AMS Dating of the Late Copper Age Varna Cemetery, Bulgaria

Higham, Thomas; Slavchev, Vladimir; Gaydarska, Bisserka; Chapman, John

doi:10.1017/rdc.2018.9

AMS Dating of the Late Copper Age Varna Cemetery, Bulgaria

Higham, Thomas; Slavchev, Vladimir; Gaydarska, Bisserka; Chapman, John

Authors

Thomas Higham

Vladimir Slavchev

Bisserka Gaydarska

John Chapman

Abstract

The Varna I cemetery, on the Bulgarian Black Sea coast, is one of the most remarkable sites in European prehistory, with the world’s earliest large-scale assemblage of gold artifacts. Modeling of the first series of 14 accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dates yielded a duration of occupation at the site of ca. 150 years, ~4600–4450 cal BC. However, there were insufficient paired human–animal dates for a full consideration of the question of the marine reservoir effect. Here, a fuller set of 71 dates from 53 graves is presented. We identify a small reservoir effect in a number of individuals based on 14C, as well as carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes. We test the effect of this by building a series of different Bayesian models. Our favored model, including a correction for some of the human determinations, shows activity at the cemetery starting at 4596–4516 cal BC and ending 4427–4341 cal BC (at 95.4% probability). The overall span of activity covers ~120–260 years (93.6% prob.). The modeling shows that Varna I falls toward the beginning of the Bulgarian Late Copper Age.

Citation

Higham, T., Slavchev, V., Gaydarska, B., & Chapman, J. (2018). AMS Dating of the Late Copper Age Varna Cemetery, Bulgaria. Radiocarbon, 60(02), 493-516. https://doi.org/10.1017/rdc.2018.9

Journal Article Type	Article
Online Publication Date	Mar 1, 2018
Publication Date	Apr 1, 2018
Deposit Date	May 15, 2018
Publicly Available Date	Sep 1, 2018
Journal	Radiocarbon
Print ISSN	0033-8222
Electronic ISSN	1945-5755
Publisher	Cambridge University Press
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	60
Issue	02
Pages	493-516
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1017/rdc.2018.9

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This article has been published in a revised form in Radiocarbon https://doi.org/10.1017/RDC.2018.9. This version is free to view and download for private research and study only. Not for re-distribution, re-sale or use in derivative works. © 2018 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona.