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Climatic Reconstruction Using Wood Charcoal from Archaeological Sites

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Climatic Reconstruction Using Wood Charcoal from Archaeological Sites CLIMATIC RECONSTRUCTION USING WOOD CHARCOAL FROM ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES Town EDMUND CARL FEBRUARY Cape of Univesity Thesis presented to the University of Cape Town in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts April 1990 The copyright of this thesis vests in the author. No quotation from it or information derived from it is to be published without full acknowledgementTown of the source. The thesis is to be used for private study or non- commercial research purposes only. Cape Published by the University ofof Cape Town (UCT) in terms of the non-exclusive license granted to UCT by the author. University ABSTRACT This thesis assesses the feasibility of using wood charcoal from archaeological sites as a palaeoclimatic indicator. Three techniques are described: (i) charcoal identification from Xylem Anatomy. (ii) Ecologically Diagnostic Xylem Analysis and (iii) stable carbon isotope analysis on wood charcoal. The first is a well established method of environmental reconstruction. This is the first systematic application of Ecologically Diagnostic Analysis and the first application of stable carbon isotope analysis on wood charcoal. Charcoal identification shows that the most common woody species at Elands Bay today are also evident in the archaeological record over the last 4000 years, indicating a relatively stable plant community composition. Previous studies of wood anatomy have shown that there are links between vessel size, vessel number and climate. This study demonstrates that the wood anatomy of Rhus is not simply related to climatic factors, necessitating the employment of a wide range of statistical analytical techniques to identify climatic signals. In contrast, the anatomy of Diospyros shows strong correlations with temperature. Factor analysis of anatomical parameters of charcoal from Elands Bay archaeological sites indicates that there have been temperature changes over the last 4000 years. Stable carbon isotope ratios (13CjI2C) of plants have been found to be a useful indicator of water use efficiency; plants in drier habitats exhibit more positive values than their more mesic relatives. The results of an isotopic analysis on modern wood charcoal show that 13CjI2C ratios can be related to temperature and rainfall. The climatic component of the range in variation of 13CjI2C in the archaeological record is not as easy to identify due to increased use of fossil fuels since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. Indications are that wood charcoal does carry a climatic signal. A larger sample from more areas may give more dependable results. -11­ TABLE OF CONTENTS Page NO. Abstract............................................................................................................................ 11 Table of contents............................................................................................................ 111 List of tables.................................................................................................................... VI List of figures.................................................................................................................. IX Preface and Acknowledgements.................................................................................. x Chapter One: Introduction........................................................................................... 1 Introduction................................................................................................................... 1 Charcoal identification and Relative abundance.................................................... 1 EDXA: a new approach to climatic reconstruction ................................................ 2 Stable Carbon Isotopes............................................................................................... 3 Rationale for this project ............................................................................................ 3 Thesis layout. ................................................................................................................. 6 Chapter two: The archaeology of the area surrounding the Verlorenvlei.......................................................................................................... 8 Introduction................................................................................................................... 8 Geology and Geography.......................................................................................... 8 The Environment at Elands Bay ............................................................................ 9 Rainfall....................................................................................................................... 10 Archaeology.................................................................................................................. 10 Summary of the archaeological record..................................................................... 14 Conclusion..................................................................................................................... 14 Chapter three: charcoal identification and relative abundance ............................... 16 Introduction................................................................................................................... 16 Firewood selection strategies................................................................................. 16 Methods......................................................................................................................... 17 Results............................................................................................................................ 18 Discussion...................................................................................................................... 19 Relative distribution of woody species at Elands Bay today ............................. 19 Relative distribution of archaeological charcoal ................................................. 20 Environmental differences between sites ............................................................. 21 Archaeological interpretations ............................................................................... 22 Summary and conclusions ........................................................................................... 23 Chapter four: Ecologically Diagnostic Xylem Analysis or EDXA: methodology and application to modem samples.................................. 25 Introduction................................................................................................................... 25 Potential uses for EDXA............................................................................................ 25 Relationship between xylem vessels and climate.................................................... 26 Efficiency versus safety ................................................................................................ 28 -111­ Problems and considerations ...................................................................................... 29 Methods......................................................................................................................... 30 Modem sample ......................................................................................................... 30 Sample preparation.................................................................................................. 34 Microtoming and staining........................................ ............................................... 34 Climatic variables ..................................................................................................... 36 EDXA procedure ..................................................................................................... 37 Total vessel area................................................................................................. 38 Tangential vessel diameter................................................................................ 39 Radial vessel diameter....................................................................................... 39 2 Number of vessels per mm .............................................................................. 39 Maximum vessel diameter................................................................................. 40 Minimum vessel diameter................................................................................. 40 Mean vessel diameter......................................................................................... 40 Range in vessel diameter................................................................................... 40 Area covered by rays.......................................................................................... 40 Relative conductivity per mm........................................................................... 40 Vulnerability........................................................................................................ 41 Results from contemporary wood samples.............................................................. 41 Statistics......................................................................................................................... 42 Discussion on results for Rhus.................................................................................... 44 Conclusions: Rhw.......................................................................................................
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