Dating resin coating on pottery: the Spirit Cave early ceramic dates revised. (Method).

Dating resin coating on pottery: the Spirit Cave early ceramic dates revised. (Method). During the summer of 1966, Chester Gorman, then a Ph.D student atthe University of Hawai'i carried out archaeological excavations atthe rock-shelter of Spirit Cave in the karst Karst(kärst), Ital. Carso, Slovenian Kras, limestone plateau, W Slovenia, N of Istria and extending c.50 mi (80 km) SE from the lower Isonzo (Soča) valley between the Bay of Trieste and the Julian Alps. uplands of Mae Hong SonProvince Mae Hong Son (Thai แม่ฮ่องสอน) (also Maehongson, Mae Hong Sorn or Maehongsorn) is one of the northern provinces (changwat) of Thailand, and at the same time the westernmost. , Northwest Thailand (Figure 1), and he revisited the site in1971 to extend the excavations. Throughout all levels of the culturaldeposits, lithic lith��ic?1?adj.Consisting of or relating to stone or rock.Adj. 1. lithic - of or containing lithium2. lithic - relating to or composed of stone; "lithic sandstone" , faunal and botanical materials were found. Themajority of the cultural remains recovered from the site were typicallyHoabinhian, characterised by "Sumatra-type cores, ochre-coveredgrinding stones, unifacially worked quartzite quartzite,usually metamorphic rock composed of firmly cemented quartz grains. Most often it is white, light gray, yellowish, or light brown, but is sometimes colored blue, green, purple, or black by included minerals. pebbles and utilisedflakes" (Gorman 1969:672), but objects recovered from the upperlevels included some new find types. Amongst these were a small numberof pottery fragments, perhaps representing no more than 20 vessels. Someof the sherds were burnished bur��nish?tr.v. bur��nished, bur��nish��ing, bur��nish��es1. To make smooth or glossy by or as if by rubbing; polish.2. To rub with a tool that serves especially to smooth or polish.n. , with plain surfaces, and a few weredecorated with incised lines but the majority had cord-marking or netimpressions on their exterior surfaces. Some sherds were furtherdescribed as having "been coated with an organic resinousmaterial" (Gorman 1972:96) after they had been fired. One of thesesherds can be seen in Figure 2, bearing patches of resin on bothinterior and exterior surfaces. Potsherds were only present in Layer 1and compacted into the surface of Layer 2. This abrupt variation inmaterial culture marks the boundary between the Hoabinhian deposits ofCultural Level I and a period of cultural contact, which Gorman termedCultural Level II. [FIGURES 1-2 OMITTED] A series of radiocarbon dates, primarily obtained frombamboo-charcoal samples, taken from within distinct stratigraphiclayers, indicated that the site dated to between 12 000 BP and 7500 BP,around a 5000 year time-span of continuous occupation and intermittentuse (Gorman 1972). Table 1 shows some of the published radiocarbon dates obtained forthe upper layers of the site (Gorman 1972, Ehrich 1992). Based on these,the potsherds were originally considered to date to around 7500 BP. Thissmall ceramic assemblage was therefore cited as amongst the earliestexamples of pottery in the world (Solheim 1972). Solheim (1972) furtherspeculated that the presence of pottery and the possibility that some ofthe plant remains may have come from deliberately cultivated plantsmight suggest a shift away from a purely hunter-gatherer economy,linking this with the early development of horticultural practices inSoutheast Asia, although Yen (1977) considered the evidence forcultivation to be tentative. However, reservations have since been expressed on the early datefor the Spirit Cave ceramics. Higham (1989: 60) noted that there mayhave been a long hiatus between occupation of Spirit Cave duringCultural Level I and the emergence of the pottery fragments markingCultural Level II. A single radiocarbon date, of 7622 [+ or -] 300 BP(FSU FSU Florida State UniversityFSU Former Soviet UnionFSU Ferris State UniversityFSU Fayetteville State University (North Carolina)FSU Frostburg State UniversityFSU Finance Sector Union 317), is associated with the bottom of the thin deposit formingLayer 1, the uppermost excavation layer. The three somewhat earlierdates, FSU 314, GaK 1846 and BM 501, are associated with the surface ofLayer 2 and may also be considered relevant to the defence for an earlydate for the pottery. However, it is largely on the date obtained fromthe sample taken from within Layer 1 that the possible debate hinges. That there was later use of the rockshelter is evident from thepresence of a number of log coffin burials within the Spirit Cavecomplex. It is plausible that the ceramics, being confined to the upperpart of the site, might have originated from disturbance of theseburials and their associated grave goods. If this were the case, thepottery could be of a later date than first thought. Supporting thistheory is the stylistic similarity noted between some of the Spirit Caveceramic fragments, particularly the cord-marked