Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T01:23:16.190Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Radiocarbon and Protein Analyses Indicate an Early Holocene Age for the Osseous Rod from Grenfell, Saskatchewan, Canada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

John W. Ives ,
Duane Froese ,
Matthew Collins  and
Fiona Brock
John W. Ives
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB Canada T6G 2H4 (jives@ualberta.ca)
Duane Froese
Affiliation:
Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB Canada T6G 2E3
Matthew Collins
Affiliation:
BioArCh, Biology, S Block, Wentworth Way, York, North Yorkshire UK YO10 5DD
Fiona Brock
Affiliation:
Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art, Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Road, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK OX1 3QY
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The Grenfell bone rod resembles other instances of Clovis-era organic or osseous technology and has on a number of occasions been considered with other Clovis bone, antler, and ivory rods or beveled artifacts. It had been suspected of being constructed from proboscidean long bone. As an early discovery (made in 1883), the Grenfell artifact had somewhat obscure provenience details and a lengthy curatorial history. We describe accelerator mass spectrometry and zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry methods that allow rapid, minimally destructive determinations of both the age and the raw material composition of osseous artifacts. Our analysis reveals that the Grenfell artifact is actually a terminal Paleoindian-era manifestation made of bison bone. Similar methods could be more widely applied in North America in order to build more refined data sets for osseous technologies. These results also reveal the ease with which archaeologists can secure additional information from existing collections, highlighting our ethical obligations to do so.

Resumen

Resumen

La vara de hueso de Grenfell es similar a otros ejemplos de tecnología orgánica u ósea de la era Clovis, y en varias ocasiones ha sido considerada con otras varas de hueso, asta y marfil o artefactos biselados de la cultura Clovis. Se sospecha que ha sido construida de hueso proboscidio largo. El artefacto de Grenfell fue descubierto en un periodo temprano (1883) y por lo tanto, datos sobre su origen son algo oscuros y su historia curatorial es larga. Describimos espectrometría de masas acelerada y arqueozoologíca espectrometría de masas que permiten una determinación de la edad y la composición de las materias primas de los artefactos óseos de manera rápida y mínimamente destructiva. Nuestro análisis revela que el artefacto de Grenfell es actualmente una manifestación terminal del Paleoindio (Paleoamericano) y fue hecho de hueso de bisonte. Se podrían aplicar más ampliamente métodos similares en Norteamérica para crear series de datos más refinadas sobre tecnologías óseas. Los resultados revelan también la facilidad con que los arqueólogos pueden obtener información adicional de las colecciones existentes, y por ello destacando nuestra obligación ética de hacerlo.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 79 , Issue 4 , October 2014 , pp. 782 - 793
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 2014

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

Bradley, Bruce A., Collins, Michael B., and Hemmings, Andrew 2010 Clovis Technology. Archaeological Series 17. International Monographs in Prehistory, Ann Arbor.Google Scholar
