Scientific Dating of Pleistocene Sites: Guidelines for Best Practice Contents

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Scientific Dating of Pleistocene Sites: Guidelines for Best Practice Contents Consultation Draft Scientific Dating of Pleistocene Sites: Guidelines for Best Practice Contents Foreword............................................................................................................................. 3 PART 1 - OVERVIEW .............................................................................................................. 3 1. Introduction .............................................................................................................. 3 The Quaternary stratigraphical framework ........................................................................ 4 Palaeogeography ........................................................................................................... 6 Fitting the archaeological record into this dynamic landscape .............................................. 6 Shorter-timescale division of the Late Pleistocene .............................................................. 7 2. Scientific Dating methods for the Pleistocene ................................................................. 8 Radiometric methods ..................................................................................................... 8 Trapped Charge Methods................................................................................................ 9 Other scientific dating methods ......................................................................................10 Relative dating methods ................................................................................................10 3. Bayesian Chronological Modelling................................................................................11 PART 2 – SCIENTIFIC DATING METHODS ..................................................................................13 4. Radiocarbon Dating ...................................................................................................13 5. Uranium-Thorium dating ............................................................................................14 6. Luminescence dating in the Pleistocene ........................................................................16 7. Amino acid racemization (AAR)....................................................................................18 8. Palaeomagnetism ......................................................................................................19 9. Tephrochronology .....................................................................................................21 10. The ’Vole Clock’ .....................................................................................................23 PART 3 – CASE STUDIES ........................................................................................................25 11. Happisburgh Site 3, Norfolk .....................................................................................25 12. Boxgrove ..............................................................................................................26 13. The Axe Valley at Broom – OSL dating Middle Pleistocene fluvial sediments ...................28 14. Seeing beneath the sea – Palaeolithic finds from Aggregate Area 240 ............................29 15. Uranium-series dating – constraining the age of the Middle Palaeolithic tools and fauna from Pin Hole, Creswell, Derbyshire ....................................................................................30 16. Neanderthals in Norfolk: Lynford Quarry ...................................................................30 17. Gransmoor, East Yorkshire – a precise chronology for environmental records.................31 PART 4 – PRACTICALITIES ......................................................................................................33 Consultation Draft 18. Project Organisation and Planning ............................................................................33 18.1 Specifications/briefs ...............................................................................................33 18.2 Desk-top assessment ..............................................................................................34 18.3 Watching briefs .....................................................................................................34 18.4 Evaluation.............................................................................................................34 18.5 Excavation ............................................................................................................34 18.6 Assessment ...........................................................................................................34 18.7 Post-excavation Analysis .........................................................................................35 18.8 Dissemination and archiving ....................................................................................35 19. Laboratories ..........................................................................................................36 Radiocarbon Dating.......................................................................................................36 Uranium-Thorium Dating ...............................................................................................36 Luminescence Dating ....................................................................................................36 Amino acid racemization (AAR) .......................................................................................37 Tephrochronology ........................................................................................................38 Palaeomagnetism .........................................................................................................38 20. Advice and Information...........................................................................................39 A: Historic England ........................................................................................................39 B. Scientific Dating Laboratories ......................................................................................40 C. On-line Resources .....................................................................................................40 21. Glossary................................................................................................................44 22. References ............................................................................................................48 23. Acknowledgements ................................................................................................61 