ANTH 50.

5 - 2014
Environmental Archaeology
Chronology and Dating Methods Name


Part III: Carbon Isotopes in Archaeology

Profile of Saurq al-Hadid sediments with Loci labeled in white boxes. Hearths are located on the red line. Loci 7-9 are the deepest
sediments below the lowest dotted line marking a stratigraphic boundary. Loci 6 & 3 is the lowest dotted line itself, a horizon that is
dense with faunal remains. Locus 2 is a layer of clean Sand and Locus 4 is the uppermost layer of sediments and is an episode of
intense metalworking (and is not associated with a radiometric date).
Table of 14C dates with d13C/12C data
AA # Operation Locus Lot Material d13C F F error
14C age
BP
14c
error
AA84589 P1 3 7 charcoal -10.5 0.7024 0.0035 2,837 40
AA84590 P1 5 18 charcoal -10.5 0.7085 0.0035 2,768 39
AA84591 P1 5 19 charcoal -10.7 0.7047 0.0035 2,811 40
7 -9
6 & 3
5
4
2
ANTH 50.5 - 2014
Environmental Archaeology
Chronology and Dating Methods Name


AA85670 P1 5 30 charcoal -10.8 0.7066 0.0041 2,790 46
AA84593 P1 6 39 charcoal -23.0 0.6479 0.0033 3,487 41
AA84594 P1 8 42 charcoal -11.4 0.6492 0.0032 3,471 40
AA84595 P1 8 43 charcoal -13.8 0.6380 0.0045 3,610 57
AA84597 H3 Hearth charcoal -10.8 0.6278 0.0075 3,740 96
AA84598 H4 Hearth charcoal -11.1 0.5836 0.0041 4,326 56

Supplementary d13C/12C data.
Identifier 1 d 13C/12C Section Number Point Locus
1 -10.9981938 Section 1 1

4
2 -22.7313075 Section 1 2

4
3 -23.3636133 Section 1 3

4
4 -9.3947766 Section 1 4

4
5 -27.0313809 Section AA 1

4
6 -25.7844975 Section AB 1

4
7 -15.8192793 Section AC 1

5
8 -11.6610315 Section AC 2 1497 5
9 -10.9440243 Section AD 1

5
10 -10.3107336 Section AE 2

3
11 -10.4220273 Section AE 1

3
12 -11.4305649 Section AE 3 1496 7
13 -26.0701185 Section AF 1

7
14 -11.0385747 Section AG 1

9
15 -26.5389309 Section AG 2

9

OSL Dates
ANTH 50.5 - 2014
Environmental Archaeology
Chronology and Dating Methods Name


Laboratory number Locus OSL age OSL error
UIC2476 7 3400 545
UIC2480 9 3760 395
UIC2481 6 2870 490
UIC2477 2 2430 270

8. Use the d13C/12C ratios to determine what types of plants dominated the archaeological record for each locus. Write a
paragraph describing your interpretations. Use the results from your radiocarbon lab results to create a chronology of landscape
change. If we understand the environment to be drying over time, are there any surprising results?
Refer to the publication below to interpret what types of plants each value
Tykot, RH. 2004. Stable isotopes and diet: You are what you eat. Proceedings of the International School of Physics Enrico Fermi
Course CLIV, M. Martini, M. Milazzo and M. Piacentini (Eds.) IOS Press, Amsterdam
http://luna.cas.usf.edu/~rtykot/PR39%20-%20Enrico%20Fermi%20isotopes.pdf

If you want more information about Saruq al-Hadid, see the closing sections of the following publications:
2013 Herrmann, Jason T.
*Three-Dimensional Mapping of Archaeological and Sedimentary Deposits with Ground-Penetrating Radar at Saruq
al-Hadid, United Arab Emirates. Archaeological Prospection. 20(3):189203. DOI: 10.1002/arp.1456
2012 Herrmann, Jason T., Jesse Casana and Hussein Suleiman Qandil
*A Sequence of Inland Desert Settlement in the Oman Peninsula: 2008-2009 Excavations at Saruq al-Hadid, Dubai,
U.A.E. Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy. 23/1: 50-69. DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0471.2011.00349.x