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Bayesian Analysis of High-Precision AMS 14C Dates from a Prehistoric Mexican Shellmound

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Douglas J Kennett ,
Brendan J Culleton ,
Barbara Voorhies  and
John R Southon
Douglas J Kennett*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403, USA.
Brendan J Culleton
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403, USA.
Barbara Voorhies
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA.
John R Southon
Affiliation:
Earth System Science Department, University of California-Irvine, Irvine, California 92612, USA.
*
Corresponding author. Email: [email protected].
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Abstract

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We establish a precision accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon chronology for the Archaic period Tlacuachero shellmound (Chiapas, Mexico) within a Bayesian statistical framework. Carbonized twig samples were sequentially selected from well-defined stratigraphic contexts based on iterative improvements to a probabilistic chronological model. Analytical error for these measurements is ±15 to 20 14C yr. This greater precision and the absence of stratigraphic reversals eclipses previous 14C work at the site. Based on this, we establish a chronological framework for a sequence of 3 clay floors dating to between 4930 and 4270 cal BP and determine that the bedded shell deposits that formed the mound accumulated rapidly during 2 episodes: a lower 2-m section below the floors that accumulated over a 0–150 cal yr period at 5050–4875 cal BP and, an upper 3.5-m section above the floors that accumulated over a 0–80 cal yr period at 4380–4230 cal BP.

Type
Archaeology
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 53 , Issue 2 , 2011 , pp. 245 - 259
Copyright
Copyright © The American Journal of Science 

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