viking Age, human bone, textiles, museum collections, Introduction The nineteenth-century excavation of the Bjerringhoj mound, at the village of Mammen in Jutland, recovered one of the most iconic Danish Viking Age burials. The site is particularly notable [...]

Many exotic animal species were introduced to Northern Europe during the Roman period, including fallow deer (Dama dama). To date, however, finds of fallow deer bones at archaeological sites in this region have been sporadic and disarticulated, leaving uncertainty over their origins. This article presents the first known articulated fallow deer skeleton from Roman North-western Europe. Osteological, ancient DNA, radiocarbon dating and stable isotope analyses confirm that the species was established in this region by the Roman period, probably originating from translocated, rather than native, Mediterranean populations. Clarifying the origins of fallow deer in Northwestern Europe is critical for understanding the dynamics of species exchange around the Roman Empire. Keywords: Roman Empire, fallow deer, animal translocation, zooarchaeology, radiocarbon dating, stable isotopes, ancient DNA, Introduction During the Roman period, many new animal species were imported into North-western Europe as a result of socio-economic, cultural, administrative and military needs. These species included camels, donkeys, mules, [...]

Cremated and unburnt human remains have been recovered from a variety of British Bronze and earliest Iron Age archaeological contexts (c. 2500-600 BC). Chronological modelling of 189 new and extant radiocarbon dates from a selection of these deposits provides evidence for the curation of human remains for an average of two generations following death, while histological analysis of bone samples indicates mortuary treatment involving both excarnation and the exhumation of primary burials. Curated bones came from people who had been alive within living or cultural memory, and their power probably derived from relationships between the living and the dead. Keywords: Britain, Chalcolithic, Bronze Age, radiocarbon dating, mortuary treatment, curation, bone histology, Introduction Recent analyses of grave goods from British Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age burials have demonstrated that the curation of significant artefacts was an important social practice (Sheridan et al. [...]

We report on pollen, plant macrofossils, and associated lithostratigraphy of a sediment core extracted from the base of Silver Lake, a kettle lake in northern Lower Michigan, USA, which reveal a complex deglacial scenario for ice block melting and lake formation, and subsequent plant colonization. Complementary multivariate statistical and squared chord distance analyses of the pollen data support these interpretations. The basal radiocarbon age from the core (17 540 cal years BP) is rejected as being anomalously old, based on biostratigraphic anomalies in the core and the date's incongruity with respect to the accepted regional deglaciation chronology. We reason that this erroneous age estimate resulted from the redeposition of middle-Wisconsin-age fossils by the ice sheet, mixed with the remains of plants that existed as the kettle lake formed at ca. 10 940 cal years BP by ice block ablation. Thereafter, the kettle lake became a reliable repository of Holocene-age fossils, documenting a mature boreal forest that existed until 10 640 cal years BP, followed by a pine-dominated mixed forest, an early variant of the mixed conifer-hardwood forest that persists to the present day. Our study demonstrates that researchers investigating kettle lakes, a common depositional archive for plant fossils in deglaciated landscapes, should exercise caution in interpreting the basal (Late Pleistocene/early Holocene-age) part of lake sediment cores. Key words: deglaciation, Holocene, kettle lakes, Michigan, pollen, radiocarbon dating. Nous rendons compte des pollens, des macrofossiles de plantes et de la lithostratigraphie associee d'une carotte de sediments extraite de la base du lac Silver, un lac de kettle situe dans le nord du bas Michigan (Etats-Unis), qui revelent un scenario de deglaciation complexe pour la fonte de blocs de glace et la formation de lacs, et la colonisation subsequente par des plantes. Des analyses statistiques multivariables et du carre de la distance de cordes complementaires des donnees sur le pollen appuient ces interpretations. L'age au carbone radioactif basal obtenu pour la carotte (17 540 a etal. BP) est rejete parce qu'il est anormalement vieux, a la lumiere d'anomalies biostratigraphiques dans la carotte et de l'incongruite de cet age par rapport a la chronologie de deglaciation regionale acceptee. Nous interpretons cet age estime errone comme etant le resultat du re-depot de fossiles d'age wisconsinien moyen par l'inlandsis, melanges aux restes de plantes qui existaient au moment de la formation du lac de kettle vers 10 940 a etal. BP par ablation de blocs de glace. Par la suite, le lac de kettle est devenu un centre de depot fiable de fossiles d'age holocene, qui documentent la foret boreale mature qui existait jusqu'a 10 640 a etal. BP, suivie d'une foret mixte dominee par les pins, une variante precoce de la foret mixte a coniferes et feuillus qui persiste a ce jour. L'etude demontre que les chercheurs qui etudient les lacs de kettle, une archive repandue de fossiles de plantes dans des paysages de deglaciation, devraient faire preuve de prudence dans l'interpretation de la partie basale (d'age pleistocene tardif a holocene precoce) de carottes de sediments de lac. [Traduit par la Redaction] Mots-cles : deglaciation, Holocene, lacs de kettle, Michigan, pollen, datation au carbone radioactif., Introduction Researchers are becoming increasingly aware of the challenges and intricacies of reconstructing terminal Pleistocene environments, including elucidating the timing of deglaciation events and the stages of landscape evolution at [...]

