Geochemical Characterization of Anthropogenic Sediments through EA-IRMS from Slocan Narrows Pithouse Village

Summary

Elemental Analysis-Isotope Ratio Mass Spectroscopy (EA-IRMS) has been used to analyze the elemental compositions of materials from archaeological settings, but work done specifically on culturally modified sediments is limited. In this study, we explored EA-IRMS as a technique for characterizing anthropogenic sediments to establish spatial organizations of past living spaces as well as possible changes in environmental conditions over the past 2,700 years. Using EA-IRMS techniques, we examined δ13C and δ15N levels in floor sediments from the Slocan Narrows Pithouse Village in the interior Pacific Northwest of North America. Samples for this study include floor sediments systematically collected from Housepit 6 (n=118), samples associated with specific features in Housepit 9 (n=23), and control samples collected from local (but off-site) non-culturally modified sediments (n=11).

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage