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The Canadian Archaeological Radiocarbon Database (Card): Archaeological 14C Dates in North America and Their Paleoenvironmental Context

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

K Gajewski ,
S Munoz ,
M Peros ,
A Viau ,
R Morlan  and
M Betts
K Gajewski*
Affiliation:
Laboratory for Paleoclimatology and Climatology, Department of Geography, University of Ottawa, Ottawa ON, K1N 6N5, Canada.
S Munoz
Affiliation:
Laboratory for Paleoclimatology and Climatology, Department of Geography, University of Ottawa, Ottawa ON, K1N 6N5, Canada.
M Peros
Affiliation:
Laboratory for Paleoclimatology and Climatology, Department of Geography, University of Ottawa, Ottawa ON, K1N 6N5, Canada.
A Viau
Affiliation:
Laboratory for Paleoclimatology and Climatology, Department of Geography, University of Ottawa, Ottawa ON, K1N 6N5, Canada.
R Morlan
Affiliation:
Archaeology and History Division, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Box 3100, Station B, Gatineau QC, J8X 4H2, Canada. Deceased.
M Betts
Affiliation:
Archaeology and History Division, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Box 3100, Station B, Gatineau QC, J8X 4H2, Canada.
*
Corresponding author. Email: [email protected].
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Abstract

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Databases of accumulated paleoecological and archaeological records provide a means for large-scale syntheses of environmental and cultural histories. We describe the current status of the Canadian Archaeological Radiocarbon Database (CARD), a searchable collection of more than 36,000 14C dates from archaeological and paleontological sites from across North America. CARD, built by the late Dr Richard Morlan of the Canadian Museum of Civilization, consists of uncalibrated 14C data as well as information about the material dated, the cultural association of the date (e.g. Paleoindian, Archaic, Woodland), and its geographic location. The database can be used to study questions relating to prehistoric demography, migrations, human vulnerability to environmental change, and human impact on the landscape, but biases relating to sampling intensity and taphonomy must first be accounted for. Currently, Canada and the northern United States are well represented in the database, while the southern United States is underrepresented. The frequency of 14C dates associated with archaeological sites increases through time from 15,000 cal yr BP until European contact, which likely reflects, among other factors, both the destruction of older cultural carbon due to erosion and dissolution and increasing population numbers through time. An exploratory analysis of the dates reveals their distribution in both time and space, and suggests that the database is sufficiently complete to enable quantitative analysis of general demographic trends.

Type
Databases and Date Lists
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 53 , Issue 2 , 2011 , pp. 371 - 394
Copyright
Copyright © The American Journal of Science 

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