The Southern African Radiocarbon Database (SARD) is a new online, open-access database of published radiocarbon dates from southern African archaeological contexts. Compatible with the calibration, Bayesian modelling and mapping functionality of the OxCal software, the SARD will greatly assist in the documentation and analysis of chronological trends across the subcontinent. This article introduces the database and presents two case studies that demonstrate its utility and its integration with OxCal, comparing the temporal distribution of radiocarbon dates in two archaeologically well-investigated regions, and assessing the timing of Middle to Later Stone Age technological developments across the African subcontinent. Keywords: southern Africa, radiocarbon, open access, chronological modelling, Introduction Radiocarbon dating has a long history in southern Africa, beginning in 1967 with the establishment of a radiocarbon laboratory in Pretoria that was at the forefront of dating the [...]

Recent archaeological survey and excavation in China have demonstrated that large sites of the late fourth and third millennia BC were situated not on the Central Plains--where the later dynastic centres were located--but along the Yangtze and lower Yellow River Basins. Their decline in the late third and second millennia BC coincided with the growth of sites to the north of the Central Plains. Evidence for settlement size and a new chronology constructed from radiocarbon dates emphasise discontinuities in the geographic distribution of settlements, combined with continuity in cultural practices of ritual feasts and the use of symbolic jades. Keywords: China, Eurasia, Erlitou, Neolithic, settlement, vessel sets, jades, Introduction A well-established narrative explains the emergence of the early Chinese dynasties and the first states from the Neolithic societies of the Central Plains (Xia Shang Zhou 2000; Liu & [...]

Archaeological evidence for the Viking Great Army that invaded England in AD 865 is focused particularly on the area around St Wystan's church at Repton in Derbyshire. Large numbers of burials excavated here in the 1980s have been attributed to the over-wintering of the Great Army in AD 873-874. Many of the remains were deposited in a charnel, while others were buried in graves with Scandinavian-style grave goods. Although numismatic evidence corroborated the belief that these were the remains of the Great Army, radiocarbon results have tended to disagree. Recent re-dating of the remains, applying the appropriate marine reservoir correction, has clarified the relationship between the interments, and has resolved the previous uncertainty. Keywords: UK, Repton, Viking Age, Viking Great Army, radiocarbon dating, marine reservoir effects, Introduction Between 1980 and 1986, investigations in the vicinity of St Wystan's church at Repton in Derbyshire (Figure 1) uncovered a charnel deposit containing the disarticulated remains of at least [...]

Research at the Chelechol ra Orrak rockshelter in Palau has revealed an extensive cemetery with at least 50 interred individuals, their graves overlain by later occupational deposits. Previous radiocarbon dating placed this sequence of burial and occupation at c. 3000 cal BP, making it one of the earliest Pacific Island cemetery sites. To provide a more robust chronological framework, Bayesian modelling was applied to construct probability ranges for the date and duration of activity at the site, assisted by a suite of new 14 C determinations. The results provide more secure evidence for burial activity dating back to c. 3000 cal BP, thus confirming Chelechol ra Orrak as one of the only cemeteries in Remote Oceania that dates to the earliest, known stages of island colonisation. Keywords: Remote Oceania, Palau, Chelechol ra Orrak, colonisation, Bayesian modelling, Introduction The initial colonisation of Remote Oceania by Lapita groups in the south-western Pacific probably occurred between c. 3250 and 3000 cal BP (Denham et al. 2012), and is represented [...]