sherds, and potteryrecovered from other rock-shelter sites with log coffin burials in MaeHong Son Province (Shoocongdej, pers. com.). The log coffin burials arethought to be Iron Age or later in origin. Whilst the log coffins fromSpirit Cave have not themselves been dated, radiocarbon dates fromcomparable log coffins found at other cave-sites in Mae Hong SonProvince fall into a range between 2209 [+ or -] 97BP and 1323 [+ or -]85 BP (Hotchkis et al 1994). New work has clarified the Spirit Cave sequence, dating the potteryitself by targeting the resinous coating on a potsherd pot��sherd? also pot��shardn.A fragment of broken pottery, especially one found in an archaeological excavation.potsherdNouna broken piece of pottery [pot + schoord . Having firstdetermined that the visible residues on potsherds from Spirit Cave wereorganic, i.e. carbon-based, and having identified the deposits asresinous, small samples of the material were sent to the OxfordRadiocarbon Accelerator Unit for AMS AMS - Andrew Message System radiocarbon dating. Two sampleswere submitted which, coming from a single sherd, permitted therepeatability of dates using resin samples to be tested. One sample wascollected from an exterior resin coating on the sherd, the other from aninterior resin coating. The uncalibrated dates for the Spirit Cave resinsamples (see Table 2) were reported as 3042 [+ or -] 37 BP and 2995 [+or -] 40 BP. The samples were specifically chosen to try to resolveuncertainties concerning the early date originally suggested for thepottery, as part of a project which aims to characterise resins fromarchaeological contexts in Southeast Asia and establish their potentialfor radiocarbon dating purposes. The resin is considered an integralpart of the outer surface of the pot and is interpreted as a waterproofcoating. In this case it is likely that the resin would be applied topottery during its functional lifetime, and so should be comparable indate to the ceramic. The resin dates indicate that the ceramics may besignificantly younger than originally suggested by the charcoal dates(Gorman 1972, Ehrich 1992). If this is so, the new dates may no longerserve to support an especially early agricultural element to the SpiritCave site. However, as shown in Figure 3, the resin dates are older than wouldbe expected for artifacts from log coffins in the region, although thelog coffin chronology cannot yet be considered secure. There have beenrelatively few reliable dates for material from these sites and futurework may yet see the log coffin chronology extended. At present it doesnot appear that the potsherds were introduced to the site by disturbancefrom the burial of later log coffins. The presence of potsherds ofaround 3000 BP might suggest a continuation in the use, possiblyintermittent, of the rockshelter during the Late Neolithic-Bronze Age.It would appear that the pottery was deposited during a phase betweenthe period Gorman originally suggested for the occupation of the siteand that when the log coffins were most probably put in place. [FIGURE 3 OMITTED] Assessment One of the aims of this research is to assess the validity ofradiocarbon dates obtained from resin. The two AMS dates from SpiritCave (OxA-10271 and OxA-10272), which come from a single sherd, are ingood agreement with one another, which indicates that dates from resinsare repeatable. It would clearly be desirable to measure the date ofresin on other samples of pottery from Spirit Cave, but regrettably thisis not possible. Very little of the original ceramic assemblage can belocated and there is insufficient resin for even one further AMS date onany of the small number of potsherds available for examination. Giventhe limited numbers of potsherds bearing traces of a resin coating (onlyfour of the twenty two sherds available have obvious patches of resin)it has also proved impossible to show a clear correspondence between theresin from the surface sherd dated and resin coatings on sherds deeperin the stratigraphy stratigraphy,branch of geology specifically concerned with the arrangement of layered rocks (see stratification). Stratigraphy is based on the law of superposition, which states that in a normal sequence of rock layers the youngest is on top and the oldest on the . However, it would appear from analytical resultsthat the resin used on each of the coated sherds stemmed from the samesource. AMS dates obtained from resins on potsherds recovered fromexcavations at Noen U-Loke, an Iron Age site on the Khorat Plateau inNortheast Thailand offer some support for the reliability and validityof the method. So far, three reliable radiocarbon dates have beenobtained from resinous deposits of a similar type on potsherds from thesite (see Table 3). Once again, two of the samples, OxA-10268 and OxA-10269, come froma single sherd and show close correlation, confirming the repeatabilityof dates obtained from resin samples; and in this case the resin datestie in well with radiocarbon dates on charcoal samples from the samesite (Figure 4; Higham and Thosarat 1998a, 1998b). Further AMS dates onresin samples from this site are planned in the near future. [FIGURE 4 OMITTED] Given that natural plant resin is an unusual material to submit forradiocarbon dating, a few points are offered for discussion. Naturalresins can be obtained from a wide variety of plant sources. Beck et al.