Radiocarbon dates from jar and coffin burials of the Cardamom Mountains reveal a unique mortuary ritual in Cambodia's late- to post-Angkor period (15th-17th centuries AD)

We present the first radiocarbon dates from previously unrecorded, secondary burials in the Cardamom Mountains, Cambodia. The mortuary ritual incorporates nautical tradeware ceramic jars and log coffins fashioned from locally harvested trees as burial containers, which were set out on exposed rock ledges at 10 sites in the eastern Cardamom Massif. The suite of 28 14C ages from 4 of these sites (Khnorng Sroal, Phnom Pel, Damnak Samdech, and Khnang Tathan) provides the first estimation of the overall time depth of the practice. The most reliable calendar date ranges from the 4 sites reveals a high- land burial ritual unrelated to lowland Khmer culture that was practiced from cal AD 1395 to 1650. The time period is concurrent with the 15th century decline of Angkor as the capital of the Khmer kingdom and its demise about AD 1432, and the subsequent shift of power to new Mekong trade ports such as Phnom Penh, Udong, and Lovek. We discuss the Cardamom ritual relative to known funerary rituals of the pre to post-Angkorian periods, and to similar exposed jar and coffin burial rituals in Mainland and Island Southeast Asia

Environment and Archaeology in New Zealand

This thesis deals mainly with central New Zealand. The writer's archaeological excavations are described in Appendices. Lists are prepared giving all archaeological radiocarbon dates on wood, charcoal, moa bones, human bones and marine shells, for New Zealand up to 1974. The dates are sorted according to material, and the dates and their standard errors corrected. A stratigraphic system based on soils and Loisels pumice and tied to the corrected radio carbon dates is set up for central New Zealand. Radiocarbon and stratigraphy provide dates for vegetation changes' Moahunter sites, cultivation sites, and for the artifact assemblages that are independently grouped as either Early or Late. Change from Early to Late is explained by cultural breakdown and an initial movement of culture from south to north, The sequence of events postulated is summarised in a Table at the end of the text

Environment and Archaeology in New Zealand

This thesis deals mainly with central New Zealand. The writer's archaeological excavations are described in Appendices. Lists are prepared giving all archaeological radiocarbon dates on wood, charcoal, moa bones, human bones and marine shells, for New Zealand up to 1974. The dates are sorted according to material, and the dates and their standard errors corrected. A stratigraphic system based on soils and Loisels pumice and tied to the corrected radio carbon dates is set up for central New Zealand. Radiocarbon and stratigraphy provide dates for vegetation changes' Moahunter sites, cultivation sites, and for the artifact assemblages that are independently grouped as either Early or Late. Change from Early to Late is explained by cultural breakdown and an initial movement of culture from south to north, The sequence of events postulated is summarised in a Table at the end of the text.</p

Reliability of Bone Gelatin AMS Dating: Rattus Exulans

A suite of 6 bone gelatin accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dates for Rattus exulans Peale and associated beta decay 14C dates for Austrovenus stutchburyi shell are presented for 4 middens at Pauatahanui, Wellington, New Zealand. Mean calibrated age ranges of Rattus exulans (520-435 BP and 350-330 BP at 95% confidence level) and shell (465-375 BP at 95% confidence level) from the 4 midden sites overlap. The agreement between Rattus exulans bone gelatin dates and associated shell provides an inter-sample comparison of 14C dating using both gas counting (beta decay) and AMS dating techniques. We examine the adequacy of the standard gelatinization treatment for bone samples, which has been employed consistently at the laboratory since 1995.This material was digitized as part of a cooperative project between Radiocarbon and the University of Arizona Libraries.The Radiocarbon archives are made available by Radiocarbon and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact [email protected] for further information.Migrated from OJS platform February 202

Landscape archaeology—The value of context to archaeological interpretation: A case study from Waitore, New Zealand

International audienceLandscape archaeology is a relatively young subdiscipline that has grown in a multitude of directions, particularly in recent decades. It is strongly multidisciplinary and has borrowed tools from an array of fields, including the archaeological sciences, geology, geography, palaeoecology and geochronology; many landscape archaeologists have backgrounds beyond traditional archaeology sensu stricto. Landscape archaeology has become an important facet of most archaeological excavations and has shifted the focus of archaeological interpretation well beyond existing paradigms. In this paper, we report on a landscape reinterpretation of a single archaeological site in New Zealand. Waitore comprises an assemblage of artefacts, including wooden pieces (e.g., broken canoe fragments), oven stones, stone sinkers and fish bones but is not associated with an occupation site. The assemblage was originally studied in the 1970s—at a time when there was little understanding of tectonic processes in the region—and attributed to permanent ritual interment or temporary burial based largely on ethnographic analogies with contemporary Māori practices. By bringing together the physical and cultural components of landscape archaeology, we reinterpret these artefacts as being the scattered remnants of a reworked occupation site, possibly associated with a tsunami inundation dating to around the 15th century. We conclude that re-examination of past archaeological work is as relevant now as undertaking new research. We also insist upon the importance of multidisciplinary dialogue, particularly between the social and physical sciences, in helping to move beyond current paradigms

Reliability of Bone Gelatin AMS Dating: Rattus exulans and Marine Shell Radiocarbon Dates from Pauatahanui Midden Sites in Wellington, New Zealand