24. Text Boxes ............................................................................................................62 25. Tables ..................................................................................................................64 26. Figures .................................................................................................................76 Consultation Draft 1 Foreword 2 Alex Bayliss, Historic England 3 These guidelines provide advice on best practice for the effective use of scientific dating on 4 Pleistocene sites. They are applicable to all archaeological projects, but are aimed primarily at those 5 undertaken as part of the planning process. Pleistocene sites typically produce limited material that 6 is suitable for dating. Some of the methods that can be employed are familiar to those working in 7 later periods (eg Radiocarbon Dating), although special considerations for their effective use may 8 apply. Other methods (eg the ’Vole Clock‘) are only used in the Pleistocene. The selection of 9 appropriate techniques, given the available types of datable material, its taphonomic relationship to 10 the archaeological objectives of the project, and the expected time-range of the site, is key. Different 11 strands of evidence can be explicitly combined using Bayesian statistical modelling, and the resultant 12 chronologies can be validated, not only by comparison to relative dating from stratigraphy, but also 13 by employing multiple scientific dating techniques. Above all, seek expert advice. All laboratories will 14 be happy to advise on applying their technique to Pleistocene deposits, and will welcome the 15 opportunity to discuss sample selection and potential methods of cross-checking their results with 16 you. It is by working together with a range of specialists that you will provide the best dating 17 possible for your site. 18 PART 1 - OVERVIEW 19 1. Introduction 20 David R Bridgland, Durham University 21 The Pleistocene is the geological period during which multiple ice ages, or glacials, occurred, the last 22 of which ended only c 11,700 years ago, at the beginning of the Holocene, or the post-glacial. The 23 Pleistocene and Holocene together are termed the Quaternary. The Pleistocene began 2.58 million 24 years ago, and we now know that there were numerous ice ages during this period, although those 25 of the Middle and Late Pleistocene (together accounting for the last c 0.8 million years) were more 26 severe than those occurring earlier. The Pleistocene was not continuously cold; instead there were 27 periodic warmer episodes, termed interglacials, during which conditions were similar to those of the 28 Holocene, which is generally regarded as merely the latest of numerous interglacials. This glacial– 29 interglacial oscillation is a principal characteristic of the Pleistocene and has been used as a 30 framework for dividing the Quaternary into
Recommended publications
  • Conversion of GISP2-Based Sediment Core Age Models to the GICC05 Extended Chronology
    Quaternary Geochronology 20 (2014) 1e7 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Quaternary Geochronology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/quageo Short communication Conversion of GISP2-based sediment core age models to the GICC05 extended chronology Stephen P. Obrochta a, *, Yusuke Yokoyama a, Jan Morén b, Thomas J. Crowley c a University of Tokyo Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, 227-8564, Japan b Neural Computation Unit, Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology, 904-0495, Japan c Braeheads Institute, Maryfield, Braeheads, East Linton, East Lothian, Scotland EH40 3DH, UK article info abstract Article history: Marine and lacustrine sediment-based paleoclimate records are often not comparable within the early to Received 14 March 2013 middle portion of the last glacial cycle. This is due in part to significant revisions over the past 15 years to Received in revised form the Greenland ice core chronologies commonly used to assign ages outside of the range of radiocarbon 29 August 2013 dating. Therefore, creation of a compatible chronology is required prior to analysis of the spatial and Accepted 1 September 2013 temporal nature of climate variability at multiple locations. Here we present an automated mathematical Available online 19 September 2013 function that updates GISP2-based chronologies to the newer, NGRIP GICC05 age scale between 8.24 and 103.74 ka b2k. The script uses, to the extent currently available, climate-independent volcanic syn- Keywords: Chronology chronization of these two ice cores, supplemented by oxygen isotope alignment. The modular design of Ice core the script allows substitution for a more comprehensive volcanic matching, once it becomes available. Sediment core Usage of this function highlights on the GICC05 chronology, for the first time for the entire last glaciation, GICC05 the proposed global climate relationships during the series of large and rapid millennial stadial- interstadial events.
    [Show full text]
  • Geologic Time Two Ways to Date Geologic Events Steno's Laws
    Frank Press • Raymond Siever • John Grotzinger • Thomas H. Jordan Understanding Earth Fourth Edition Chapter 10: The Rock Record and the Geologic Time Scale Lecture Slides prepared by Peter Copeland • Bill Dupré Copyright © 2004 by W. H. Freeman & Company Geologic Time Two Ways to Date Geologic Events A major difference between geologists and most other 1) relative dating (fossils, structure, cross- scientists is their concept of time. cutting relationships): how old a rock is compared to surrounding rocks A "long" time may not be important unless it is greater than 1 million years 2) absolute dating (isotopic, tree rings, etc.): actual number of years since the rock was formed Steno's Laws Principle of Superposition Nicholas Steno (1669) In a sequence of undisturbed • Principle of Superposition layered rocks, the oldest rocks are • Principle of Original on the bottom. Horizontality These laws apply to both sedimentary and volcanic rocks. Principle of Original Horizontality Layered strata are deposited horizontal or nearly horizontal or nearly parallel to the Earth’s surface. Fig. 10.3 Paleontology • The study of life in the past based on the fossil of plants and animals. Fossil: evidence of past life • Fossils that are preserved in sedimentary rocks are used to determine: 1) relative age 2) the environment of deposition Fig. 10.5 Unconformity A buried surface of erosion Fig. 10.6 Cross-cutting Relationships • Geometry of rocks that allows geologists to place rock unit in relative chronological order. • Used for relative dating. Fig. 10.8 Fig. 10.9 Fig. 10.9 Fig. 10.9 Fig. Story 10.11 Fig.