(1994) suggest that diterpenoid conifer resins from the Pinaceae familymay provide a reliable carbon source for dating. Dates from triterpenoidresinous material thought to be of birch origin, from the deciduous deciduous/de��cid��u��ous/ (de-sid��u-us) falling off or shed at maturity, as the teeth of the first dentition. de��cid��u��ousadj.1. Betulaceae family, from three early Mesolithic British sites would alsoappear to provide credible radiocarbon dates (Roberts et al. 1998). Itis likely that this is also the case for other resinous plant families.Additional substantiation for the validity of radiocarbon dates fromnatural plant resins can be found in a report by Beck et al. (1994) inwhich a black resinous substance of pine origin and a small piece ofwood embedded in this substance both gave late fourth century dates formaterial from a late-Roman shipwreck shipwreck,complete or partial destruction of a vessel as a result of collision, fire, grounding, storm, explosion, or other mishap. In the ancient world sea travel was hazardous, but in modern times the number of shipwrecks due to nonhostile causes has steadily . These dates were further confirmedby the presence of a Roman copper coin in the resinous mass. In the case of Spirit Cave and Noen U-Loke, analysis of thearchaeological resins from both sites using gas chromatography-massspectrometry (GC-MS) shows that both exhibit characteristics in commonwith a sample of modern `dammar', a triterpenoid resin produced bymembers of the Dipterocarpaceae family (Figure 5; for details of theanalytical methodology, see Lampert et al. 2002). [FIGURE 5 OMITTED] However, although the potential for using a range of archaeologicalresinous deposits for radiocarbon dating appears to be promising, forarchaeologists working in Southeast Asia at least, a further note ofcaution must be sounded. The practice of tapping trees for resin is wellestablished within the region but documentary evidence A type of written proof that is offered at a trial to establish the existence or nonexistence of a fact that is in dispute.Letters, contracts, deeds, licenses, certificates, tickets, or other writings are documentary evidence. exists for resincollected by digging in the soil at the foot of old trees or in areaswhere resinous trees are no longer found but were once common (Howes1949). This appears to have been a more common practice in the case ofresins such as Agathis, from the Araucariaceae family, which iswidespread in Insular Southeast Asia, but may also have taken place withDipterocarpaceae or `dammar' type resins on the mainland (Burkill1935). Since radiocarbon techniques date the cessation of exchange ofcarbon with the biosphere biosphere,irregularly shaped envelope of the earth's air, water, and land encompassing the heights and depths at which living things exist. The biosphere is a closed and self-regulating system (see ecology), sustained by grand-scale cycles of energy and of , the so-called `fossil' or`semi-fossil' resins collected in this manner may have been exudedfrom the tree many years before their use on ceramics, unlikefreshly-tapped contemporary resins. Radiocarbon results whereground-collected resin was used on pottery could considerably pre-datethe ceramics to which it was applied. It would be prudent to identifythe source of any resin samples considered for dating. If significantreservations are held as to the possible source of the resin,radiocarbon dates from resinous deposits on potsherds should be regardedonly as a terminus post quem Terminus post quem and the related terminus ante quem are terms used to give an approximate date for a text. Terminus post quem is used to indicate the earliest point in time when the text may have been written, while Terminus ante quem for the pottery to which it has beenapplied. For the dates obtained from resin samples from Noen U-Loke, thiswould not appear to be of concern as the resin dates are in good accordwith conventional dates from the site. However, in the case of the resindates obtained from Spirit Cave, there is no correspondence with theprevious site chronology and the dates do not correlate with theproposed chronology of log coffin sites in the area. It may be that`semi-fossil' resin was collected and used as a coating on ceramicsfound at the site. If this were so, the dates obtained from the resinwould pre-date the pottery and this could support the theory thatpotsherds were present in the upper layers of the site due todisturbance of the log coffin burials. Without further research toclarify the chronology of log coffins in Mae Hong Son Province, thispoint cannot be fully resolved. In summary, natural resins have potential for dating and may beconsidered a useful substance from which to obtain information on thechronology of individual artefacts and archaeological sites, as well asindicating the use of non-timber forest resources. The radiocarbon datesobtained from samples of resin adhering to the surfaces of potsherdsfrom Spirit Cave appear reliable and would suggest a possiblyintermittent continuation in the use of the rockshelter during the LateNeolithic-Bronze Age.Table 1. Conventional radiocarbon dates from Cultural Level II,Spirit Cave General Date [BP.sup.