Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-nr4z6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-17T16:21:49.325Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Radiocarbon Dating as a Probabilistic Technique: The Childers Site and Late Woodland Occupation in the Ohio Valley

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Michael J. Shott
Michael J. Shott*
Affiliation:
Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA 50614-0513
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Like any scientific technique, radiocarbon dating has limitations, and its results cannot be interpreted uncritically. The archaeological record of Childers, a Late Woodland site in eastern North America, and inferences concerning its occupational history are evaluated here against radiocarbon dates from the site. The record suggests a single, relatively brief, occupation, but radiocarbon-dating results suggest either a much longer continuous occupation or a long series of shorter ones. The apparent conflict between the archaeological record and radiocarbon results is resolved by considering context and integrity of radiocarbon samples, as well as the probabilistic character of the radiocarbon method itself. Considerable dispersion in dating results can occur even in relatively brief occupations, casting doubt on the uncritical interpretation of raw radiocarbon results. Childers's occupational history and chronological placement have important implications for regional culture process during the early Late Woodland interval, and suggest a time lag in the acceptance of cultural innovations.

Resumen

Resumen

Como todas las técnicas científtcas, la datación radiocarbónica posee limitaciones y sus resultados no pueden ser interpretados en forma acrítica. Los datos arqueológicos de Childers, un sitio Woodland Tardío ubicado en el este de Norteamérica, así como inferencias referentes a su historia ocupacional son aquí evaluados en relación a la datación radiocarbónica del sitio. El registro sugiere una sola ocupación relativamente breve, mientras que los resultados del radiocarbono indican una ocupación continua mucho más prolongada, o una larga serie de ocupaciones breves. El aparente conflicto entre el registro arqueológico y los resultados del radiocarbono se resuelve al considerar el contexto y la integridad de las muestras radiocarbonicas, asi como el carácter probabilistico del método del radiocarbono. Una considerable dispersión de los resultados del fechado puede ocurrir inclusive en ocupaciones relativamente breves, arrojando dudas sobre la interpretación acrítica de los resultados radiocarbónicos. La historia ocupacional y ubicación cronológica de Childers poseen importantes implicaciones para el proceso cultural regional durante la primera parte del Woodland Tardío, sugiriendo una tardanza en la recepción de innovaciones culturales.

Type
Articles
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 57 , Issue 2 , April 1992 , pp. 202 - 230
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1992