    [Show full text]
  • Lab 7: Relative Dating and Geological Time
    LAB 7: RELATIVE DATING AND GEOLOGICAL TIME Lab Structure Synchronous lab work Yes – virtual office hours available Asynchronous lab work Yes Lab group meeting No Quiz None – Test 2 this week Recommended additional work None Required materials Pencil Learning Objectives After carefully reading this chapter, completing the exercises within it, and answering the questions at the end, you should be able to: • Apply basic geological principles to the determination of the relative ages of rocks. • Explain the difference between relative and absolute age-dating techniques. • Summarize the history of the geological time scale and the relationships between eons, eras, periods, and epochs. • Understand the importance and significance of unconformities. • Explain why an understanding of geological time is critical to both geologists and the general public. Key Terms • Eon • Original horizontality • Era • Cross-cutting • Period • Inclusions • Relative dating • Faunal succession • Absolute dating • Unconformity • Isotopic dating • Angular unconformity • Stratigraphy • Disconformity • Strata • Nonconformity • Superposition • Paraconformity Time is the dimension that sets geology apart from most other sciences. Geological time is vast, and Earth has changed enough over that time that some of the rock types that formed in the past could not form Lab 7: Relative Dating and Geological Time | 181 today. Furthermore, as we’ve discussed, even though most geological processes are very, very slow, the vast amount of time that has passed has allowed for the formation of extraordinary geological features, as shown in Figure 7.0.1. Figure 7.0.1: Arizona’s Grand Canyon is an icon for geological time; 1,450 million years are represented by this photo.
    [Show full text]
  • Do Gssps Render Dual Time-Rock/Time Classification and Nomenclature Redundant?
    Do GSSPs render dual time-rock/time classification and nomenclature redundant? Ismael Ferrusquía-Villafranca1 Robert M. Easton2 and Donald E. Owen3 1Instituto de Geología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad Universitaria, Coyoacán, México, DF, MEX, 45100, e-mail: [email protected] 2Ontario Geological Survey, Precambrian Geoscience Section, 933 Ramsey Lake Road, B7064 Sudbury, Ontario P3E 6B5, e-mail: [email protected] 3Department of Geology, Lamar University, Beaumont, Texas 77710, e-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT: The Geological Society of London Proposal for “…ending the distinction between the dual stratigraphic terminology of time-rock units (of chronostratigraphy) and geologic time units (of geochronology). The long held, but widely misunderstood distinc- tion between these two essentially parallel time scales has been rendered unnecessary by the adoption of the global stratotype sections and points (GSSP-golden spike) principle in defining intervals of geologic time within rock strata.” Our review of stratigraphic princi- ples, concepts, models and paradigms through history clearly shows that the GSL Proposal is flawed and if adopted will be of disservice to the stratigraphic community. We recommend the continued use of the dual stratigraphic terminology of chronostratigraphy and geochronology for the following reasons: (1) time-rock (chronostratigraphic) and geologic time (geochronologic) units are conceptually different; (2) the subtended time-rock’s unit space between its “golden spiked-marked”
    [Show full text]
  • The Astronomical Theory of Climate and the Age of the Brunhes-Matuyama Magnetic Reversal
    EPSL ELSEVIER Earth and Planetary Science Letters 126 (1994) 91-108 The astronomical theory of climate and the age of the Brunhes-Matuyama magnetic reversal Franck C. Bassinot a,1, Laurent D. Labeyrie b, Edith Vincent a, Xavier Quidelleur c Nicholas J. Shackleton d, Yves Lancelot a a Laboratoire de Gdologie du Quaternaire, CNRS-Luminy, Case 907, 13288 Marseille cddex 09, France b Centre des Faibles Radioactivit&, CNRS/CEA, Avenue de la Terrasse, BP 1, 91198 Gif-sur-Yvette, France c Institut de Physique du Globe, Laboratoire de Pal~omagn&isme, 4 Place Jussieu, 75252 Paris c~dex 05, France d Department of Quaternary Research, The Godwin Laboratory, Free School Lane, Cambridge CB2 3RS, UK Received 3 November 1993; revision accepted 30 May 1994 Abstract Below oxygen isotope stage 16, the orbitally derived time-scale developed by Shackleton et