The protohistoric graveyards of north-western Pakistan were first excavated in the 1960s, but their chronology is still debated, along with their relationship to broader regional issues of ethnic and cultural change. Recent excavation of two graveyards in the Swat Valley has provided new dating evidence and a much better understanding both of grave structure and treatment of the dead. Secondary burial was documented at Udegram, along with the use of perishable containers and other objects as grave goods. The complexity of the funerary practices reveal the prolonged interaction between the living and the dead in protohistoric Swat. Keywords: Pakistan, Swat Valley, Bronze Age, Iron Age, funerary practices, radiocarbon dating, chronology, Introduction The graveyards of the late Bronze Age (second millennium BC) in northern Pakistan and the upper Indus Valley are known as the Cemetery H culture after discoveries at Harappa. [...]

Knossos, on Crete, has long been famous both for its Minoan period remains and for the presence, at the base of the stratigraphy, of an early Neolithic settlement. The chronology and development of the Neolithic settlement, however, have hitherto been unclear New light is now thrown on this formative period by combining new and older radiocarbon dates with contextual information in a Bayesian modelling framework. The results from Crete and western Anatolia suggest that an earlier, small-scale Aceramic colonisation preceded the later Neolithic reoccupation of Knossos. Keywords: Aegean, Knossos, Neolithic, early farmers, sea-faring, radiocarbon dating, Introduction Despite being one of the most celebrated archaeological sites in Europe, the origins of Knossos, on the island of Crete, Greece (Figure 1), remain enigmatic. The site was brought [...]

Rock art worldwide has proved extremely difficult to date directly. Here, the first radiocarbon dates for rock paintings in Botswana and Lesotho are presented, along with additional dates for Later Stone Age rock art in South Africa. The samples selected for dating were identified as carbon-blacks from short-lived organic materials, meaning that the sampled pigments and the paintings that they were used to produce must be of similar age. The results reveal that southern African hunter-gatherers were creating paintings on rockshelter walls as long ago as 5723-4420 cal BP in south-eastern Botswana: the oldest such evidence yet found in southern Africa. Keywords: South Africa, Lesotho, Botswana, Later Stone Age, rock art, AMS radiocarbon dating, Introduction Southern Africa is home to one of the world's largest and best-understood bodies of hunter-gatherer rock art. Comprising both engravings and paintings (Figure 1), it was produced by Later [...]

Introduction Age determination of elasmobranchs presents unique challenges compared to that of teleosts. Elasmobranchs do not have calcareous otoliths or scales, structures commonly used to age teleosts. Various techniques, including [...]

There are two conflicting models regarding the role of the Neolithic millet cultivation in the appearance of the Bronze Age farming economy in South Korea. The 'continuity model' suggests that the emergence of a farming economy was a consequence of increasing sedentism, and that millet cultivation practiced during the Neolithic played a significant role in the transition to the Bronze Age. On the contrary, the 'discontinuity model' suggests that the appearance of the Bronze Age farming economy heavily dependent on rice had little to do with previous millet cultivation in the Neolithic and the degree of sedentism during the latest Neolithic was very low. We test these models by looking into a temporal variation of sedentism, by quantitatively analyzing the quantity of pit houses and settlements based on relative chronology and radiocarbon dates. Sedentary settlements with small-scale millet cultivation appeared in the central-western Korea during the early fourth millennium B.C. They increased sharply during the late fourth millennium B.C. and also appeared in central-eastern and southern Korea, but they almost disappeared in central and southern Korea from the late third millennium B.C., suggesting a return to increased mobility and/or sharp decrease in population. Hence a continuity model for the emergence of a farming economy cannot be accepted. We suggest environmental deterioration as a prime mover for both the appearance of millet cultivation during the fourth millennium B.C. and the disappearance of sedentary settlement from the late third millennium B.C. in Korea. Keywords: Korea, Neolithic, sedentism, settlement, radiocarbon dates, summed probability distribution, small-scale cultivation, transition to agriculture., INTRODUCTION Sedentary settlements appeared in the early fourth millennium B.C. in central-western Korea and in the late fourth millennium B.C. in southern Korea. Small-scale millet cultivation introduced from northern China [...]

