A Critical Reevaluation of Radiocarbon Ages from the Berdoll Site (41TV2125), in Support of Refined Site Spatial and Contextual Analyses

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Bayesian Archaeology" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Berdoll site is a deeply buried early Archaic campsite in the floodplain of Onion Creek in Travis County, Texas. It presents direct evidence of plant food processing at approximately 7606–8291 BP (conventional). Seventeen charred botanical remains including onion bulbs from earth ovens were submitted to two different radiocarbon labs for analysis. Considered critically, six burned rock features utilized on a temporarily stable terrace landform were assigned a temporal span of approximately 367 years, 7736–8103 BP. Using modern Bayesian statistical techniques, recalibrations, and calendar conversions in OxCal 4.3 (IntCal13), these radiocarbon ages are reexamined for accuracy, and then utilized as another line of archaeological evidence to determine the sequence of, to separate out, and to narrow the age ranges of the occupations at the site. Updated calibrations and conversion to calendar ages suggests two primary periods of site use: ca. 6600–6800 and 7000–7150 BC. At least one “single-use” event is identified from 6600 to 6800 BC. These studies demonstrate how the use of Bayesian inference can narrow the range of site radiocarbon ages; assist in the vertical and horizontal spatial and contextual analyses of archaeological features, occupations, and components; and provide correlations to known events in history.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 86th Annual Meeting, Online (2021)   •
• Bayesian Archaeology

Keywords

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 32855