Brock, Fiona, Higham, Thomas F. G., Ditchfield, Peter, and Bronk Ramsey, Christopher 2010 Current Pretreatment Methods for AMS Radiocarbon Dating at the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit (ORAU). Radiocarbon 52:102–112.Google Scholar
Brock, Fiona, Wood, R., Higham, Thomas F. G., Ditchfield, Peter, Bayliss, A., and Bronk Ramsey, Christopher 2012 Reliability of Nitrogen Content (%N) and Carbon:Nitrogen Atomic Ratios (C:N) as Indicators of Collagen Preservation Suitable for Radiocarbon Dating. Radiocarbon 54:879–886.Google Scholar
Bruhn, Frank, Duhr, Alexander, Grootes, Pieter M., Mintrop, Anette, and Nadeau, Marie-Josée 2001 Chemical Removal of Conservation Substances of “Soxhlef”-Type Extraction. Radiocarbon 43:229–237.Google Scholar
Buckley, M., Collins, M. B., Thomas-Oates, M. J., and Wilson, J. C. 2009 Species Identification by Analysis of Bone Collagen Using Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionisation Time-of-Flight Mass Spectrometry. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry 23:3843–3854.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buckley, M., Fraser, S., Herman, J., Melton, N., Mulville, J., and Pálsdóttir, A. 2014 Species Identification of Archaeological Marine Mammals Using Collagen Fingerprinting. Journal of Archaeological Science 41:631–641.Google Scholar
Buckley, Mike, and Whitcher Kansa, Sarah 2011 Collagen Fingerprinting of Archaeological Bone and Teeth Remains from Domuztepe, South Eastern Turkey. Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 3:271–280.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Buckley, Mike, Whitcher Kansa, Sarah, Howard, Sarah, Campbell, Stuart, Thomas-Oates, Jane, and Collins, Matthew B. 2010 Distinguishing Between Archaeological Sheep and Goat Bones Using a Single Collagen Peptide. Journal of Archaeological Science 37:13–20.Google Scholar
Burns, James A. 1996 Vertebrate Paleontology and the Alleged Ice-Free Corridor: The Meat of the Matter. Quaternary International 32:107–112.Google Scholar
Burns, James A. 2010 Mammalian Faunal Dynamics in Late Pleistocene Alberta, Canada. Quaternary International 217:37–42.Google Scholar
Corbeil, Marcel 1995 The Archaeology and Taphonomy of the Heron Eden Site, Southwestern Saskatchewan. Unpublished Master’s thesis, Department of Anthropology, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon.Google Scholar
Dansie, Amy J., and Jerrems, Jerry 2005 More Bits and Pieces: A New Look at Lahontan Chronology and Human Occupation. In Paleoamerican Origins: Beyond Clovis, edited by Robson Bonnichsen, Bradley T. Lepper, Dennis Stanford, and Michael R. Waters, pp. 51–80. Center for the Study of the First Americans, Texas A&M University Press, College Station.Google Scholar
Daugherty, Richard D. 1956 Archaeology of the Lind Coulee Site, Washington. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 100:223–278. Philadelphia.Google Scholar
Dawe, Robert J. 2013 A Review of the Cody Complex in Alberta. In Paleoindian Lifeways of the Cody Complex, edited by Edward J. Knell and Mark P. Muñiz, pp. 144–187. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Dixon, E. James 1999 Bones, Boats and Bison: Archaeology of the First Colonization of Western North America. University of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque.Google Scholar
Dyke, Arthur S. 2004 An Outline of North American Deglaciation with Emphasis on Central and Northern Canada. In Quaternary Glaciations, Extent and Chronology, Pt. II: North America, edited by J. Ehlers and J. E. Gibbard, pp. 373–424. Elsevier, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.Google Scholar
