Wallace, M., Jones, G., Charles, M. et al. (4 more authors) (2013) Stable carbon isotope analysis as a direct means of inferring crop water status and water management practices. World Archaeology, 45 (3). 388 - 409. ISSN 0043-8243
Abstract
Stable carbon isotope analysis of plant remains is a promising tool for researchers studying palaeoclimate and past agricultural systems. The potential of the technique is clear: it offers a direct measure of the water conditions in which plants grew. In this paper, we assess how reliably stable carbon isotope discrimination can be used to infer water conditions, through the analysis of present-day crop plants grown at multiple locations across the Mediterranean and south-west Asia. The key findings are that: (1) ∆¹³C, as expected, provides an indication of water conditions, (2) even for plants grown in similar conditions there is variation in ∆¹³C and (3) ∆¹³C may reflect crop water status for a period beginning well before the grain filling period. A new framework is presented which increases the robustness with which ∆¹³C values of plant remains can be interpreted in terms of the water conditions in which ancient crops grew.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2013 The Author(s). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | Carbon isotopes; Archaeobotany; Experimental archaeology; Cereals; Pulses; Water; Rainfall; Irrigation |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Arts and Humanities (Sheffield) > Department of Archaeology (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 19 Jun 2015 13:01 |
Last Modified: | 03 Nov 2016 09:23 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00438243.2013.821671 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Taylor & Francis |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1080/00438243.2013.821671 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:86408 |