A History Of Fire At Hitchcock Nature Center, Western Iowa, Reconstructed Through An Analysis Of Macroscopic Charcoal And Soil-Magnetic Properties

2020 ◽  
Vol 127 (1-4) ◽  
pp. 13-22
Author(s):  
Christoph E. Geiss ◽  
Nicole E. Towner
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Properties ◽  
Parent Material ◽  
Recent Sediment ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Loess Hills ◽  
Modern Soil ◽  
Soil Site ◽  
History Of ◽  
Shell Fragments ◽  
Macroscopic Charcoal

We analyzed soil-magnetic properties and macroscopic charcoal abundances for two soil profiles located in Hitchcock Nature Center (HNC), Honey Creek, Iowa. Both profiles are located on valley bottoms in the Loess Hills of western Iowa and developed in redeposited Peoria loess. Site HNC 15D is located on an elevated stream terrace and contains a moderately well-developed modern soil. Site HNC 15G is located on a valley floor and consists of a poorly developed modern soil and a series of buried soil horizons. Both sites record consistently low charcoal concentrations of 0.5 mm2/g in prehistoric deposits. While site HNC 15D remains undated, age control at site HNC 15G is provided through four radiocarbon dates from charcoal and snail shell fragments. At site HNC 15G, late 19th century deposits are characterized by a marked increase in charcoal abundance to 3 mm2/g and charcoal abundances return to near prehistoric levels in recent sediment. We observe a similar increase in charcoal abundances below the modern soil at HNC 15D and an accumulation of charcoal at the surface of the profile. Soil-magnetic properties show moderate increases in magnetic susceptibility and ARM/IRM ratios when compared to loessic parent material and confirm moderate to weak soil development. High values for χARM/χFD (40-100) and χARM/χ (2-5) further suggest that regional fires have not been intense enough to significantly heat the topsoil horizons and allow for the formation of strongly magnetic secondary iron-oxide minerals.

scholarly journals Direct dating reveals the early history of opium poppy in western Europe

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aurélie Salavert ◽  
Antoine Zazzo ◽  
Lucie Martin ◽  
Ferran Antolín ◽  
Caroline Gauthier ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Western Alps ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Opium Poppy ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Macrobotanical Remains ◽  
History Of ◽  
Temperate Europe ◽  
Radiocarbon Chronology ◽  
Botanical Remains

AbstractThis paper aims to define the first chrono-cultural framework on the domestication and early diffusion of the opium poppy using small-sized botanical remains from archaeological sites, opening the way to directly date minute short-lived botanical samples. We produced the initial set of radiocarbon dates directly from the opium poppy remains of eleven Neolithic sites (5900–3500 cal BCE) in the central and western Mediterranean, northwestern temperate Europe, and the western Alps. When possible, we also dated the macrobotanical remains originating from the same sediment sample. In total, 22 samples were taken into account, including 12 dates directly obtained from opium poppy remains. The radiocarbon chronology ranges from 5622 to 4050 cal BCE. The results show that opium poppy is present from at least the middle of the sixth millennium in the Mediterranean, where it possibly grew naturally and was cultivated by pioneer Neolithic communities. Its dispersal outside of its native area was early, being found west of the Rhine in 5300–5200 cal BCE. It was introduced to the western Alps around 5000–4800 cal BCE, becoming widespread from the second half of the fifth millennium. This research evidences different rhythms in the introduction of opium poppy in western Europe.

scholarly journals RADIOCARBON DATES FROM THE MONASTERY ON KOM H IN OLD DONGOLA (SUDAN) AND THE CHRONOLOGY OF MEDIEVAL NUBIAN POTTERY

Radiocarbon ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Dorota Dzierzbicka ◽  
Katarzyna Danys
Keyword(s):  
Historical Research ◽  
Crucial Importance ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
14Th Century ◽  
15Th Century ◽  
History Of

ABSTRACT The paper presents and discusses a series of radiocarbon (14C) dates from a medieval Nubian monastery found on Kom H of Old Dongola, the capital of the kingdom of Makuria located in modern-day Sudan. The monastery was founded in the 6th–7th century AD and although it probably ceased to function in the 14th century, the site remained occupied until the beginning of the 15th century. The investigated courtyard of the monastery was in use from the 11th to the 14th century, as indicated by the ceramics and 14C analysis results presented here. The dates under consideration are the first published series of 14C dates from this site, which is of crucial importance for historical research on medieval Nubian Christianity and monasticism. They permit to begin building an absolute chronological framework for research on the archaeological finds from the site and region. A group of finds in particular need of such a framework are ceramics, and the implications of the 14C dates for pottery assemblages found in the dated contexts are discussed. The conclusions summarize the significance of the datings for the history of the site.

