Fruit carbonate in archaeological sites: a new proxy for reconstructing agricultural systems of early societies

古植物组合中的果实碳酸盐在考古学研究中具有被低估的潜力。与常见的烧焦的考古植物学宏体相比，富含CaCO 3的果实含有相对较高的氧和锶。这些都适用于估算古气候参数（δ 18 O、δ 47）以及物源分析（87 Sr/86 Sr），为更好地理解早期农业动态提供了依据。 该项目的中心目标是为利用水果碳酸盐作为早期农业生态系统的古环境代用品奠定基础。项目设计包括两个研究阶段。将对收集的现代材料进行试点研究，并在实验室实验中生长。本研究将完成以下任务：（2）揭示了碳酸盐岩δ ~（18）O值与当地气候参数的相关性（3）建立了果实碳酸盐δ 47值的相关性（4）评价果实碳酸盐和生长地土壤中87 Sr/86 Sr比值之间的关系。在主要研究中，建立的地球化学关系将应用于古植物材料。果实碳酸盐必须作为古环境代用品，以解决近东考古学中的两个关键问题：（1）以前的水分可用性（气候或灌溉？）（2）植物生长地点的局部化，导致栽培区的重建。 分析这种多功能代理的预期结果将为考古学和地球科学提供广泛的应用。

Fruit carbonate in archaeobotanical assemblages bears a hitherto underestimated potential for archaeological research. In contrast to common charred archaeobotanical macroremains, the CaCO3-enriched fruits contain relatively high amounts of oxygen and strontium. These are suitable for estimating paleoclimate parameters (delta 18O, Delta 47) as well as provenance analysis (87Sr/86Sr), providing a basis for better understanding the early agricultural dynamics. The central goal of this project is to create foundations for the use of fruit carbonate as a palaeoenvironmental proxy of early agroecosystems. The project design involves two research phases. A pilot study will be performed on modern material sampled in collections and grown in laboratory experiments. This study will fulfill the following tasks: (1) to assess potential reservoir effects in 14C-dating of fruit carbonate, (2) to reveal the correlation between delta 18O values of fruit carbonate and local climate parameters (precipitation and temperature), (3) to establish the dependence of Delta 47-values of fruit carbonate ('clumped isotope thermometry') on local temperatures, (4) to evaluate the relationship between 87Sr/86Sr-ratios of fruit carbonate and those of soils at growing locations.In the main study, the established geochemical relationships will be applied to archaeobotanical material. The fruit carbonate has to serve as a palaeoenvironmental proxy to approach two key questions in Near Eastern archaeology: (1) the former moisture availability (climate or irrigation?) and (2) localization of the former sites of plant growth leading to reconstruction of the cultivation areas. The expected results from analyzing this multifunctional proxy will provide a broad spectrum of applications for archaeology and the geosciences.