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References Cited

Ahler, S. R. 1988 Excavations at the Hansen Site in Northeastern Kentucky. Archaeological Report No. 173. Program for Cultural Resource Assessment, University of Kentucky, Lexington.Google Scholar
Aitken, M. J. 1990 Science-Based Dating in Archaeology. Longman, London.Google Scholar
Asch, D. L., and Brown, J. A. 1990 Stratigraphy and Site Chronology. In The Oak Forest Site : Investigations into Oneota Subsistence-Settlement in the Cal-Sag Area of Cook County, Illinois, edited by Brown, J., pp. 174-185. In At the Edge of Prehistory : Huber Phase Archaeology in the Chicago Area, edited by Brown, J. and Brien, P. O., Center for American Archeology, Kampsville, Illinois.Google Scholar
Bareis, C. J., and Porter, J. W. 1984 American Bottom Archaeology : A Summary of the FAI-270 Contribution to the Culture History of the Mississippi River Valley. University of Illinois Press, Urbana.Google Scholar
Berry, M. S. 1982 Time, Space and Transition in Anasazi Prehistory. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Blalock, H. M. 1979 Social Statistics. 2nd rev. ed. McGraw-Hill, New York.Google Scholar
Box, G. E. P., and Muller, M. E. 1958 A Note on the Generation of Random Normal Deviates. Annals of Mathematical Statistics 29 : 610–611.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bradley, J. W. 1987 Evolution of the Onondaga Iroquois : Accomodating Change, 1500-1655. Syracuse University Press, Syracuse.Google Scholar
Braun, D. P. 1985 Absolute Seriation : A Time-Series Approach. In For Concordance in Archaeological Analysis : Bridging Data Structure, Quantitative Techniques, and Theory, edited by Carr, C., pp. 509–539. Westport, Kansas City.Google Scholar
Braun, D. P. 1987 Coevolution of Sedentism, Pottery Technology, and Horticulture in the Central Midwest, 200 B. C. -A. D. 600. In Emergent Horticultural Economies of the Eastern Woodlands, edited by Keegan, W., pp. 153— 181. Occasional Paper No. 7. Center for Archaeological Investigations, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.Google Scholar
Braun, D. P. 1988 The Social and Technological Roots of “Late Woodland. ” In Interpretations of Culture Change in the Eastern Woodlands During the Late Woodland Period, edited by Yerkes, R. W. pp. 17–38. Occasional Paper in Anthropology No. 3. Ohio State University, Columbus.Google Scholar
Browman, D. L. 1981 Isotopic Discrimination and Correction Factors in Radiocarbon Dating. Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, vol. 4, edited by Schiffer, M. B., pp. 241–295. Academic Press, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brownlee, K. A. 1965 Statistical Theory and Methodology in Science and Engineering. Wiley and Sons, New York.Google Scholar
Campbell, J. A., Baxter, M. S., and Alcock, L. 1979 Radiocarbon Dating for the Cadbury Massacre. Antiquity 53 : 31–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, R. M. 1975 A Calibration Curve for Radiocarbon Dates. Antiquity 49 : 251–266.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dancey, W. S. 1988 The Community Plan of an Early Late Woodland Village in the Middle Scioto River Valley. Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology 13 : 223–258.Google Scholar
Dean, J. S. 1978 Independent Dating in Archaeological Analysis. Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, vol. 1, edited by Schiffer, M. B., pp. 223–255. Academic Press, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dean, J. S. 1985 Review of “Time, Space and Transition in Anasazi Prehistory, ” by M. S. Berry. American Antiquity 50 : 704–705.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dean, J. S. 1991 Thoughts on Hohokam Chronology. In Exploring the Hohokam : Prehistoric Desert Peoples of the American Southwest, edited by Gumerman, G., pp. 61–149. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Gillespie, R. 1986 Radiocarbon User's Handbook. Oxbow Books, Oxford.Google Scholar
Griffin, J. B. 1983 The Midlands. In Ancient North Americans, edited by Jennings, J., pp. 243–301. W. H. Freeman, San Francisco.Google Scholar
Griffin, J. B. 1984 Observations on the FAI-270 Project. In American Bottom Archaeology : A Summary of the FAI-270 Contribution to the Culture History of the Mississippi River Valley, edited by Bareis, C. and Porter, J., pp. 253–261. University of Illinois Press, Urbana.Google Scholar
Hassan, F. A. 1989 The Restoration of Time : Radiocarbon Dating 1965-85/6. The Review of Archaeology 10 : 54–58.Google Scholar
Hassan, F. A., and Robinson, S. W. 1987 High-Precision Radiocarbon Chronometry of Ancient Egypt, and Comparisons with Nubia, Palestine and Mesopotamia. Antiquity 61 : 119–135.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Heidenreich, C. E. 1971 Huronia : A History and Geography of the Huron Indians 1600-1650. McClelland and Stewart, Toronto.Google Scholar
Helskog, K., and Schweder, T. 1989 Estimating the Number of Contemporaneous Houses from 14C Dates. Antiquity 63 : 166–172.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henderson, A. G. 1986 Type Descriptions for Armstrong and Lick Creek Ceramics. West Virginia Archaeologist 38 : 40–47.Google Scholar
