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The Systematic Use of Radiocarbon Dating in Archaeological Surveys in Coastal and Other Erosional Environments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Jon M. Erlandson  and
Madonna L. Moss
Jon M. Erlandson
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-1218
Madonna L. Moss
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-1218
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Abstract

Traditionally, archaeologists have used l4C dating primarily as a postexcavation analytical tool to establish the age of features, strata, or assemblages. In coastal zones and other environments around the world, however, thousands of archaeological sites are rapidly eroding or endangered by other destructive processes. We believe archaeologists should expand their use of l4C dating, systematically incorporating it into surveys in coastal, lacustrine, riverine, and other environments where erosional exposures often provide access to extensive stratigraphic profiles. With examples from the Pacific Coast of North América, we show how widespread l4C dating of sites during surveys can be used to help manage archaeological sites more effectively and identify significant patterns of paleoenvironmental change, site survival, settlement and demography, technology, and social organization. Without more widespread application of such techniques, and a reallocation of research and cultural resource management funds, thousands of sites will be lost before even the most basic information about their age and contents is known.

Résumé

Résumé

El uso tradicional de la técnica de fechado de l4C se ha limitado a establecer la edad de rasgos, estratos, o conjuntos artefactuales despues de la excavación. Sin embargo, en zonas costeras y otros medioambientes miles de sitios están siendo erosionados v destruidos por otros procesos. Creemos que los arqueólogos deben expandir el uso de esta técnica incorporándola sistematicamente en prospecciones de medioambientes costeros, lacustres, o riverinos, donde procesos erosivos han expuesto perfiles estrati gráficos. Ejemplos de la costa pacífica de Norte América indican cómo se ha utilizado la técnica de fechado por radiocarbono para ayudar a proteger sitios más efectivamente y para identificar patrones significativos de cambio paleoambiental, asentamiento y demografta, tecnología, y organización social. Se necesitan fondos para poder continuar la arqueología de rescate e implementar esta técnica a gran escala; de lo contrario, miles de sitios serán destruidos antes de que se los haya estudiado.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 64 , Issue 3 , July 1999 , pp. 431 - 443
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1999

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