Dyke, Arthur S. 2005 Late Quaternary Vegetation History of Northern North America Based on Pollen, Macrofossil, and Faunal Remains. Géographie physique et Quaternaire 59:211–262.Google Scholar
Eren, Metin I., and Andrews, Brian N. 2013 Were Bifaces Used as Mobile Cores by Clovis Foragers in the North American Lower Great Lakes Region? An Archaeological Test of Experimentally Derived Quantitative Predictions. American Antiquity 78:166–180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Frison, George C., and Stanford, Dennis 1982 The Agate Basin Site: A Record of the Paleoindian Occupation of the Northwestern High Plains. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Frison, George C., Walker, Danny N., Webb, S. D., and Zeimens, George M. 1978 Paleo-Indian Procurement of Camelops on the Northwestern Plains. Quaternary Research 10:385ߝ400.Google Scholar
Frison, George C., and Zeimens, George 1980 Bone Projectile Points: An Addition to the Folsom Cultural Complex. American Antiquity 45:231–237.Google Scholar
Gramly, Richard M. 1993 The Richey Clovis Cache. Persimmon Press, New York.Google Scholar
Haynes, C. Vance 1982 Were Clovis Progenitors in Beringia? In Paleoecology of Beringia, edited by David M. Hopkins, John V. Matthews, Charles E. Schweger, and Steven B. Young, pp. 383–398. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Haynes, C. Vance 2005 Clovis, Pre-Clovis, Climate Change and Extinction. In Paleoamerican Origins: Beyond Clovis, edited by Robson Bonnichsen, Bradley T. Lepper, Dennis Stanford, and Michael R. Waters, pp. 113–132. Center for the Study of the First Americans, Texas A&M University Press, College Station.Google Scholar
Haynes, Gary 2002 The Early Settlement of North America: The Clovis Era. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Hemmings, Andrew J. 2004 The Organic Clovis: A Single Continent-Wide Cultural Adaptation. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of Florida, Gainesville.Google Scholar
Holen, Kathleen, and Holen, Steven R. 2009 A Beveled Bone Rod from the Cody Component of the Lindenmeier Site. Current Research in the Pleistocene 26:65–67.Google Scholar
Ives, John W. 2006 13,001 Years Ago—Human Beginnings in Alberta. In Alberta Formed, Alberta Transformed, Vol. 1, edited by Michael Payne, Donald Wetherell, and Catherine Cavanaugh, pp. 1–34. University of Calgary Press, Edmonton, Canada.Google Scholar
Ives, John W., Froese, Duane, Supernant, Kisha, and Yanicki, Gabriel 2013 Vectors, Vestiges and Valhallas—Rethinking the Corridor. In Paleoamerican Odyssey, edited by Kelly E. Graf, Caroline V. Ketron, and Michael R. Waters, pp. 149–169. Center for the Study of the First Americans. Department of Anthropology, Texas A&M University. College Station.Google Scholar
Joyce, Daniel J. 2006 Chronology and New Research on the Schaefer Mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius) Site, Kenosha County, Wisconsin, USA. Quaternary International 1.42—143:44–57.Google Scholar
Joyce, Daniel J. 2013 Pre-Clovis Megafauna Butchery Sites in the Western Great Lake Region, USA. In Paleoamerican Odyssey, edited by Kelly E. Graf, Caroline V. Ketron, and Michael R. Waters, pp. 467–483. Center for the Study of the First Americans, Department of Anthropology, Texas A&M University, College Station.Google Scholar
Kehoe, Thomas F. 1966 The Distribution and Implications of Fluted Points in Saskatchewan. American Antiquity 31:530–539.Google Scholar
