Tree-ring δ13C of archeological charcoals as indicator of past climatic seasonality. A case study from the Neolithic settlements of Lake Chalain (Jura, France)
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2017
- handle: 10670/1.iho3ik
- hal: hal-01503090
- doi: 10.1016/j.quaint.2017.03.015
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info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1016/j.quaint.2017.03.015
info:eu-repo/semantics/OpenAccess
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Franck Baton et al., « Tree-ring δ13C of archeological charcoals as indicator of past climatic seasonality. A case study from the Neolithic settlements of Lake Chalain (Jura, France) », HAL-SHS : archéologie, ID : 10.1016/j.quaint.2017.03.015
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Résumé
Charcoal fragments from the Neolithic settlements of Lake Chalain (Jura Mountains, France) 17 were characterized by dendro-anthracology (charcoal-pith distance, tree-ring width, 18 earlywood/latewood proportion) and ring-scale isotope geochemistry (13 C) to assess the 19 relevance of this combined approach for paleoclimate reconstructions. Two differing climatic 20 periods were investigated: (i) a climatic deterioration period characterized by cool and moist 21 conditions and (ii) a climatic improvement period characterized by slightly less precipitation 22 and warmer temperature. Latewood proportion in charcoal tree-rings was similar for the two 23 studied climatic periods. However, the charcoal tree-rings exhibited width and 13 C-content 24 significantly different between the two studied periods, in agreement with previously inferred 25 climatic difference. Monitoring ring-to-ring 13 C variation within each charcoal fragment 26 revealed no noticeable climatic trend, for none of the studied periods. However, calculation of 27 the difference in 13 C-content between earlywood and latewood of a given tree-ring suggested 28 2 that the cool and moist climatic period also corresponded to higher seasonal contrast than 29 the dryer climatic period. Although this exploratory study needs further confirmation, it opens 30 promising developments for paleoclimatic reconstructions based on the stable carbon 31 isotope composition of archaeological charcoals: the potential for recording subtle 32 paleoclimatic variations and seasonal contrasts.