(5568 Date [BP.sup.(5730Laboratory Ref. Layer year half-life)] year half-life)]FSU 317 1 7400 [+ or -] 300 7622 [+ or -] 300FSU 314 * 2 7905 [+ or -] 390 8142 [+ or -] 390GaK 1846 * 2 8550 [+ or -] 200 8806 [+ or -] 200BM 501 * 2 7907 [+ or -] 198 8144 [+ or -] 198* samples from the surface of Layer 2Table 2. AMS radiocarbon dates from archaeological resins fromSpirit Cave. Dates reported as BP were calibrated using version3.5 of the `OxCal' computer program (Bronk Ramsey 1995) andatmospheric data from `INTCAL 98' (Stuiver et al. 1998). Forthe resin dates, isotopic fractionation was measured andcorrected for by the radiocarbon laboratory. Date (calibrated) Date (calibrated)Oxford Ref (uncalibrated) 62.8% prob. 95.4% prob.OxA-10271 3042 [+ or -] 37 1380BC (26.4%) 1410BC (90.9%) 1330BC 1210BC 1320BC (38.6%) 1200BC (1.7%) 1250BC 1190BC 1230BC (3.2%) 1180BC (1.1%) 1220BC 1160BC 1140BC (1.6%) 1130BCOxA-10272 2995 [+ or -] 40 1370BC (1.0%) 1390BC (94.2%) 1360BC 1110BC 1320BC (67.2%) 1100BC (1.2%) 1120BC 1080BCTable 3. AMS radiocarbon dates from archaeological resins fromNoen U-Loke. Date (calibrated) Date (calibrated)Oxford Ref (uncalibrated) 62.8% prob. 95.4% prob.OxA-10268 1900 [+ or -] 37 30AD (2.7%) 40A 20AD (95.4%) 230AD 50AD (65.5%) 140ADOXA-10269 1861 [+ or -] 35 80AD (8.3%) 110AD 70AD (95.4%) 250AD 120AD (59.9%) 220ADOxA-10270 2149 [+ or -] 35 350BC (17.4%) 310BC 20BC (95.4%) 230BC 230BC (3.5%) 220BC 210BC (47.2%) 110BC Acknowledgements The authors would like to express their gratitude to the followingpeople and organisations. The Natural Environment Research Council, UKfor the award of a research studentship and a supplementary award forradiocarbon analysis to support this work. The Research Laboratory forArchaeology and the History of Art The Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art is a laboratory at the University of Oxford which develops and applies scientific methods to the study of the past.As of 2005, the Laboratory is directed by Prof. Mark Pollard. , Oxford, UK for undertaking AMSdating of resinous samples. The Royal Botanic Gardens Royal Botanic Gardens may refer to: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh, Scotland Royal Botanic Gardens, Cranbourne, Victoria, Australia Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia , Kew, UK formodern reference samples. Dr Joyce White, MASCA MASCA Museum Applied Science Center for Archaeology (University of Pennsylvania Museum)MASCA Miniature Australian Shepherd Club of America (Winter Park, FL)MASCA Middle Atlantic States Correctional Association , University ofPennsylvania (body, education) University of Pennsylvania - The home of ENIAC and Machiavelli.http://upenn.edu/.Address: Philadelphia, PA, USA. , U.S.A. and Prof. Charles Higham, University of Otago The University of Otago (Māori: Te Whare Wānanga o Otāgo) in Dunedin is New Zealand's oldest university with over 20,000 students enrolled during 2006. , NewZealand New Zealand(zē`lənd), island country (2005 est. pop. 4,035,000), 104,454 sq mi (270,534 sq km), in the S Pacific Ocean, over 1,000 mi (1,600 km) SE of Australia. The capital is Wellington; the largest city and leading port is Auckland. . References BECK, C.W., D.R. STEWART & E.C. STOUT. 1994. Analysis of NavalStores from the Late-Roman Ship, in A.M. McCann and J. 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The Evidence and theQuestions from Northwest THAILAND, in J. ALLEN, J. GOLSON, AND R. JONES(eds.), Sunda and Sahul: Prehistoric Studies in Southeast Asia,Melanesia and Australia, 567-599, London: Academic Press Inc. C.D. Lampert (1), I.C. Glover (2), R.E.M. Hedges (3), C.P. Heron(1), T.F.G. Higham (3), B. Stern (1), R. Shoocongdej (4) and G.B.Thompson (1) (1) Department of Archaeological Sciences, University of Bradford The University of Bradford is a university in Bradford, West Yorkshire in the United Kingdom. HistoryThe university has its origins in the Bradford Schools of Weaving, Design and Building which in 1882 became the Bradford Technical College. ,UK (2) Institute of Archaeolog3 University College London “UCL” redirects here. For other uses, see UCL (disambiguation).University College London, commonly known as UCL, is the oldest multi-faculty constituent college of the University of London, one of the two original founding colleges, and the first British , UK (3) 0xford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, Oxford University, UK (4) Department of Archaeology, Silpakorn University, Bangkok,Thailand Received 29 January 2002; Revised 20 December 2002.