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A 350 14C yr discrepancy between bone and tooth dates from the same grave at the Early Neolithic cemetery of Shamanka II, Lake Baikal, southern Siberia: reservoir effects or a misplaced mandible?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2025

Rick J Schulting*
Affiliation:
University of Oxford, School of Archaeology, Oxford, UK
Ian Scharlotta
Affiliation:
Texas State University, Center for Archaeological Studies, San Marcos, TX, USA
Angela Lieverse
Affiliation:
University of Saskatchewan, Department of Anthropology, Saskatoon, SK, Canada
Erin Jessup
Affiliation:
University of Alberta, Department of Anthropology, Edmonton, AB, Canada
Christopher Bronk Ramsey
Affiliation:
University of Oxford, Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, Oxford, OX1 3QY, UK
Vladimir I Bazaliiskii
Affiliation:
Irkutsk State University, Research Center “Baikal Region”, Irkutsk, Russia
Andrzej W Weber
Affiliation:
University of Alberta, Department of Anthropology, Edmonton, AB, Canada
*
Corresponding author: Rick J Schulting; Email: rick.schulting@arch.ox.ac.uk
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Abstract

A 350 14C yr discrepancy was found between dates on postcranial remains and mandibular teeth on what was thought to be the same individual from the Early Neolithic cemetery of Shamanka II, Lake Baikal. Stable nitrogen isotope results suggested a major shift in diet between childhood (when the teeth formed) and adulthood (represented by the postcrania), which could have resulted in different 14C ages through a freshwater reservoir effect. Subsequent additional dating on the mandible and postcranial elements, however, indicated that the mandible actually belonged to a different individual. More subtle reservoir effects can be seen on the sequentially forming teeth and mandible. The practice by prehistoric hunter-gatherers of Lake Baikal of re-opening graves and removing cranial elements has long been known, but this is the first evidence for the inclusion of a mandible from a separate individual, though whether it was intentional or incidental is uncertain. As well as providing new insights into mid-Holocene mortuary practices in the region, our findings raise a cautionary note for the examination of disturbed graves.

Information

Type
Conference Paper
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of University of Arizona
Figure 0

Table 1. Regression equations for FRE corrections on radiocarbon dates from Cis-Baikal and its microregions. Adjusted error range ($\sqrt {{{\left( {s.d.} \right)}^2} + {S^2}} \;$) is calculated using the ± error term associated with the 14C measurement (“s.d.”) and the standard deviation of the model’s residuals (“S”) (Weber et al. 2016)

Figure 1

Figure 1. Map of Lake Baikal and its microregions showing the location of Shamanka II (map by Karolina Werens).

Figure 2

Figure 2. Shamanka II, Grave 42 plan and section (created by Natalia Kasprishina, Andrei Tiutrin and Vladimir I Bazaliiskii, with modifications). Note that this differs from Figure 5 in Schulting et al. (2022) which does not show the feet present for Burial 42.02.

Figure 3

Table 2. Radiocarbon and stable carbon and nitrogen isotope results for Shamanka II Burial 42.02. Asterisks (*) mark previously published results (Schulting et al. 2022; Weber et al. 2016). FRE corrections use the regression equations for Cis-Baikal (δ13C only, postcrania) and SW Baikal/Angara (δ15N only, mandible and teeth) (Schulting et al. 2014, 2022). Dates in italics are weighted means using the R_combine command in OxCal; those marked ‘F’ fail the χ2 test (Ward and Wilson 1978). Note that OxA-30595 was inadvertently switched at an unknown stage with OxA-30593 from another grave at Shamanka II (Gr 108.02), as was clear from their very different stable isotope values, which had been previously measured separately (Weber et al. 2011). They are correctly re-assigned herea

Figure 4

Figure 3. OxCal plot of the radiocarbon determinations for Shamanka II Burial 42.02, showing mean (circle) and 68.3% and 95.4% confidence intervals. Dates in green are uncorrected for the FRE; those in blue are corrected. For details see text.

Figure 5

Figure 4. Plot of δ13C and δ15N values for human collagen from Grave 42.02 in the context of all the other post-weaning age isotopic results from the Early Neolithic component of Shamanka II (n = 123; ellipse shows 95.4% confidence).

Figure 6

Figure 5. Plot of uncorrected 14C determinations and δ15N values for M1, M3 and mandible in Grave 42 showing strong positive correlation. Error bars ± 1σ.