Past and recent biodiversity profiling in ancient Lake Chalco Mexico by a metagenomics analysis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bárbara Moguel ◽  
Liseth Pérez ◽  
Luis David Alcaraz ◽  
Socorro Lozano-García ◽  
Luis Herrera-Estrella ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Volcanic Belt ◽  
Environmental Dna ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
The Past ◽  
Mexican Volcanic Belt ◽  
History Of ◽  
High Throughput Dna Sequencing ◽  
High Altitude Lake ◽  
Taxonomic Groups ◽  
The Relationship

<p>For decades, paleoecological studies in lake sediments have focused on reconstructing the environments of the past and explaining phenomena linked to climatic variations. Recent advances in high-throughput DNA sequencing have allowed access to environmental DNA (eDNA) and ancient sedimentary DNA (sedaDNA) as a new and efficient proxy for past and present biodiversity. The basin of Mexico (BM) is located in the central part of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt at 2,200 m a.s.l.; with the southern portion harboring the Chalco sub-basin. Lake Chalco is one of the last remaining natural aquatic ecosystems within the ever-expanding urban area surrounding Mexico City. The paleoenvironmental history of this lake has been previously characterized using sedimentological and geochemical proxies, as well as preserved microfossils (diatoms, pollen) with a temporal framework based on multiple radiocarbon dates. However, information for the remaining taxonomic groups and metabolic pathways remained unexplored. Here, we present the first metagenomics-based study for the Holocene in a high-altitude lake in Central Mexico –Lake Chalco. We explored the relationship between the lake’s paleoenvironmental condition and estimations of taxonomic and metabolic profiles across the sedimentary sequence (2.5 meters long). Multiple biological and abiotic variables revealed three main environmental phases: 1) a cool freshwater lake (FW1: 11,500-11,000 cal years BP), 2) a warm hyposaline lake (HS2: 11,000-6,000 cal years BP), and 3) a temperate, subsaline lake (SS3, <6,000 cal years BP). We describe the structure of the microbiota community and taxonomy richness turnover in the three Holocene paleoenvironmental phases. During the past 12 000 years BP the most abundant domains in Lake Chalco sediments were Bacteria, followed by Archaea, and Eukarya (36,722 genera). The analysis of functional proteins showed high biodiversity with a total of 27,636,243 proteins identified, but it was only possible to annotate 3,227,398 of them. Also, we identified several genes associated with some relevant pathways, such as methanogenesis. Altogether, this study allowed us to reconstruct the natural history of lake Chalco and its surroundings.</p>

Holocene history of intentional fires and grassland development on the Soni Plateau, Central Japan, reconstructed from phytolith and macroscopic charcoal records within cumulative soils, combined with paleoenvironmental data from mire sediments

The Holocene ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 22 (7) ◽  
pp. 793-800 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryota Okunaka ◽  
Tatsuichiro Kawano ◽  
Jun Inoue
Keyword(s):  
Forest Floor ◽  
Dwarf Bamboo ◽  
Central Japan ◽  
Short Cell ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Bulliform Cell ◽  
History Of ◽  
Plateau Central ◽  
Macroscopic Charcoal

Phytolith and macroscopic charcoal in cumulative soils on the Soni Plateau, Central Japan, were evaluated to clarify the Holocene history of intentional fires and grassland development, and to compare the findings with those derived from pollen and charcoal records in sediments taken from a nearby mire in the previous study. Prior to ~1500 cal. BP, Bambusoid short-cell phytoliths and Pleioblastus-type and Bambusoideae-type bulliform cell phytoliths were abundant with scarce charcoal particles (<1000 particles/cm3). In contrast, since ~1500 cal. BP Andropogoneae-type bulliform cell phytoliths and Bilobate short-cell phytoliths were dominant with abundant charcoal particles (>1000 particles/cm3). Based on correlating these records with pollen and charcoal records in mire sediments, prior to ~1500 cal. BP, dwarf bamboo flourished on the forest floor under largely fire-free conditions, whereas since ~1500 cal. BP, grassland dominated by Japanese pampas grass has been sustained by periodic intentional burning that has continued until the present day.