A suite of 6 bone gelatin accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dates for Rattus exulans Peale and associated beta decay 14C dates for Austrovenus stutchburyi shell are presented for 4 middens at Pauatahanui, Wellington, New Zealand. Mean calibrated age ranges of Rattus exulans (520-435 BP and 350-330 BP at 95% confidence level) and shell (465-375 BP at 95% confidence level) from the 4 midden sites overlap. The agreement between Rattus exulans bone gelatin dates and associated shell provides an inter-sample comparison of 14C dating using both gas counting (beta decay) and AMS dating techniques. We examine the adequacy of the standard gelatinization treatment for bone samples, which has been employed consistently at the laboratory since 1995.This material was digitized as part of a cooperative project between Radiocarbon and the University of Arizona Libraries.The Radiocarbon archives are made available by Radiocarbon and the University of Arizona Libraries. Contact [email protected] for further information.Migrated from OJS platform February 202

Tephras and New Zealand archaeology

Establishing an accurate date for earliest Polynesian settlement in New Zealand is essential for understanding patterns of settlement and associated environmental impacts, and the processes and rates of cultural change in Eastern Polynesia. Tephra deposits from five volcanic centres, together with exotic sea-rafted pumice, provide isochronous constraints on the timing of earliest settlement and human impacts in northern New Zealand. A local basaltic tephra from Rangitoto Island (Auckland) and locally distributed andesitic tephras from Egmont volcano directly date human occupation to c. AD 1400–1450. Distal andesitic tephras (Tufa Trig Formation) from Mt Ruapehu, Tongariro volcanic centre, help constrain the timing of earliest anthropogenic deforestation signals in Hawke's Bay. Sea-rafted Loisels Pumice(s), although of uncertain stratigraphic reliability in places, overlies cultural remains that can be no younger than c. AD 1350 along the east coast, North Island. The regionally extensive rhyolitic Kaharoa Tephra, which erupted from Okataina volcano between c. AD 1300–1390, is the critical “settlement layer” datum for dating prehistory in the North Island: no human artefacts are recorded beneath it and the earliest inferred environmental impacts by humans are dated to c. AD 1280, just prior to its deposition. This maximum date matches the earliest radiocarbon dates derived for both settlement and human impacts from archaeological and natural sites (c. AD 1250), and implies that the onset of deforestation was essentially contemporaneous with initial settlement. The widespread rhyolitic Taupo Tephra, which erupted from Taupo volcano c. AD 200, provides an isochronous benchmark well before earliest settlement. The tephra may coincide approximately with a putative earlier transient contact in New Zealand based on Pacific rat-bone (Rattus exulans) dates. More precise calendrical dates on the tephras—via dendrochronology or ice-core records or other dating methods—would help refine assessment of the timing of earliest settlement, while extending the distributional range of critical tephra layers, through application of crypto-tephra analysis, could lead to a greater understanding of settlement patterns

A synthesis and review of the geological evidence for palaeotsunamis along the coast of southeast Australia : the evidence, issues and potential ways forward

In recent years the role of extreme events such as tsunamis and storms in shaping coastal evolution and change has been increasingly appreciated. Around the world, tsunami geologists are increasingly recognising the signatures of palaeotsunamis almost everywhere they look and in many cases, base their interpretations on similar evidence for Quaternary tsunamis first identified in Australia. Geological research suggests that the coast of south east Australia and others worldwide may have been impacted by palaeotsunamis many times larger than the catastrophic 2004 Indian Ocean and 2011 Tōhoku events. In Australia, the debate centres on the hypothesis that the coast of south east Australia preserves evidence for repeated, large magnitude Quaternary tsunamis. If independently validated, this hypothesis has profound implications for risk. Despite the potential importance of this hypothesis, no synthesis or comprehensive review of the proposed geological evidence and chronology exists. As a result it is difficult to assess the evidence and to draw conclusions about the nature of the hazard and risk along the coast. This synthesis details the spatial distribution of reported palaeotsunami deposits along the coast of New South Wales, south east Australia and summarises the distribution of different types of sedimentary and erosional evidence. The age range of reported palaeotsunami deposits is identified and mapped before discussing ‘same age’ (chronologically correlated) deposits. These data are then used to draw broad conclusions about the evidence and identify future research questions to aid in the testing of the hypothesis for repeated tsunami inundation. We show that 60 sites are purported to contain evidence of tsunami inundation over 650 km of the south east Australian coast with a spatial concentration south of Sydney. Geomorphic evidence, distinctly different to that used elsewhere in global palaeotsunami studies, is reported at 54 sites, with erosional features described as the most frequent indication of inundation. Proposed tsunami deposits are evident at 44 sites, with the dominant deposit type being imbricated boulder stacks. Radiocarbon dating at 39 of the sites led to a proposition of nine events during the Quaternary, eight of which occurred during the Holocene. Interestingly, 18 sites have no chronological data associated with them. Alternative interpretations are offered at six type field sites purported to contain palaeotsunami evidence. Attention is drawn to the disjunct between historical and geological scales of tsunami inundation in the region in addition to the contrast between the scale of reported palaeotsunamis and the robust evidence of smaller events. A synthesis of research into the nature of the evidence is offered, including critiques of evidence type and mechanisms. A critical review of the chronological data is also presented, in addition to the recalibration and analysis of published radiocarbon data. The paper concludes with an outline of research questions for further work on proposed palaeotsunami sites in Australia as well as a statement about likely risk in south east Australia. It also advocates the need for caution when interpreting evidence for palaeotsunamis elsewhere around the world when those interpretations are based on signatures originally reported in south east Australia