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J Archaeol Sci 30 (1)
Title
The title of the publication or report
Title:
J Archaeol Sci 30 (1)
Series
The series the publication or report is included in
Series:
Journal of Archaeological Science
Volume
Volume number and part
Volume:
30 (1)
Publication Type
The type of publication - report, monograph, journal article or chapter from a book
Publication Type:
Journal
Editor
The editor of the publication or report
Editor:
Karl W Butzer
John P Grattan
Julian Henderson
Richard G Klein
Publisher
The publisher of the publication or report
Publisher:
Academic Press
Year of Publication
The year the book, article or report was published
Year of Publication:
2003
Source
Where the record has come from or which dataset it was orginally included in.
Source:
BIAB (The British & Irish Archaeological Bibliography (BIAB))
Created Date
The date the record of the pubication was first entered
Created Date:
07 Aug 2003
Please click on an Article link to go to the Article Details.
Article Title
Access Type
Author / Editor
Page
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Abstract
The Experimental Earthwork at Wareham, Dorset after 33 years; changes to the buried LFH and Ah horizons
Richard I Macphail
John Crowther
Tim G Acott
Martin G Bell
Gill M Cruise
77 - 93
Reports upon the effects of thirty-three years of burial upon the micromorphology, chemistry and magnetic susceptibility of the topsoil of a lowland podzol, buried beneath the bank of the Experimental Earthwork built at Wareham, Dorset, UK, in 1963. The turf-cored sand bank and associated ditch were constructed to replicate features of archaeological monuments found on acid heathland podzols. As local soils were not fully recorded in 1963, unburied control profiles as well as turf- and sand-buried soils of the 1996 excavated section were studied. The most marked changes affected the bLFH horizon, which was reduced from a likely maximum thickness of 70mm to 1--4mm, a transformation already strongly established after only seventeen years (1980). Compression, meso-faunal mixing and incipient `ferruginization' accompanied decomposition and the transformation of an open, plant tissue-rich excremental fabric to a dominant amorphous form. The bAh was less obviously affected. While the extent of organic decomposition in the buried soil cannot be established with certainty from organic C data, continuing decomposition is indicated by a lowering of the C/N ratio, an increase in the pyrophosphate ext. C:organic C ratio, an increase in alkali soluble humus, and reductions in organic matter recorded in image analysis of thin sections, especially in the sand-buried soil. Major differences between the two burial environments (sand and turf) may result from the buried turf having a greater water holding capacity compared to the sands, the moister environment more strongly inhibiting decomposition and activity by mesofauna compared to the sand-buried soil.
AMS radiocarbon dating of rusty iron
Andrea C Cook
Nikolaas J Merwe, van de
Jeffrey Wadsworth
John R Southon
95 - 101
The role of rust in the radiocarbon dating of iron artefacts has been examined experimentally. This was accomplished by re-measuring, using modern accelerator mass spectrometry techniques, the radiocarbon dates of ancient iron-based artefacts that were originally radiocarbon dated thirty years ago by beta counting. The samples were dated with the rust that had accumulated over the last thirty years, which in some cases had consumed most of the original metal. The study also afforded the opportunity to compare beta counting with accelerator mass spectrometry, large and small sample sizes, and old versus new carbon extraction methods. The results demonstrate that in at least some circumstances the carbon in rust can be reliably used for radiocarbon dating. Some experimental observations on iron microstructure and oxidation processes which support these results, are reviewed. The issues of sample size and the role of rust are important because they open up new possibilities for dating iron-based artefacts that had previously been assumed to be unavailable.