Comparison of Preparative Chemistry Methods for the Radiocarbon Dating of Anzick Site, Montana

Summary

Found in 1968, the archaeological site of Anzick (24PA506), Montana, contains the only known Clovis burial. Here, the partial remains of a male infant (Anzick-1) were found in association with a Clovis assemblage of over 100 lithic and faunal bone artifacts—all red-stained with ochre. The incomplete, unstained cranium of a separate individual (Anzick-2), dating to ~8,600 radiocarbon years before present (BP), was also recovered. Previous chronometric work has shown an age difference between the Clovis assemblage (represented by two antler rod samples), dated to ~11,000 BP by XAD-purified collagen, and the Anzick-1 individual, dated to ~10,700 BP by XAD-purified collagen. The discrepancy between the age of the human remains and the osseous artifacts has led to much speculation. Here, we present the results of a comprehensive radiocarbon dating program that utilized different preparative chemistry methods on osseous material from the site, including a single-amino acid extraction protocol using preparative High Performance Liquid Chromatography (prep-HPLC) optimized at the University of Oxford. This comparative approach has allowed us to obtain robust chronometric data for a key site in First Americans research.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21406