One of the most characteristic aspects of the Late Palaeolithic in Korea is the diversity of lithic assemblages. Assemblages dominated by quartzite and vein quartz artifacts persisted throughout the Palaeolithic, while blade and microblade assemblages mark the typical Late Palaeolithic technology. Still, given that lithic technological organization is characterized by the interplay of technical constraints, raw material availability, and hunter-gatherer mobility, the transition to the Late Palaeolithic technology is closely associated with the emergence of tanged points, dated to 40,000 to 35,000 cal B.P., made of such fine-grained rocks as silicified tuff and shale, other than locally available quartzite. Tanged points persisted along with blades and blade cores until the end of the LGM, and the microlithic assemblage emerged as early as 30,000 cal B.P. as AMS dates from Jangheungri and Sinbuk suggest. Only a few radiometric dates are available for post-LGM occupations and there may have been a significant decrease in mobile hunter-gatherer populations in the post-glacial Korean Peninsula. Keywords: blades, Korea, Late Palaeolithic, lithics, microlithic, radiocarbon dating, tanged points., INTRODUCTION Since the 1990s, a growing number of archaeological excavations and systematic surveys in Korea have provided a rapid accumulation of Palaeolithic archaeological data: more than 1000 locations with archaeological [...]

Boeda et al.'s paper reports the results of an archaeological re-investigation in north-eastern Brazil, an area where previous attempts to identify South American pioneer settlements earlier than 14 000 cal [...]

The date of the first settlement of the Americas remains a contentious subject. Previous claims for very early occupation at Pedra Furada in Brazil were not universally accepted (see Meltzer et al. 1994). New work at the rockshelter of Boqueirao da Pedra Furada and at the nearby open-air site of Vale da Pedra Furada have however produced new evidence for human occupation extending back more than 20 000 years. The argument is supported by a series of [sup.14]C and OSL dates, and by technical analysis of the stone tool assemblage. The authors conclude that the currently accepted narrative of human settlement in South America will have to be re-thought. The article is followed by a series of comments, rounded off by a reply from the authors. Keywords: Pedra Furada, Serra de Capivara, settlement of the Americas, taphonomy, lithic technology, cobble tools, quartz tools, dating methods, Introduction Late Pleistocene human occupation in South America has been the focus of incessant debate for more than 20 years. Human presence in South America before 11 000 cal BC [...]

Both aggregation and mineral association have been previously found to enhance soil organic carbon (SOC) storage (the amount of organic C retained in a soil), and stability (the length of time organic C is retained in a soil). These mechanisms are therefore attractive targets for soil C sequestration. In this study, we investigate and compare SOC storage and stability of SOC associated with fine minerals and stored within aggregates using a combination of particle-size fractionation, elemental analysis and radiocarbon dating. In this heavy-textured, highly aggregated soil, SOC was found to be preferentially associated with fine minerals throughout the soil profile. By contrast, the oldest SOC was located in the coarsest, most highly aggregated fraction. In the topsoil, radiocarbon ages of the aggregate-associated SOC indicate retention times in the order of centuries. Below the topsoil, retention times of aggregate-SOC are in the order of millennia. Throughout the soil profile, radiocarbon dates indicate an enhanced stability in the order of centuries compared with the fine mineral fraction. Despite this, the radiocarbon ages of the mineral-associated SOC were in the order of centuries to millennia in the subsoil (30-100 cm), indicating that mineral-association is also an effective stabilisation mechanism in this subsoil. Our results indicate that enhanced SOC storage does not equate to enhanced SOC stability, which is an important consideration for sequestration schemes targeting both the amount and longevity of soil carbon. Additional keywords: aggregation, mineral association, radiocarbon, soil organic carbon, stabilisation., Introduction Soil organic matter (SOM), which is made up of ~50% soil organic carbon (SOC), is a vital natural resource that promotes soil health and fertility by fulfilling numerous soil [...]

When, and by what route, did farming first reach Europe? A terrestrial model might envisage a gradual advance around the northern fringes of the Aegean, reaching Thrace and Macedonia before continuing southwards to Thessaly and the Peloponnese. New dates from Franchthi Cave in southern Greece, reported here, cast doubt on such a model, indicating that cereal cultivation, involving newly introduced crop species, began during the first half of the seventh millennium BC. This is earlier than in northern Greece and several centuries earlier than in Bulgaria, and suggests that farming spread to southeastern Europe by a number of different routes, including potentially a maritime, island-hopping connection across the Aegean Sea. The results also illustrate the continuing importance of key sites such as Franchthi to our understanding of the European Neolithic transition, and the additional insights that can emerge from the application of new dating projects to these sites. Keywords: Greece, Franchthi Cave, Initial Neolithic, seventh millennium BC, farming, radiocarbon dating, Introduction Ever since Clark's pioneering mapping of the earliest Neolithic radiocarbon dates in Europe (Clark 1965), radiocarbon chronology has played an essential role in the development of models for the [...]

Radiocarbon analysis and ceramic typology assessment are commonly used to date late Holocene archaeological sites in Island Southeast Asia. We apply both methods to date the site of Macapainara in East Timor, and they produce substantially different age ranges for this site. The radiocarbon dates are consistently later in time than ceramic typology dates from the same or adjacent stratigraphic levels. We assess the various sources of error for the two dating techniques that could produce this discrepancy, and conclude that the ceramic typology age ranges are misleadingly old due to concerted curation of fine ceramics by the site occupants. We discuss the implications of this for dating sites in East Timor and elsewhere within Island Southeast Asia. Keywords: radiocarbon dating, relative dating, ceramic typology, Macapainara, East Timor, Island Southeast Asia, ceramics in Southeast Asia., A man with a clock knows the time. A man with two clocks is never sure. --Proverb ARTIFACT AND SITE DATING is crucial to archaeological investigations, so archaeologists have developed [...]

As petrale sole (Eopsetta jordani) is a valuable groundfish harvested in the California Current, proper ageing is important for its assessment and management. This study presents the first bomb radiocarbon reference chronology for the California Current and petrale sole age validation. Break-and-burn and surface ages are negatively biased by approximately 1 year and 2-3 years, respectively. The reference and validation curves are more variable and show a lag in the rate of radiocarbon increase in comparison to most other time series of bomb radiocarbon in marine systems. Upwelling in the California Current produces a lagged rate of increase in radiocarbon levels owing to the introduction and mixing of radiocarbon-depleted deep waters with surface waters that interact with the atmosphere. The variable and lagged rate of radiocarbon increase in the petrale sole data may be due to their spending a substantial portion of their first year of life in areas subject to variable upwelling, illustrating the importance of using reference curves for age validation that are region and species specific when possible. La plie de Californie (Eopsetta jordani) etant un poisson de fond de valeur peche dans le courant de Californie, l'evaluation et la gestion de cette ressource reposent sur la determination adequate de l'age du poisson. L'etude presente le premier cas de chronologie de reference au radiocarbone derive d'explosions pour le CC et de validation de l'age de plies de Californie. Les ages de surface et obtenus par la methode dite de << casse brule >> presentent des biais negatifs de l'ordre de 2 a 3 ans et 1 an, respectivement. Les courbes de reference et de validation sont plus variables et montrent un retard du taux d'augmentation du carbone radioactif comparativement a la plupart des autres series chronologiques produites par analyse du radiocarbone post-bombe dans des systemes marins. La remontee d'eau dans le CC entraine un retard de l'augmentation des teneurs en radiocarbone resultant de l'apport d'eaux appauvries en carbone radioactif issues de zones profondes et de leur melange avec des eaux de surface en contact avec l'atmosphere. Le retard de l'augmentation du radiocarbone et la variabilite du taux de cette augmentation dont temoignent les donnees sur la plie de Californie pourraient decouler du fait qu'une bonne partie de la premiere annee de vie est passee dans des zones caracterisees par des variations de la remontee d'eau. Ces resultats soulignent l'importance d'utiliser, dans la mesure du possible, les courbes de reference propres a la region et a l'espece concernees pour valider l'age des poissons. [Traduit par la Redaction], Introduction Petrale sole (Eopsetta jordani) are right-eyed flounder in the family Pleuronectidae that are widely distributed along the west coast of North America from the Bering Sea to Baja California [...]

Sites of the Central Plains and Oneota traditions in the Lovewell Reservoir locality, north-central Kansas, provide radiocarbon dates critical to the problem of relations between these Late Prehistoric cultures. Statistical tests of dates from eight sites of that period suggest late thirteenth century occupation by both traditions, and perhaps a third. Despite temporal and geographic proximity, there is no clear archaeological evidence of interaction between these distinct cultures at Lovewell. Temporal placement of Oneota sites at Lovewell is also critical to identification of candidate sites or areas of origin for migrants to that locality. Dates from other western Oneota sites (Leary, Swantek, Ashland, and Dixon) post-date A.D. 1300, indicating they could not have been points of origin for these migrants. Pending a greater sample of radiocarbon dates from all western Oneota sites, hypotheses are offered that posit late thirteenth century Oneota migration to the Lovewell locality from an as yet unidentified Oneota locale that may have displaced some CPt groups. Keywords: Oneota, Central Plains tradition, radiocarbon dating, migration, White Rock phase

