Resolving time among non-stratified short-duration contexts on a radiocarbon plateau: Possibilities and challenges from the ad 1480-1630 example and Northeastern North America

Abstract

Reversals and plateaus in the radiocarbon (14C) calibration curve lead to similar 14C ages applying to a wide range of calendar dates, creating imprecision, ambiguity, and challenges for archaeological dating. Even with Bayesian chronological modeling, such periods remain a problem when no known order - e.g., a stratigraphic sequence - exists, and especially if site durations are relatively short. Using the reversal/plateau AD 1480-1630 and the archaeology of northeastern North America as our example, we consider possible strategies to improve chronological resolution across such reversal/plateau periods in the absence of stratigraphic sequences, including uses of wood-charcoal TPQs from even very short wiggle-matches, and site phase duration constraints based on ethnohistoric and archaeological evidence.