Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T20:29:51.443Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Oxygen Isotope Analysis and Seasonality Determinations: Limits and Potential of a New Technique

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Geoffrey N. Bailey ,
Margaret R. Deith  and
Nicholas J. Shackleton
Geoffrey N. Bailey
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3DZ, U.K.
Margaret R. Deith
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3DZ, U.K.
Nicholas J. Shackleton
Affiliation:
The Godwin Laboratory, Sub-department of Quaternary Research, University of Cambridge, CambridgeCB2 3B.S, U.K.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper presents a critical assessment of Killingley's approach to the determination of month of collection of marine molluscs by prehistoric people. The basis of the method is careful oxygen isotope measurements made in successive growth increments in the shells. We have analyzed specimens of Monodonta and Patella collected live on the coast of northern Spain, in conjunction with seasonality studies on molluscs from prehistoric sites in the neighborhood. These studies confirm the necessity of making careful analyses of each species under consideration. Given the significance both of interspecies differences and of climatic variability on timescales from a year upwards (particularly important in Killingley's area), we conclude that his apparent accuracy of ± a month is illusory.

Type
Comments
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 48 , Issue 2 , April 1983 , pp. 390 - 398
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1983

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References Cited

Bailey, Geoffrey N. 1973 Concheros del Norte de Espana: una hipotesis preliminar. Actas del XII Congreso Nacional deArqueologfa, pp. 73–84. Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain.Google Scholar
Bailey, Geoffrey N. 1978 Shell Middens as Indicators of Postglacial Economies: A Territorial Perspective. In The Early Postglacial Settlement of Northern Europe, edited by Mellars, Paul A., pp. 121–139. Duckworth, London.Google Scholar
Bailey, Geoffrey N. 1981 Concepts of Resource Exploitation: Continuity and Discontinuity in Palaeoeconomy. World Archaeology 13:1–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bailey, Geoffrey N. 1983 Economic Change in Late Pleistocene Cantabria. In Hunter-Gatherer Economy in Prehistory, edited by Bailey, Geoffrey N., pp. 149–165. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Bender, Barbara 1978 Gatherer-hunter to Farmer: A Social Perspective. World Archaeology 10:204–222.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Botkin, Steven 1980 Effects of Human Exploitation on Shell-fish Populations at Malibu Creek, California. In ModelingChange in Prehistoric Subsistence Economies, edited by Earle, Timothy K. and Christenson, Andrew L., pp. 121–139. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Clark, Geoffrey A. 1975 Excavations in the Late Pleistocene Cave Site of Balmori, Asturias (Spain). Quaternaria 18:383–426.Google Scholar
Clark, Geoffrey A., and Straus, Lawrence G. 1983 Late Pleistocene Hunter-gatherer Adaptations in Cantabrian Spain. In Hunter-Gatherer Economyin Prehistory, edited by Bailey, Geoffrey N., pp. 131–148. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Cohen, Mark N. 1977 The Food Crisis in Prehistory. Yale University Press, New Haven.Google Scholar
Gaillard, Jean M. 1965 Aspects qualitatifs et quantitatifs de la croissance de la coquille de quelques especes de mollusquesprosobranches en fonction de la latitude et des conditions ecologiques. Memoires du Musee nationald'histoire naturelle n.s. 38:1–155. Paris.Google Scholar
Goudie, Andrew S. 1977 Environmental Change. Clarendon Press, Oxford.Google Scholar
Killingley, John S. 1981 Seasonality of Mollusk Collecting Determined from 0-18 Profiles of Midden Shells. American Antiquity 46:152–158.Google Scholar
Koike, Hiroko 1980 Seasonal Dating by Growth-line Counting of the Clam, Meretrix lusoria. University Museum, University of Tokyo, Bulletin 18.Google Scholar
Lewis, J. R., and Bowman, Rosemary S. 1975 Local Habitat-induced Variations in the Population Dynamics of Patella vulgata L. Journal of ExperimentalMarine Biology and Ecology 17:165–203.Google Scholar
Regis, Marie-Berthe 1972 Etude comparee de la croissance des Monodontes (Gasteropodes prosobranches) en Manche et lelong des cotes Atlantiques et Mediterraneennes frangaises. In Fifth European Marine Biology Symposium, edited by Battaglia, B., pp. 259–267. Piccin Editore, Padua.Google Scholar
Shackleton, Nicholas J. 1973 Oxygen Isotope Analysis as a Means of Determining Season of Occupation of Prehistoric Midden Sites. Archaeometry 15:133–141.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shackleton, Nicholas J. 1974 Oxygen Isotope Demonstration of Winter Seasonal Occupation. In Results of Recent Investigationsat Tamar Hat, by Saxon, Earl C.. Libyca 22:49–91.Google Scholar
Shackleton, Nicholas J., and Opdyke, Neil D. 1973 Oxygen Isotope Palaeomagnetic Stratigraphy of Equatorial Pacific Core V28-238: Oxygen IsotopeTemperature and Ice Volumes on a 105 and 106 Year Scale. Quaternary Research 3:39–55.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Straus, Lawrence G. 1979 Mesolithic Adaptations Along the Coast of Northern Spain. Quaternaria 21:305–327.Google Scholar
Straus, Lawrence G., Clark, Geoffrey A., Altuna, Jesus, and Ortea, Jesus A. 1980 Ice-age Subsistence in Northern Spain. Scientific American 242:142–152.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swadling, Pamela 1976 Changes Induced by Human Exploitation in Prehistoric Shellfish Populations. Mankind 10:156–162.Google Scholar