Search

We present new data on regional correction factor (ΔR) conducted for Chukotka, the Commander Islands, and the western Aleutian Islands and summarize data previously published for the other parts of the region. Paired radiocarbon dates of coeval marine and terrestrial materials from the archaeological site Kaniskak were obtained in Chukotka, and one such pair was analyzed from Shemya Island (western Aleutians). Three samples of sea otter (Enhydra lutris) bones of known collection date were used for the Commander Islands. In conjunction with previously published data, the new results showed that ΔR estimates conducted for the five regions of the northern Pacific do not differ statistically. ΔR assessments combined for archaeological sites resulted in probability density curves of the same shape as that of marine organisms. Comparison of ΔR estimates made with various species of marine animals showed that sea otters and small fishes residing within coastal waters throughout their life histories are better suited for ΔR measurements than migrating seals, on the one hand, and the shells of sedentary organisms, on the other. The study provides additional support to the hypothesis that the northern Pacific is characterized by the same reservoir offset, which we estimate as 525 ± 75 yr. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present an overview of the beginning and early years of radiocarbon dating in Russia. Achievements of several major scholars in this field from Leningrad (St. Petersburg), Moscow and Novosibirsk are briefly described. The existing and closed Russian laboratories are also mentioned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We obtained radiocarbon (14C) dates with accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) of vascular plant samples and a charcoal sample collected from peat deposits near the prehistoric village site informally designated CR-03 on Carlisle Island in the Islands of Four Mountains group, Alaska, to determine the eruption age of the CR-02 tephra. A fine vitric ash erupted from Okmok caldera, Umnak Island (ca. 2 ka BP) was also discovered in the bog. The ages of the CR-02 tephra and Okmok II ash are estimated to be 1050 and 2000 cal BP, respectively. Because both tephras are distinctive and widespread, these are important chronostratigraphic markers for archaeological sites in this island group. The 14C dates obtained from this bog are 800 years younger than the dates of the charcoal fragments from cultural layers in the Unit 3 of prehistoric village site CR-02 (AMK-0003). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 1800 km-long Aleutian archipelago represents a model ecosystem to track human–environmental interactions across space and through time. Defining the southern margin of Beringia across which much of the early peopling of the Americas occurred, the Aleutians present a 9000 year record of human occupation in the eastern part of the island chain, and more than 3000 years in the west. Molecular evidence demonstrates: (1) that Aleuts shared common ancestry with Chukchi and Siberian Eskimos of Chukotka; (2) the original patterns of migration into the Aleutian islands were from the Alaskan peninsula in a westward direction with no evidence for island-hopping from Kamchatka; and (3) a highly significant statistical relationship between geography and genetics, based on mtDNA sequences, was observed despite previous population disruption. Historically, the Aleutian region is a rich ecotone, with ocean fisheries, abundant populations of large marine mammals, thick kelp forests, complex near-shore ecosystems and intertidal zones, spawning streams, and a highly diverse avian fauna. Each of these environments and resources has been pivotal in shaping the adaptive strategies of human occupants of the island chain since the initial colonisation of the Aleutians from the Alaskan Peninsula. In turn, Holocene human immigration, prehistoric cultural adaptations and subsequent historic events have had reciprocal impacts on the natural systems of the Aleutians. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]