Difference in radiocarbon ages of carbonized material from the inner and outer surfaces of pottery from a wetland archaeological site

Yoshiki MIYATA; Masayo MINAMI; Shin ONBE; Minoru SAKAMOTO; Hiroyuki MATSUZAKI; Toshio NAKAMURA; Mineo IMAMURA

doi:10.2183/pjab.87.518

Original Articles

Difference in radiocarbon ages of carbonized material from the inner and outer surfaces of pottery from a wetland archaeological site

Yoshiki MIYATA, Masayo MINAMI, Shin ONBE, Minoru SAKAMOTO, Hiroyuki MATSUZAKI, Toshio NAKAMURA, Mineo IMAMURA

Author information

Keywords: radiocarbon dating, carbonized material adhering to pottery, freshwater reservoir effect, diagenesis, wetland archaeological site

JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

2011 Volume 87 Issue 8 Pages 518-528

DOI https://doi.org/10.2183/pjab.87.518

Details

Abstract

AMS (Accelerator Mass Spectrometry) radiocarbon dates for eight potsherds from a single piece of pottery from a wetland archaeological site indicated that charred material from the inner pottery surfaces (5052 ± 12 BP; N = 5) is about 90 ¹⁴C years older than that from the outer surfaces (4961 ± 22 BP; N = 7). We considered three possible causes of this difference: the old wood effect, reservoir effects, and diagenesis. We concluded that differences in the radiocarbon ages between materials from the inner and outer surfaces of the same pot were caused either by the freshwater reservoir effect or by diagenesis. Moreover, we found that the radiocarbon ages of carbonized material on outer surfaces (soot) of pottery from other wetland archaeological sites were the same as the ages of material on inner surfaces (charred food) of the same pot within error, suggesting absence of freshwater reservoir effect or diagenesis.

(Communicated by Ikuo KUSHIRO, M.J.A.)

Corresponding author

Register with J-STAGE for free!