Instrumentation for Dating and Stratigraphic Assessment of Archaeological Sites Using Amino Acid Diagenesis in Carbonate Fossils

利用碳酸盐化石中的氨基酸成岩作用对考古遗址进行年代测定和地层评估的仪器

• 批准号: 9413554
• 负责人: P. Edgar Hare
• 金额: $ 8.87万
• 依托单位: Carnegie Institution of Washington
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1994
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1994-09-01 至 1999-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9413554&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Instrumentation; Dating; Stratigraphic; Assessment; Archaeological

Hare This grant provides partial support to permit the Carnegie Institute of Washington to purchase a high-performance liquid chromatograph, gas chromatograph, combined gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer and an autosampler for an amino acid analyzer. These instruments will be used by Dr. P Edgar Hare and his colleagues to expand their research into the chemical changes in organic matter in fossil mollusks and ostrich egg shell. For a number of years these researchers have worked to use such reactions as a chemical clock to date sites of archaeological significance. The methods they have developed are particularly important for sites too old (older than ca. 45,000 years) and too young (younger than ca. 400 years) for radiocarbon dating. In particular the group will focus on the development and application of amino acid racemization and other digenetic reactions in ostrich eggshell for dating African and Asian archaeological sites. They will attempt to develop simultaneous equations for both age and mean temperature history. They will also study digenetic changes other than racemization for the dating of very old sites and continue to improve the use of aspartic acid racemization for dating recent occurrences. The techniques will be applied to a number of sites including late Holocene cores from Lake Titicaca, Bolivia, archaeological sites in central Texas as well as Nile Delta cores. Accurate dates are crucial in archaeological as well as climatological, geological and other environmentally related sciences. Although a number of techniques such as radiocarbon and argon/argon dating are available, these and others have limitations both in the kinds of materials they require and the time range they cover. Ostrich eggshell and many types of mollusc shell are present in a wide range of archaeological sites. They also occur naturally in a wide range of geological situations. The potential to obtain accurate dates from such materials has widespread significance acr oss a range of disciplines.

野兔 这笔赠款提供部分支持，使华盛顿卡内基研究所能够购买一台高性能液相色谱仪、气相色谱仪、气相色谱/质谱联用仪和一台氨基酸分析仪的自动进样器。这些仪器将被P埃德加黑尔博士和他的同事们用于扩大他们对化石软体动物和鸵鸟蛋壳中有机物化学变化的研究。多年来，这些研究人员一直致力于使用这种反应作为化学时钟，以确定具有考古意义的遗址的日期。他们开发的方法对于太老的网站特别重要（比ca。45，000年）和太年轻（比ca年轻）。400年）的放射性碳测年。特别是，该小组将专注于鸵鸟蛋壳中氨基酸外消旋化和其他二代反应的开发和应用，以确定非洲和亚洲考古遗址的年代。他们将试图建立年龄和平均温度历史的联立方程。他们还将研究除外消旋化以外的二代变化，以确定非常古老的遗址的年代，并继续改进天冬氨酸外消旋化在确定最近发生的事件年代方面的应用。这些技术将应用于一些地点，包括玻利维亚的喀喀湖的全新世晚期岩心，德克萨斯州中部的考古遗址以及尼罗河三角洲的岩心。 准确的年代对于考古学以及气候学、地质学和其他与环境有关的科学都是至关重要的。虽然有一些技术，如放射性碳和氩/氩测年，这些和其他技术在它们所需的材料种类和它们所覆盖的时间范围方面都有局限性。鸵鸟蛋壳和许多类型的软体动物壳存在于广泛的考古遗址中。它们也在广泛的地质情况下自然发生。 从这些材料中获得准确日期的可能性在一系列学科中具有广泛的意义。