The last glaciation and sea level history of Fosheim Peninsula, Ellesmere Island, Canadian High Arctic

1996 ◽  
Vol 33 (7) ◽  
pp. 1075-1086 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trevor Bell
Keyword(s):  
High Arctic ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Ice Caps ◽  
Marine Deposits ◽  
Last Glaciation ◽  
Maximum Elevation ◽  
Glacier Runoff ◽  
History Of ◽  
Ice Conditions

The last glaciation of Fosheim Peninsula is reconstructed on the basis of landform and sediment mapping and associated radiocarbon dates. Ice growth involved the expansion of cirque glaciers and accumulation on upland surfaces that are now ice free. Limited ice buildup, despite lowering of the paleoglaciation level by 700–800 m, is attributed to the hyperaridity of the region during glacial conditions. Marine deposits in formerly submerged basins beyond the ice margins are interpreted to represent (i) sedimentation caused by local ice buildup and marine transgression by 10.6 ka BP, (ii) increased ablation and glacier runoff [Formula: see text]9.5 ka BP, and (iii) marine regression during the Holocene. Holocene marine limit reaches a maximum elevation of approximately 150 m asl along northern Eureka Sound and Greely Fiord and descends southeastwards to 139–142 m asl near the Sawtooth Mountains. A synchronous marine limit is implied where the last ice limit was inland of the sea. The magnitude and pattern of Holocene emergence cannot be fully explained by the glacioisostatic effects of the small ice load during the last glaciation of the region. Deglaciation of the peninsula was underway by 9.5 ka BP; however, local ice caps may have persisted through the wannest period of the Holocene until 6–5 ka BP. This was likely a function of reduced sea ice conditions and increased moisture availability which benefited low-lying coastal icefields, but had negligible effect on interior highland ice caps.

scholarly journals Dating ancient human samples using the recombination clock

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Priya Moorjani ◽  
Sriram Sankararaman ◽  
Qiaomei Fu ◽  
Molly Przeworski ◽  
Nick J Patterson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Best Practice ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Genetic Method ◽  
Human Samples ◽  
Shared History ◽  
Complementary Approach ◽  
Neanderthal Admixture ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Age Estimates

The study of human evolution has been revolutionized by inferences from ancient DNA analyses. Key to these is the reliable estimation of the age of ancient specimens. The current best practice is radiocarbon dating, which relies on characterizing the decay of radioactive carbon isotope (14C), and is applicable for dating up to 50,000-year-old samples. Here, we introduce a new genetic method that uses recombination clock for dating. The key idea is that an ancient genome has evolved less than the genomes of extant individuals. Thus, given a molecular clock provided by the steady accumulation of recombination events, one can infer the age of the ancient genome based on the number of missing years of evolution. To implement this idea, we take advantage of the shared history of Neanderthal gene flow into non-Africans that occurred around 50,000 years ago. Using the Neanderthal ancestry decay patterns, we estimate the Neanderthal admixture time for both ancient and extant samples. The difference in these admixture dates then provides an estimate of the age of the ancient genome. We show that our method provides reliable results in simulations. We apply our method to date five ancient Eurasian genomes with radiocarbon dates ranging between 12,000 to 45,000 years and recover consistent age estimates. Our method provides a complementary approach for dating ancient human samples and is applicable to ancient non-African genomes with Neanderthal ancestry. Extensions of this methodology that use older shared events may be able to date ancient genomes that fall beyond the radiocarbon frontier.