al. [1] from ODP site 677 in the equatorial Pacific differs significantly from previous ones [e.g., 2-5], yielding estimated ages for the last Earth magnetic reversals that are 5-7% older than the K/Ar values [6-8] but are in good agreement with recent Ar/Ar dating [9-11]. These results suggest that in the lower Brunhes and upper Matuyama chronozones most deep-sea climatic records retrieved so far apparently missed or misinterpreted several oscillations predicted by the astronomical theory of climate. To test this hypothesis, we studied a high-resolution oxygen isotope record from giant piston core MD900963 (Maldives area, tropical Indian Ocean) in which precession-related oscillations in t~180 are particularly well expressed, owing to the superimposition of a local salinity signal on the global ice volume signal [12].
    [Show full text]
  • Recent Achievements in Archaeomagnetic Dating in the Iberian Peninsula: Application to Roman and Mediaeval Spanish Structures
    Journal of Archaeological Science 35 (2008) 1389e1398 http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jas Recent achievements in archaeomagnetic dating in the Iberian Peninsula: application to Roman and Mediaeval Spanish structures M. Go´mez-Paccard a,*, E. Beamud b a Research Group of Geodynamics and Basin Analysis, Department of Stratigraphy, Paleontology and Marine Geosciences, Universitat de Barcelona, Campus de Pedralbes, E-08028 Barcelona, Spain b Research Group of Geodynamics and Basin Analysis, Paleomagnetic Laboratory (UB-CSIC), Institute of Earth Sciences ‘‘Jaume Almera’’, Sole´ i Sabarı´s, E-08028 Barcelona, Spain Received 18 May 2007; received in revised form 25 September 2007; accepted 8 October 2007 Abstract Archaeomagnetic studies in Spain have undergone a significant progress during the last few years and a reference curve of the directional variation of the geomagnetic field over the past two millennia is now available for the Iberian Peninsula. These recent developments have made archaeomagnetism a straightforward dating tool for Spain and Portugal. The aim of this work is to illustrate how this secular variation curve can be used to date the last use of several burnt structures from Spain. Four combustion structures from three archaeological sites with ages ranging from Roman to Mediaeval times have been studied and archaeomagnetically dated. The directions of the characteristic remanent magnetization of each structure have been obtained from classical thermal and alternating field (AF) demagnetization procedures, and a mean direction for each combustion structure has been obtained. These directional results have been compared with the new reference curve for Iberia, providing archae- omagnetic dates for the last use of the kilns.
    [Show full text]
  • Calendar Year Age Estimates of Allerød-Younger Dryas Sea-Level
    JOURNAL OF QUATERNARY SCIENCE (2004) 19(5) 443–464 Copyright ß 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/jqs.846 Calendar year age estimates of Allerød–Younger Dryas sea-level oscillations at Os, western Norway ØYSTEIN S. LOHNE,1,2* STEIN BONDEVIK,3 JAN MANGERUD1,2 and HANS SCHRADER1 1 Department of Earth Science, Alle´gaten 41, N-5007 Bergen, Norway 2 The Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research, University of Bergen, Norway 3 Department of Geology, University of Tromsø, Dramsveien 201, N-9037 Tromsø, Norway Lohne, Ø. S., Bondevik, S., Mangerud, J. and Schrader, H. 2004. Calendar year age estimates of Allerød—Younger Dryas sea-level oscillations at Os, western Norway. J. Quaternary Sci., Vol. 19 pp. 443–464. ISSN 0267-8179. Received 30 September 2003; Revised 2 February 2004; Accepted 17 February 2004 ABSTRACT: A detailed shoreline displacement curve documents the Younger Dryas transgression in western Norway. The relative sea-level rise was more than 9 m in an area which subsequently experienced an emergence of almost 60 m. The sea-level curve is based on the stratigraphy of six isolation basins with bedrock thresholds. Effort has been made to establish an accurate chronology using a calendar year time-scale by 14C wiggle matching and the use of time synchronic markers (the Vedde Ash Bed and the post-glacial rise in Betula (birch) pollen). The sea-level curve demonstrates that the Younger Dryas transgression started close to the Allerød–Younger Dryas transition and that the high stand was reached only 200 yr before the Younger Dryas–Holocene boundary.
