Radiocarbon Dating of Land Snail Shell and the Chronology of MSA-Neolithic Human Activity in the Haua Fteah, Libya

Author(s): Chris Hunt; Evan Hill; Paula Reimer; Graeme Barker

Year: 2018

Summary

Land snails have a radiocarbon ecology which leads to offsets in shell radiocarbon age, relative to contemporary biogenic carbon. We describe new methods for evaluating and calculating this offset. We radiocarbon date and apply the new methods to land snail food debris, from the deep MSA to Neolithic sequence in the Haua Fteah cave, NE Libya. Oxcal modelling of the resulting 136 dates over ~45000 years shows the site was used for short episodes separated by long periods of abandonment. The archaeological record had suggested continuous activity. The record in this, and similar sites, needs reassessment in this light.

Cite this Record

Radiocarbon Dating of Land Snail Shell and the Chronology of MSA-Neolithic Human Activity in the Haua Fteah, Libya. Chris Hunt, Evan Hill, Paula Reimer, Graeme Barker. Presented at The 82nd Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Washington, DC. 2018 ( tDAR id: 443769)

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Spatial Coverage

min long: -17.227; min lat: 4.04 ; max long: 37.266; max lat: 37.37 ;

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21685