Holocene evolution of the Assiniboine River paleochannels and Portage la Prairie alluvial fan

1989 ◽  
Vol 26 (9) ◽  
pp. 1834-1841 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. F. Rannie ◽  
L. H. Thorleifson ◽  
J. T. Teller
Keyword(s):  
Alluvial Fan ◽  
Red River ◽  
Lake Agassiz ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Sediment Loads ◽  
History Of ◽  
Western Side

The Portage la Prairie alluvial fan was constructed by numerous successive paleochannels of the Assiniboine River along the western side of the Lake Agassiz basin as the level of the lake rapidly declined beginning 9500 years ago. The history of the paleochannels during the first several thousand years is not known. Paleochannel morphologies and cross-cutting relations, soil maturity, and radiocarbon dates, however, indicate that by 6000–7000 years ago flow was northward into Lake Manitoba. This direction was maintained until about 3000 years ago, when avulsion redirected the Assiniboine eastward to the Red River near Winnipeg. The morphologies of the paleochannels suggest that channel-forming discharges and sediment loads of the ancestral rivers have not differed significantly from the modern values despite palynological evidence that the climate was warmer and drier during much of the Holocene.

Notes on Site Distribution in the Çumra Area

1970 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 139-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. H. French
Keyword(s):  
Alluvial Plain ◽  
Influential Factor ◽  
Soil Conditions ◽  
Alluvial Soils ◽  
High Concentration ◽  
Site Distribution ◽  
Modern Soil ◽  
History Of ◽  
Konya Basin

Mr. Cohen has proposed, above, the hypothesis that the formation, in the earliest Holocene, of the alluvial soils of the Konya basin, was an influential factor in the appearance of settlement-sites which may have played some role in the history of early domestication of plants and animals. In order that the hypothesis may be fully tested this article presents the basic evidence for a chronological analysis of the high concentration of mounds on or around the alluvial plain of Çumra by means of maps which combine distributions of ancient sites and modern soil conditions.

scholarly journals Late Holocene landscape change history related to the Alpine Fault determined from drowned forests in Lake Poerua, Westland, New Zealand

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 2051-2064 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. M. Langridge ◽  
R. Basili ◽  
L. Basher ◽  
A. P. Wells
Keyword(s):  
Lake Level ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
Alluvial Fan ◽  
Time Of Death ◽  
Fault Rupture ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Living Tree ◽  
Alpine Fault ◽  
History Of ◽  
Lowland Forests

Abstract. Lake Poerua is a small, shallow lake that abuts the scarp of the Alpine Fault on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. Radiocarbon dates from drowned podocarp trees on the lake floor, a sediment core from a rangefront alluvial fan, and living tree ring ages have been used to deduce the late Holocene history of the lake. Remnant drowned stumps of kahikatea (Dacrycarpus dacrydioides) at 1.7–1.9 m water depth yield a preferred time-of-death age at 1766–1807 AD, while a dryland podocarp and kahikatea stumps at 2.4–2.6 m yield preferred time-of-death ages of ca. 1459–1626 AD. These age ranges are matched to, but offset from, the timings of Alpine Fault rupture events at ca. 1717 AD, and either ca. 1615 or 1430 AD. Alluvial fan detritus dated from a core into the toe of a rangefront alluvial fan, at an equivalent depth to the maximum depth of the modern lake (6.7 m), yields a calibrated age of AD 1223–1413. This age is similar to the timing of an earlier Alpine Fault rupture event at ca. 1230 AD ± 50 yr. Kahikatea trees growing on rangefront fans give ages of up to 270 yr, which is consistent with alluvial fan aggradation following the 1717 AD earthquake. The elevation levels of the lake and fan imply a causal and chronological link between lake-level rise and Alpine Fault rupture. The results of this study suggest that the growth of large, coalescing alluvial fans (Dry and Evans Creek fans) originating from landslides within the rangefront of the Alpine Fault and the rise in the level of Lake Poerua may occur within a decade or so of large Alpine Fault earthquakes that rupture adjacent to this area. These rises have in turn drowned lowland forests that fringed the lake. Radiocarbon chronologies built using OxCal show that a series of massive landscape changes beginning with fault rupture, followed by landsliding, fan sedimentation and lake expansion. However, drowned Kahikatea trees may be poor candidates for intimately dating these events, as they may be able to tolerate water for several decades after metre-scale lake level rises have occurred.

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