    [Show full text]
  • General Comments This Paper Brings Together Three Independent Dating
    General comments This paper brings together three independent dating techniques to improve age model reliability for a lake record in Alaska. Davies et al. help to advance two areas; firstly, to expand the tephrostratigraphic record for North America and, secondly, provide a working example of how useful tephrochronology is in validating other independent dating techniques with the use Bayesian statistics. The paper itself is clearly written and provides an example for using multiple chronometers in a lake record setting. The introduction sets out the problems of obtaining accurate and precise ages using radiocarbon dating, particularly in high latitude lakes, and how these could be resolved with the use of combining other dating techniques such as palaeomagnetism and tephrochronology with the appropriate methods of Bayesian statistics. The methods conducted by the authors is definitive though additional detail could be added to some sections to allow clear reproduction of certain processes and provide additional information as to why a certain process were chosen. The step-by-step assessment of which radiocarbon dates were appropriate for the overall age model was useful to see. The tephra correlations made by the authors look robust and clear. I agree with the comments made by RC1 for this part of the paper. There are a few additional comments made on the attached document around the presentation of data to justify primary deposition. The justification for including/excluding certain ages in the Bayesian age model were made clear and the age model results were repeatable. The discussion section brings together all the important points in a concise format.
    [Show full text]
  • “Anthropocene” Epoch: Scientific Decision Or Political Statement?
    The “Anthropocene” epoch: Scientific decision or political statement? Stanley C. Finney*, Dept. of Geological Sciences, California Official recognition of the concept would invite State University at Long Beach, Long Beach, California 90277, cross-disciplinary science. And it would encourage a mindset USA; and Lucy E. Edwards**, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, that will be important not only to fully understand the Virginia 20192, USA transformation now occurring but to take action to control it. … Humans may yet ensure that these early years of the ABSTRACT Anthropocene are a geological glitch and not just a prelude The proposal for the “Anthropocene” epoch as a formal unit of to a far more severe disruption. But the first step is to recognize, the geologic time scale has received extensive attention in scien- as the term Anthropocene invites us to do, that we are tific and public media. However, most articles on the in the driver’s seat. (Nature, 2011, p. 254) Anthropocene misrepresent the nature of the units of the International Chronostratigraphic Chart, which is produced by That editorial, as with most articles on the Anthropocene, did the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS) and serves as not consider the mission of the International Commission on the basis for the geologic time scale. The stratigraphic record of Stratigraphy (ICS), nor did it present an understanding of the the Anthropocene is minimal, especially with its recently nature of the units of the International Chronostratigraphic Chart proposed beginning in 1945; it is that of a human lifespan, and on which the units of the geologic time scale are based.