Knell, Edward J., and Muniz, Mark P. 2013 Introducing the Cody Complex. In Paleoindian Life-ways of the Cody Complex, edited by Edward J. Knell and Mark P. Muñiz, pp. 3–28. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Kooyman, Brian, Hills, Len V., Tolman, Shayne, and McNeil, Paul 2012 Late Pleistocene Western Camel (Camelops hesternus) Hunting in Southwestern Canada. American Antiquity 77:115–124.Google Scholar
Lahren, Larry, and Bonnichsen, Robson 1974 Bone Foreshafts from a Clovis Burial in Southwestern Montana. Science 186:147–150.Google Scholar
Larson, Mary Lou, Kornfeld, Marcel, and Frison, George C. 2009 Hell Gap: A Stratified Paleoindian Campsite at the Edge of the Rockies. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Lyman, R. Lee, O’Brien, Michael J., and Hayes, Virgil 1998 A Mechanical and Functional Study of Bone Rods from the Richey-Roberts Clovis Cache, Washington, U.S.A. Journal of Archaeological Science 25:887–906.Google Scholar
Meltzer, David J. 2009 First Peoples in a New World: Colonizing Ice Age America. University of California Press, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Meyer, David 1985 A Component in the Scottsbluff Tradition: Excavations at the Niska Site. Canadian Journal of Archaeology 9:1–37.Google Scholar
Meyer, David, Beaudoin, Alwynne B., and Amundson, L. J. 2011 Human Ecology of the Canadian Prairie Ecozone ca. 9000 BP—The Paleo-Indian Period. In Human Ecology of the Canadian Prairie Ecozone 11,000 to 300 BP, edited by B. A. Nicholson, pp. 5–52. Canadian Plains Research Centre, University of Regina, Regina.Google Scholar
Morrow, Julie E., and Fiedel, Stuart J. 2006 New Radiocarbon Dates for the Clovis Component of the Anzick Site (24PA506), Park County, Montana. In Paleoindian Archaeology: A Hemispheric Perspective, edited by Julie E. Morrow and Cristobal Gnecco, pp. 123–138. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.Google Scholar
Overstreet, David F. 2005 Late-Glacial Ice-Marginal Adaptation in Southeastern Wisconsin. In Paleoamerican Origins: Beyond Clovis, edited by Robson Bonnichsen, Bradley T. Lepper, Dennis Stanford, and Michael R. Waters, pp. 183–195. Center for the Study of the First Americans, Texas A&M University, College Station.Google Scholar
Pearson, Georges A. 1999 North American Paleoindian Bi-Beveled Bone and Ivory Rods: A New Interpretation. North American Archaeologist 20:81–103.Google Scholar
Rasmussen, Morten, Anzick, Sarah L., Waters, Michael R., Skoglund, Pontus, DeGiorgio, Michael, Stafford, Jr., Rasmussen, Simon , Thomas W., Moltke, Ida, Albrechtsen, Anders, Doyle, Shane M., David Poznik, G., Gudmundsdottir, Valborg, Yadav, Rachita, Malaspinas, Anna-Sapfo, Stockton White, Samuel, Allentof, Morten E., Cornejo, Omar E., Tambets, Kristiina, Eriksson, Anders, Heintzman, Peter D., Karmin, Monika, Sand Korneliussen, Thorfinn, Meltzer, David J., Pierre, Tracey L., Stenderup, Jesper, Saag, Lauri, Warmuth, Vera M., Lopes, Margarida C., Malhi, Ripan S., Søren, Brunak, Sicheritz-Ponten, Thomas, Barnes, Ian, Collins, Matthew, Orlando, Ludovic, Balloux, Francois, Manica, Andrea, Gupta, Ramneek, Metspalu, Mait, Bustamante, Carlos D., Jakobsson, Mattias, Nielsen, Rasmus, and Willerslev, Eske 2014 The Genome of a Late Pleistocene Human from a Clovis Burial Site in Western Montana. Nature 506:225–229. Electronic document, http://www.nature.com/doifind-er/10.1038/naturel3025.Google Scholar
Reimer, Paula J., Bard, Edouard, Bayliss, Alex, Warren Beck, J., Blackwell, Paul G., Bronk Ramsey, Christopher, Buck, Caitlin E., Cheng, Hai, Lawrence Edwards, R., Friedrich, Michael, Grootes, Pieter M., Guilderson, Thomas P., Haflidason, Haflidi, Hajdas, Irka, Hatté, Christine, Heaton, Timothy J., Hoffmann, Dirk L., Hogg, Alan G., Hughen, Konrad A., Felix Kaiser, K., Kromer, Bernd, Manning, Start W., Niu, Mu, Reimer, Ron W., Richards, David A., Marian Scott, E., Southon, John R., Staff, Richard A., Turney, Christian S. M., and Plicht, Johannes van der 2013 IntCal 13 and Marine 13 Radiocarbon Age Calibration Curves 0–50,000 Years cal BP. Radiocarbon 55:1869–1887.Google Scholar
