Extended residence times for foraminifera in a marine-influenced terrestrial archaeological deposit and implications for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction
Nagel, Texas, Rosendahl, Daniel, Hua, Quan, Moss, Patrick, Sloss, Craig, Petchey, Fiona, and Ulm, Sean (2016) Extended residence times for foraminifera in a marine-influenced terrestrial archaeological deposit and implications for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 5. pp. 25-34.
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Abstract
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating and taphonomic grading was undertaken on foraminifera preserved in the archaeological shell matrix site of Thundiy, Bentinck Island, southern Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia. Foraminifera were assigned to one of six taphonomic grades ranging from pristine to severely abraded. AMS dating demonstrates a weak relationship between preservation status and age. Foraminifera ages are inconsistent with multiple ages on marine shell from the same deposit implying significant sediment transport system residence ages (the time between death of the organism and final deposition) for foraminifera in the deposit. Results demonstrate that foraminifera cannot be assumed to be contemporary with other components of the sedimentary context in which they occur, indicating that caution is required in interpreting chronologies and palaeoenvironmental records based on foraminifera recovered from highly dynamic depositional settings. Findings point to the potential of foraminifera AMS dating of coastal archaeological deposits to contribute to evaluations of site integrity and chrono-stratigraphic analyses.
Item ID: | 41265 |
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Item Type: | Article (Research - C1) |
ISSN: | 2352-4103 |
Keywords: | foraminifera; taphonomy; site formation processes; shell midden; palaeoenvironmental reconstruction; AMS radiocarbon dating; microfauna |
Funders: | Australian Research Council (ARC), Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering (AINSE), Australian Association of Consulting Archaeologists Inc. (AACAI) |
Projects and Grants: | ARC Discovery Project Number DP120103179, ARC Discovery Project Number DP0663047, AINSE ALNGRA13017, Ironbark Heritage/AACAI Student Support Fund Award, ARC Future Fellowship project number FT120100656 |
Date Deposited: | 12 Nov 2015 00:37 |
FoR Codes: | 43 HISTORY, HERITAGE AND ARCHAEOLOGY > 4301 Archaeology > 430101 Archaeological science @ 70% 45 INDIGENOUS STUDIES > 4501 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, language and history > 450101 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander archaeology @ 30% |
SEO Codes: | 95 CULTURAL UNDERSTANDING > 9505 Understanding Past Societies > 950503 Understanding Australias Past @ 100% |
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