Rachel Wood

At least eight species of pangolins, or “scaley anteaters,” are extant today. All are classified as vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered, with the most significant threat coming from the illegal trade in pangolin scales. Radiocarbon analysis is now frequently used help monitor and understand the illegal trade of ivory and rhino horn, and to understand the biology and ecology of certain species. This paper aims to assess whether radiocarbon dating can be used in a similar manner to understand either the trade in keratinous pangolin scales and/or the ecology of these poorly known animals. Pangolin scales grow incrementally in a similar way to human fingernails, although it has been unclear how quickly they grow, whether they fall out and regrow, and if/how they wear down over time. Using a collection of scales from animals accessioned to the Australian Museum in the 1970s/1980s ( Manis pentadactyla and Manis javanica ) and a collection of scale clippings from live Manis culionensis from Palawan, this study suggests that scales grow continuously and the proximal apex wears down over time. Whilst radiocarbon dates from scales of some animals appear to accurately reflect the age of death/capture, this is not always the case. This is likely to be because some animals consume more wood-eating termites, introducing substantial amounts of old carbon. We propose that radiocarbon may best be used as a dietary isotope, aiding in the understanding of the diversity of pangolin diet.

The Kura-Araxes Culture (3500–2500 BCE) is often depicted as a homogeneous pastoralist horizon, yet its internal economic and mobility strategies remain poorly understood. This study for the first time introduces an integrative framework for reconstructing site-specific pastoral practices through a detailed case study of Maxta I (Nakhchivan). It represents the first study in the Kura-Araxes context and more broadly in the Caucasus to combine zooarchaeology, Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS), stable isotope analysis, and settlement data. This multi-method approach offers a comprehensive view of livestock management, seasonal movement, and socio-economic organisation. The results reveal a seasonally flexible agro-pastoral system that blends permanent settlement features with structured herd mobility, birthing seasons, and possible targeted secondary product exploitation strategies for fleece. Rather than adhering to a binary model of nomadic versus sedentary lifeways, Maxta I demonstrates how Kura-Araxes communities dynamically adapted to diverse ecological and social landscapes. This research challenges assumptions of cultural uniformity and establishes a new comparative model for understanding the diversity of pastoral strategies across Southwest Asia.

Radiocarbon dating is essential for establishing robust chronologies in archaeological and paleoenvironmental contexts spanning the last 55,000 years. Pottery, pervasive in the archaeological record, offers a crucial framework for dating human activity during the Holocene. Traditionally, radiocarbon dating of pottery has relied on targeting carbonaceous inclusions such as organic temper or measuring stratigraphically associated materials like bone and charcoal. Inaccuracies can arise, however, if the targeted fraction does not reflect the timing of vessel use or if stratigraphic associations are uncertain. An alternative involves radiocarbon dating of lipid residues, particularly fatty acids absorbed into the ceramic matrix during the processing and storage of plant and animal-derived resources. This approach holds promise for delivering highly accurate measurements directly correlating to vessel use. At the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, efforts have been made to develop this methodology through compound-specific radiocarbon dating of pottery, employing a gas chromatography (GC)-preparative fraction collector (PFC) approach. Here, we describe the protocol and present preliminary findings, including analyses conducted on pottery samples sourced from an archaeological site with an established chronology.

In this study, we investigate the impact of X-rays produced by conventional mCT instruments on fossil materials dated by radiocarbon. Our results clearly show a decrease on the collagen preservation in fossil and modern bones and teeth, and therefore on the radiocarbon analytical results (in particular, the collagen yield and, possibly, stable isotope composition), after mCT scanning. In other words, all the samples analysed here have experienced a noticeable radiation damage, regardless of their nature (bone and dental tissue) and age (modern and fossil). Given these observations, a prudent approach would be for radiocarbon laboratories to expect lower collagen yields for samples that have been previously mCT scanned and ensure appropriately sized standards are processed alongside these samples. Additionally, samples with originally low collagen yields might become unsuitable for radiocarbon dating after mCT or at least show a yield lower than the usual minimum cut-off value. In this case, it might be viable to extend the collagen yield quality assurance parameter for mCT scanned bones and teeth and instead focus on the C:N ratio as the most appropriate indicator of collagen quality, although we cannot exclude that the latter may also be impacted by X-ray exposure. Further investigations on a larger set of samples are required to confirm these first observations. Nevertheless, in the light of these results, we can reasonably conclude by recommending caution regarding the systematic and unlimited use of mCT scanning in palaeoanthropology or in other related disciplines involving fossil material.

Cremated bones are a commonly preserved material and often found in burial environments where unburned bone may not be preserved. As such direct radiocarbon dating of cremated bone could be essential in determining the chronology of an event. Pretreatment of cremated bone exploits the structural carbonate component of the bone which survives cremation. However, due to the low abundance (ca. 0.1%) of this component, the extraction of an amount of endogenous carbon sufficient for radiocarbon dating may represent a challenge. Here we investigate two modifications to the phosphoric acid digestion protocol used during the preparation of cremated bones at the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit (ORAU). The first of these was to use ultrasonication to release evolved CO₂ from the viscous phosphoric acid and cremated bone mixture that is formed during digestion. The second was to double the amount of time during which evolved CO₂ was removed from the reaction vessel by transfer into a cryogenically cooled ampoule. Ultrasonication of the digestion mixture failed to produce a significantly higher carbon yield, while double-time collection resulted in an average 21.5±13.8% increase of C yield without affecting the measured age. Extending the collection time can better enable reliable dating of small (less than 1 g) samples.

Radiocarbon dates on charred plant remains are often used to define the chronology of archives such as lake cores and fluvial sequences. However, charcoal is often older than its depositional context because old-wood can be burnt and a range of transport and storage stages exist between the woodland and stream or lake bed (“inherited age”). In 1978, Blong and Gillespie dated four size fractions of charcoal found floating or saltating in the Macdonald River, Australia. They found larger fragments gave younger age estimates, raising the possibility that taphonomic modifications could help identify the youngest fragments. In 1978 each date required 1000s charcoal fragments. This study returns to a sample from the Macdonald River to date individual charcoal fragments and finds the inherited age may be more than 1700 years (mode 250 years) older than the collection date. Taphonomic factors, e.g., size, shape or fungal infestation cannot identify the youngest fragments. Only two fragments on short-lived materials correctly estimated the date of collection. In SE Australia, this study suggests that wood charcoal will overestimate the age of deposition, taphonomic modifications cannot be used to identify which are youngest, and multiple short-lived materials are required to accurately estimate the deposition age.