Root, Matthew J., Knell, Edward J., and Taylor, Jeb 2013 Cody Complex Land Use in Western North Dakota and Southern Saskatchewan. In Paleoindian Lifeways of the Cody Complex, edited by Edward J. Knell and Mark P. Muñiz, pp. 121–143. University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City.Google Scholar
Sellards, E.H. 1952 Early Man in America: A Study in Prehistory. University of Texas Press, Austin.Google Scholar
Shapiro, Beth, Drummond, Alexei J., Rambaut, Andrew, Wilson, Michael C., Matheus, Paul E., Sher, Andrei V., Pybus, Oliver G., Thomas, M. Gilbert, P., Barnes, Ian, Binladen, Jonas, Willerslev, Eske, Hansen, Anders J., Baryshnikov, Gennady F., Burns, James A., Davydov, Sergei, Driver, Jonathan C., Froese, Duane G., Richard Harrington, C., Keddie, Grant, Kosintsev, Pavel, Kunz, Michael L., Martin, Larry D., Stephenson, Robert O., Storer, John, Tedford, Richard, Zimov, Sergei, and Cooper, Alan 2004 Rise and Fall of the Beringian Steppe Bison. Science 306:1561–1565.Google Scholar
Strohalm, M., Kavan, D., Novák, P., Volny, M., and Havlícek, V. 2010 mMass 3: A Cross-Platform Software Environment for Precise Analysis of Mass Spectrometric Data. Analytical Chemistry 82:4648–4651.Google Scholar
Vaiglova, Petra, Bogaard, Amy, Collins, Matthew, Cavanagh, William, Mee, Christopher, Renard, Josette, Lamb, Angela, Gardeisen, Armelle, and Fraser, Rebecca 2014 An Integrated Stable Isotope Study of Plants and Animals from Kouphovouno, Southern Greece: A New Look at Neolithic Farming. Journal of Archaeological Science 42:201–215.Google Scholar
van Klinken, G. J. 1999 Bone Collagen Quality Indicators for Paleodietary and Radiocarbon Measurements. Journal of Archaeological Science 26:687–695.Google Scholar
Von Holstein, Isabella C. C., Ashby, Steven P., van Doorn, Nienke L., Sachs, Stacie M., Buckley, Michael, Meiri, Meirav, Barnes, Ian, Brundle, Anne, and Collins, Matthew J. 2014 Searching for Scandinavians in Pre-Viking Scotland: Molecular Fingerprinting of Early Medieval Combs. Journal of Archaeological Science 41:1–6.Google Scholar
Waters, Michael R., and Stafford, Thomas W. Jr. 2007 Redefining Clovis: Implications for the Peopling of the Americas. Science 315:1122–1126.Google Scholar
Waters, Michael R., Stafford, Jr., Gregory McDonald, H. , Thomas W., Gustafson, Carl, Rasmussen, Morten, Cappellini, Enrico, Olsen, Jesper V., Szklarczyk, Damian, Juhl Jensen, Lars, Thomas, M. Gilbert, P., and Willerslev, Eske 2011 Pre-Clovis Mastodon Hunting 13,800 Years Ago at the Manis Site. Science 334:351–353.Google Scholar
Wilke, Philip J., Jeffrey Flenniken, J., and Ozbun, Terry L. 1991 Clovis Technology at the Anzick Site. Journal of California and Great Basin Archaeology 13:242–272.Google Scholar
Wilmeth, Roscoe 1968 A Fossilized Bone Artifact from Southern Saskatchewan. American Antiquity 33:100–101.Google Scholar
Wilson, Michael C., Hills, Len V., and Kooyman, Brian 2008 Late Pleistocene Northward-Dispersing Bison antiquus from the Bighill Creek Formation, Gallelli Gravel Pit, Alberta, Canada, and the Fate of Bison occidentalis . Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 45:827–859.Google Scholar
Yesner, David R. 2001 Human Dispersal into Interior Alaska: Antecedent Conditions, Mode of Colonization, and Adaptations. Quaternary Science Reviews 20:315–327.CrossRefGoogle Scholar