To link to full-text access for this article, visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dsr.2010.07.010 Byline: Andrea Burke (a), Laura F. Robinson (b), Ann P. McNichol (c), William J. Jenkins (b), Kathryn M. Scanlon (d), Dana S. Gerlach (c) Keywords: Deep-sea corals; Age survey; Radiocarbon dating; Biogeography Abstract: We have developed a rapid 'reconnaissance' method of preparing graphite for.sup.14C/.sup.12C analysis. Carbonate ([approximately equal to]15mg) is combusted using an elemental analyzer and the resulting CO.sub.2 is converted to graphite using a sealed tube zinc reduction method. Over 85% (n=45 replicates on twenty-one individual corals) of reconnaissance ages measured on corals ranging in age from 500 to 33,000 radiocarbon years (Ryr) are within two standard deviations of ages generated using standard hydrolysis methods on the same corals, and all reconnaissance ages are within 300Ryr of the standard hydrolysis ages. Replicate measurements on three individual aragonitic corals yielded ages of 1076[+ or -]35Ryr (standard deviation; n=5), 10,739[+ or -]47Ryr (n=8), and 40,146[+ or -]3500Ryr (n=9). No systematic biases were found using different cleaning methods or variable sample sizes. Analysis of.sup.13C/.sup.12C was made concurrently with the.sup.14C/.sup.12C measurement to correct for natural fractionation and for fractionation during sample processing and analysis. This technique provides a new, rapid method for making accurate, percent-level.sup.14C/.sup.12C analyses that may be used to establish the rates and chronology of earth system processes where survey-type modes of age estimation are desirable. For example, applications may include creation of sediment core-top maps, preliminary age models for sediment cores, and growth rate studies of marine organisms such as corals or mollusks. We applied the reconnaissance method to more than 100 solitary deep-sea corals collected in the Drake Passage in the Southern Ocean to investigate their temporal and spatial distribution. The corals used in this study are part of a larger sample set, and the subset that was dated was chosen based on species as opposed to preservation state, so as to exclude obvious temporal biases. Similar to studies in other regions, the distribution of deep-sea corals is not constant through time across the Drake Passage. Most of the corals from the Burdwood Bank (continental shelf of Argentina) have ages ranging between 0 and 2500 calendar years, whereas most of the corals from the Sars Seamount in the Drake Passage have ages between 10,000 and 12,500 calendar years. Such differences may be caused in part by sampling biases, but may also be caused by changes in larval transport, nutrient supply, or other environmental pressures. Author Affiliation: (a) MIT/WHOI Joint Program, Department of Marine Geology and Geophysics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 360 Woods Hole Road, MS#24, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA (b) Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 360 Woods Hole Road, MS#25, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA (c) Department of Marine Geology and Geophysics, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 360 Woods Hole Road, MS#8, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA (d) US Geological Survey, 384 Woods Hole Road, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA Article History: Received 9 February 2010; Revised 15 July 2010; Accepted 21 July 2010 Article Note: (footnote) [star] Reference to any specific commercial product by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof.

Nitrogen stable isotopes analysis of individual bone collagen amino acids was applied to archeological samples as a new tool for assessing the composition of ancient human diets and calibrating radiocarbon dates. We used this technique to investigate human and faunal samples from the Kitakogane shell midden in Hokkaido, Japan (5,300-6,000 cal BP). Using compound-specific nitrogen isotope analysis of individual amino acids, we aimed to estimate i) the quantitative contribution of marine and terrestrial protein to the human diet, and ii) the mean trophic level (TL) from which dietary protein was derived from marine ecosystems. Data were interpreted with reference to the amino acid trophic level ([TL.sub.AA]) model, which uses empirical amino acid 515N from modern marine fauna to construct mathematical equations that predict the trophic position of organ isms. The TLAA model produced realistic TL estimates for the Kitakogane marine animals. However, this model was not appropriate for the interpretation of human amino acid [delta][sup.15]N, as dietary protein is derived from both marine and terrestrial environments. Hence, we developed a series of relevant equations that considered the consumption of dietary resources from both ecosystems. Using these equations, the mean percentage of marine protein in the Kitakogane human diet was estimated to be 74%. Although this study is one of the first systematic investigations of amino acid [delta][sup.15]N in archeological bone collagen, we believe that this technique is extremely useful for TL reconstruction, palaeodietary interpretation, and the correction of marine reservoir effects for radiocarbon dating. Am J Phys Anthropol 143:31-40, 2010. KEY WORDS amino acid; nitrogen isotope; ancient diet; marine resource; trophic level DOI 10.1002/ajpa.21287