Bayesian estimates of marine radiocarbon reservoir effect in northern Iberia during the Early and Middle Holocene

Authors

GARCIA-ESCARZAGA Asier GUTIERREZ-ZUGASTI Igor CUENCA-SOLANA David GONZALEZ-MORALES Manuel R. HAMANN Christian ROBERTS Patrick NEVES FERNANDES Luis Ricardo

Year of publication 2022
Type Article in Periodical
Magazine / Source QUATERNARY GEOCHRONOLOGY
MU Faculty or unit

Faculty of Arts

Citation
Web Full text
Doi http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.quageo.2021.101232
Keywords Mesolithic; Shell middens; Cantabrian region; Marine radiocarbon reservoir effect; Bayesian modelling; Marine environments; 8; 2 ka event
Description Reconstructing the past variability of marine radiocarbon reservoir effects (MRE) is crucial for generating reliable chronologies for marine species and their consumers. We investigated the temporal MRE variability at the Early-to Mid-Holocene site of El Mazo (Asturias, northern Spain) by using a combination of new and previously published radiocarbon measurements on marine and terrestrial samples. The El Mazo site is characterized by overall well-defined archaeological layers of unknown occupation length with the predominant presence of two mollusc species (Patella vulgata Linnaeus, 1758 and topshell Phorcus lineatus [da Costa, 1778]) which were analysed for radiocarbon measurements. We employed the recently released IntCal20 calibration curve for the northern hemisphere and Bayesian modelling to reconstruct the site's chronology and temporal variability in MREs according to mollusc species. Obtained radiocarbon modelling results, although the estimate precision is not high, reveal a temporal variability in MREs that can be interpreted in view of known past climatic and environmental events such as the 8.2 ka event. The results also revealed differences in MREs according to mollusc species, which need to be taken into account in future chronological modelling. Overall, our results provide reference MRE values for the study of chronologies in northern Iberia during the Early-to Mid-Holocene. In this respect, a non-conservative Delta R reference for local marine samples dating earlier than c. 8.1 ka cal BP is -238 +/- 28 14C years.

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