Henderson, A. G., Jobe, C. E., and Turnbow, C. 1986 Indian Occupation and Use in Northern and Eastern Kentucky During the Contact Period (1540-1795) : An Initial Investigation. University of Kentucky, Lexington.Google Scholar
International Study Group (ISG) 1982 An Inter-Laboratory Comparison of Radiocarbon Measurements in Tree Rings. Nature 298 : 619–623.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jefferies, R. W., and Shott, M. J. 1989 Late Woodland Economy and Settlement in the Upper Ohio Valley : Recent Results from the Childers Woods Project. Paper presented at the 54th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Atlanta.Google Scholar
Kelly, J. E., Finney, F. A., McElrath, D. L., and Ozuk, S. J. 1984 Late Woodland Period. In American Bottom Archaeology : A Summary of the FAI-270 Contribution to the Culture History of the Mississippi River Valley, edited by Bareis, C. and Porter, J., pp. 104–127. University of Illinois Press, Urbana.Google Scholar
Kinietz, W. V. 1965 The Indians of the Western Great Lakes, 1615-1760. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Levine, M. A. 1990 Accommodating Age : Radiocarbon Results and Fluted Point Sites in Northeastern North America. Archaeology of Eastern North America 18 : 33–63.Google Scholar
Lewis, R. B. 1985 Radiocarbon Dating and Lower Mississippi Valley Archaeology. North American Archaeologist 6 : 213–225.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Long, A., and Rippeteau, B. 1974 Testing Contemporaneity and Averaging Radiocarbon Dates. American Antiquity 39 : 205–215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marwitt, J., Sauser, K., and Sterling, R. 1986 1980 Excavations at the Childers Site (46MS121), Mason County, West Virginia. West Virginia Archaeologist 38 : 1–23.Google Scholar
Maslowski, R., and Dawson, D. 1980 Childers : A Terminal Late Woodland Village. West Virginia Archaeologist 29 : 4–32.Google Scholar
McConaughy, M. A. 1987 The Rench Site : A Multicomponent Site in the Central Illinois River Valley. Ms. on file, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls.Google Scholar
Neitzel, J. 1991 Hohokam Material Culture and Behavior : The Dimensions of Organizational Change. In Exploring the Hohokam : Prehistoric Desert Peoples of the American Southwest, edited by Gumerman, G., pp. 177— 230. University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Oetelaar, G. A. 1990 Vertebrate Remains from the Childers Site. In Childers and Woods : Two Late Woodland Sites in the Upper Ohio Valley, Mason County, West Virginia, edited by Shott, M., pp. 617–690. Archaeological Report No. 200. Program for Cultural Resource Assessment, University of Kentucky, Lexington.Google Scholar
O' Malley, N. 1990 Ceramics from the Childers and Woods Sites. In Childers and Woods : Two Late Woodland Sites in the Upper Ohio Valley, Mason County, West Virginia, edited by Shott, M., pp. 691–815. Archaeological Report No. 200. Program for Cultural Resource Assessment, University of Kentucky, Lexington.Google Scholar
Ottaway, B. S. 1987 Radiocarbon : Where We Are and Where We Need to Be. Antiquity 61 : 135–137.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Otte, M., and Keeley, L. H. 1990 The Impact of Regionalism on Palaeolithic Studies. Current Anthropology 31 : 577–582.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Panshin, A. J., and Zeeuw, C. de 1970 Textbook of Wood Technology, Volume 1 : Structure, Identification, Uses and Properties of the Commercial Woods of the United States and Canada. 3rd ed. McGraw-Hill, New York.Google Scholar
Plog, F. 1980 Explaining Culture Change in the Hohokam Preclassic. In Current Issues in Hohokam Prehistory, edited by Doyel, D. and Plog, F., pp. 4–23. Research Papers No. 2. Arizona State University, Tempe.Google Scholar
Plog, F. 1985 Southwestern Prehistory : Developing Non-gradualist Perspectives. Reviews in Anthropology 12 : 24–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Plog, S., and Hantman, J. L. 1990 Chronology Construction and the Study of Prehistoric Culture Change. Journal of Field Archaeology 17 : 439–456.Google Scholar
Powell, M. L., and Shott, M. 1990 Human Remains. In Childers and Woods : Two Late Woodland Sites in the Upper Ohio Valley, Mason County, West Virginia, edited by Shott, M., pp. 817–824. Archaeological Report No. 200. Program for Cultural Resource Assessment, University of Kentucky, Lexington.Google Scholar
Railey, J. A. 1987 Woodland Stage Overview. Ms. on file, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls.Google Scholar
Railey, J. A., and Henderson, A. G. 1986 Middle and Late Woodland Occupations at Green Sulphur Springs. West Virginia Archaeologist 38 : 22–39.Google Scholar
Renfrew, C. 1973 Before Civilization : The Radiocarbon Revolution and Prehistoric Europe. Knopf, New York.Google Scholar
Riggs, R. 1986 New Stratigraphic Sequences from the Lower Little Miami Valley. West Virginia Archaeologist 38 : 1–21.Google Scholar
Reidhead, V. A., and Limp, W. F. 1974 The Haag Site (12D19) : A Preliminary Report. Indiana Historical Society Archaeology Bulletin 1 : 4–18.Google Scholar
Robinson, S. W. 1989 Further Improvements in Probabilistic Radiocarbon Dating. Ms. on file, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls.Google Scholar
Rouse, I. 1986 Migrations in Prehistory : Inferring Population Movement from Cultural Remains. Yale University, New Haven.Google Scholar