    [Show full text]
  • All These Fantastic Cultures? Research History and Regionalization in the Late Palaeolithic Tanged Point Cultures of Eastern Europe
    European Journal of Archaeology 23 (2) 2020, 162–185 This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-ShareAlike licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/), which permits non- commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the same Creative Commons licence is included and the original work is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use. All these Fantastic Cultures? Research History and Regionalization in the Late Palaeolithic Tanged Point Cultures of Eastern Europe 1 2 3 LIVIJA IVANOVAITĖ ,KAMIL SERWATKA ,CHRISTIAN STEVEN HOGGARD , 4 5 FLORIAN SAUER AND FELIX RIEDE 1Museum of Copenhagen, Denmark 2Archaeological and Ethnographic Museum of Łódź, Poland 3University of Southampton, United Kingdom 4University of Cologne, Köln, Germany 5Aarhus University, Højbjerg, Denmark The Late Glacial, that is the period from the first pronounced warming after the Last Glacial Maximum to the beginning of the Holocene (c. 16,000–11,700 cal BP), is traditionally viewed as a time when northern Europe was being recolonized and Late Palaeolithic cultures diversified. These cultures are characterized by particular artefact types, or the co-occurrence or specific relative frequencies of these. In north-eastern Europe, numerous cultures have been proposed on the basis of supposedly different tanged points. This practice of naming new cultural units based on these perceived differences has been repeatedly critiqued, but robust alternatives have rarely been offered. Here, we review the taxonomic landscape of Late Palaeolithic large tanged point cultures in eastern Europe as currently envisaged, which leads us to be cautious about the epistemological validity of many of the constituent groups.
    [Show full text]
  • Archaeological Tree-Ring Dating at the Millennium
    P1: IAS Journal of Archaeological Research [jar] pp469-jare-369967 June 17, 2002 12:45 Style file version June 4th, 2002 Journal of Archaeological Research, Vol. 10, No. 3, September 2002 (C 2002) Archaeological Tree-Ring Dating at the Millennium Stephen E. Nash1 Tree-ring analysis provides chronological, environmental, and behavioral data to a wide variety of disciplines related to archaeology including architectural analysis, climatology, ecology, history, hydrology, resource economics, volcanology, and others. The pace of worldwide archaeological tree-ring research has accelerated in the last two decades, and significant contributions have recently been made in archaeological chronology and chronometry, paleoenvironmental reconstruction, and the study of human behavior in both the Old and New Worlds. This paper reviews a sample of recent contributions to tree-ring method, theory, and data, and makes some suggestions for future lines of research. KEY WORDS: dendrochronology; dendroclimatology; crossdating; tree-ring dating. INTRODUCTION Archaeology is a multidisciplinary social science that routinely adopts an- alytical techniques from disparate fields of inquiry to answer questions about human behavior and material culture in the prehistoric, historic, and recent past. Dendrochronology, literally “the study of tree time,” is a multidisciplinary sci- ence that provides chronological and environmental data to an astonishing vari- ety of archaeologically relevant fields of inquiry, including architectural analysis, biology, climatology, economics,
    [Show full text]
  • Ice Core Science 21
    Science Highlights: Ice Core Science 21 Dating ice cores JAKOB SCHWANDER Climate and Environmental Physics, Physics Institute, University of Bern, Switzerland; [email protected] Introduction 200 [ppb An accurate chronology is the ba- NO 100 3 ] sis for a meaningful interpretation - 80 ] of any climate archive, including ice 2 0 O 2 40 [ppb cores. Until now, the oldest ice re- H 0 200 Dust covered from a continuous core is [ppb 100 that from Dome Concordia, Antarc- 2 ] ] tica, with an estimated age of over -1 1.6 0 Sm 1.2 µ 800,000 years (EPICA Community [ Conduct. 0.8 160 [ppb Members, 2004). But the recently SO 80 4 2 recovered cores from near bedrock ] 60 - ] at Kohnen Station (Dronning Maud + 40 0 Na Land, Antarctica) and Dome Fuji [ppb 20 40 [ 0 Ca (Antarctica) compete for the longest ppb 2 20 + climatic record. With the recovery of ] 80 0 + more and more ice cores, the task of ] 4 establishing a good common chro- 40 [ppb NH nology has become increasingly im- 0 portant for linking the fi ndings from 1425 1425 .5 1426 1426 .5 1427 the different records. Moreover, in Depth [m] order to create a comprehensive Fig. 1: Seasonal variations of impurities in early Holocene ice from the North GRIP ice core. picture of past climate dynamics, it Summer layers are indicated by grey lines. is crucial to aim at a common chro- al., 1993, Rasmussen et al., 2006). is assessed with such a model, then nology for all paleo-records. Here Ideally the counting uncertainty is one can construct a chronology of the different methods for dating ice on the order of 1%.
    [Show full text]