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Oxygen Isotope Analysis and Seasonality Determinations: Limits and Potential of a New Technique

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Geoffrey N. Bailey ,
Margaret R. Deith  and
Nicholas J. Shackleton
Geoffrey N. Bailey
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3DZ, U.K.
Margaret R. Deith
Affiliation:
Department of Archaeology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, CB2 3DZ, U.K.
Nicholas J. Shackleton
Affiliation:
The Godwin Laboratory, Sub-department of Quaternary Research, University of Cambridge, CambridgeCB2 3B.S, U.K.
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Abstract

This paper presents a critical assessment of Killingley's approach to the determination of month of collection of marine molluscs by prehistoric people. The basis of the method is careful oxygen isotope measurements made in successive growth increments in the shells. We have analyzed specimens of Monodonta and Patella collected live on the coast of northern Spain, in conjunction with seasonality studies on molluscs from prehistoric sites in the neighborhood. These studies confirm the necessity of making careful analyses of each species under consideration. Given the significance both of interspecies differences and of climatic variability on timescales from a year upwards (particularly important in Killingley's area), we conclude that his apparent accuracy of ± a month is illusory.

Type
Comments
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 48 , Issue 2 , April 1983 , pp. 390 - 398
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1983

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References

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