Schiffer, M. B. 1976 Behavioral Archeology. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Schiffer, M. B. 1986 Radiocarbon Dates and the “Old Wood” Problem : The Case of the Hohokam Chronology. Journal of Archaeological Science 13 : 13–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schiffer, M. B. 1987 Formation Processes of the Archaeological Record. University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Schrire, C. 1984 Past and Present in Hunter-Gatherer Studies. Academic Press, Orlando.Google Scholar
Scott, E., Baxter, M., Harkness, D., Aitchison, T., and Cook, G. 1990 Radiocarbon : Present and Future Perspectives on Quality Assurance. Antiquity 64 : 319–322.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seeman, M. F. 1980 A Taxonomic Review of Southern Ohio Late Woodland. Paper presented at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the Midwest Archaeological Conference, Evanston, Illinois.Google Scholar
Shott, M. J. 1990a Childers and Woods : Two Late Woodland Sites in the Upper Ohio Valley, Mason County, West Virginia. Archaeological Report No. 200. Program for Cultural Resource Assessment, University of Kentucky, Lexington.Google Scholar
Shott, M. J. 1990b Chipped Stone Tools. In Childers and Woods : Two Late Woodland Sites in the Upper Ohio Valley, Mason County, West Virginia, edited by Shott, M., pp. 327–459. Archaeological Report No. 200. Program for Cultural Resource Assessment, University of Kentucky, Lexington.Google Scholar
Shott, M. J. 1990c Late Woodland Chronology in the Upper Ohio Valley. West Virginia Archaeologist 42 : 27–40.Google Scholar
Shott, M. J., and Jefferies, R. W. 1992 Late Woodland Economy and Settlement in the Upper Ohio Valley : The Perspective from Childers and Woods. In Cultural Variability in Context : Prehistoric Settlement Adjustments in the Mid-Ohio River Valley During the Woodland Period, edited by Seeman, M.. Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, in press.Google Scholar
Smith, B. D. 1986 The Archaeology of the Southeastern United States : From Dalton to de Soto, 10, 500-500 B. P. Advances in World Archaeology 5 : 1–97.Google Scholar
Spaulding, A. C. 1958 The Significance of Differences in Carbon-14 Dates. American Antiquity 23 : 309–311.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stoltman, J. B. 1978 Temporal Models in Prehistory : An Example from Eastern North America. Current Anthropology 19 : 703–746.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stoltman, J. B. 1989 The FAI-270 Project : Rewriting the Prehistory of the American Bottom. The Review of Archaeology 10 : 148–158.Google Scholar
Stuiver, M. 1982 A High-Precision Calibration of the A. D. Radiocarbon Time Scale. Radiocarbon 24 : 1–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stuiver, M., and Becker, B. 1986 High-Precision Decadal Calibration of the Radiocarbon Time Scale, A. D. 1950-2500 B. C. Radiocarbon 28 : 863–910.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stuiver, M., and Pearson, G. W. 1986 High-Precision Calibration of the Radiocarbon Time Scale, A. D. 1950-500 B. C. Radiocarbon 28 : 805–838.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stuiver, M., and Reimer, P. J. 1986 A Computer Program for Radiocarbon Age Calibration. Radiocarbon 28 : 1022–1030.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swanton, J. R. 1946 The Indians of the Southeastern United States. Bulletin No. 137. Bureau of American Ethnology. Washington, D. C. Google Scholar
Taylor, R. E. 1987 Radiocarbon Dating : An Archaeological Perspective. Academic Press, Orlando.Google Scholar
Thomas, D. H. 1976 Figuring Anthropology : First Principles of Probability and Statistics. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, New York.Google Scholar
Trigger, B. 1989 Archaeology and Anthropology : Current and Future Relations. Canadian Journal of Archaeology 13 : 1–11.Google Scholar
Tuck, J. A. 1971 Onondaga Iroquois Prehistory : A Study in Settlement Archaeology. Syracuse University Press, Syracuse.Google Scholar
Ward, G. K., and Wilson, S. R. 1978 Procedures for Comparing and Combining Radiocarbon Age Determinations : A Critique. Archaeometry 20 : 19–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Warrick, G. A. 1988 Estimating Ontario Iroquoian Village Duration. Man in the Northeast 36 : 21–60.Google Scholar
Waterbolk, H. T. 1971 Working with Radiocarbon Dates. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 37 : 15–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Waterbolk, H. T. 1983 The Integration of Radiocarbon Dating in Archaeology. Radiocarbon 25 : 639–644.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, E. 1989 Dating the Introduction of Food Production into Britain and Ireland. Antiquity 63 : 510–521.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilmsen, E. N. 1989 Land Filled with Flies : A Political Economy of the Kalahari. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Wymer, D. A. 1990 Archaeobotanical Remains. In Childers and Woods : Two Late Woodland Sites in the Upper Ohio Valley, Mason County, West Virginia, edited by Shott, M., pp. 487–616. Archaeological Report No. 200. Program for Cultural Resource Assessment, University of Kentucky, Lexington.Google Scholar