Search results for "CHRONOLOGY"

The onset of the Messinian salinity crisis: Insights from Cyprus sections

2009

Abstract The Neogene basins of Southern Cyprus provide a good opportunity to improve the knowledge of the paleoenvironmental changes involved in the triggering of the Messinian evaporite deposition in the Mediterranean, and of their chronology, which is still questionable with regards to the parameters responsible for the triggering of the salinity crisis. It is still difficult to discriminate the individual effects of tectonics, climate, global sea-level changes. In Cyprus, considerable progress has been made on the events leading to the MSC, since the 70's, in high-resolution microfossil biostratigraphy, astrochronology, cyclostratigraphy and magnetostratigraphy. A study of the Tochni sec…

ASTROCHRONOLOGY OF LATE MIDDLE MIOCENE MEDITERRANEAN SECTIONS

2004

Chronological records of metal deposition in sediments from the Strait of Sicily, central Mediterranean: assessing natural fluxes and anthropogenic a…

2010

Abstract Sediment box-cores were recovered from the Strait of Sicily along two onshore–offshore transects in water depths of 29–500 m. Samples were dated by 210 Pb and analysed for major and trace elements. Inspections of chronological profiles integrated with application of statistical algorithms to the geochemical dataset and supported by in situ hydrological observations were used to assess factors driving element distributions. Mineralogical and chemical variability of sediments offshore of the southwestern Sicily coast reflect the irregular sea floor morphology of the Adventure Bank. Anthropogenic inputs explain enrichments with respect to background values for Sb, As, Pb, and Hg, that…

Late Mesolithic burials at Casa Corona (Villena, Spain): direct radiocarbon and palaeodietary evidence of the last forager populations in Eastern Ibe…

2013

Abstract Current knowledge about the Mesolithic–Neolithic transition in the Central and Western Mediterranean European regions is deeply limited by the paucity of Late Mesolithic human osteological data and the presence of chronological gaps covering several centuries between the last foragers and the first archaeological evidence of farming peoples. In this work, we present new data to fill these gaps. We provide direct AMS radiocarbon dating and carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) stable isotope analysis were carried out on bone collagen samples of two single burials from the recently discovered open-air Late Mesolithic site of Casa Corona (Villena, Spain). The results shed new light on the…

Mediterranean Neogene planktonic foraminifer biozonation and biochronology

2019

Abstract Planktonic foraminifera are widely used for biostratigraphy and correlation of Mediterranean Neogene marine sediments, and are a fundamental component in the astronomical tuning of the Neogene Time Scale. Recent developments in high-resolution studies, focused on the astronomical calibration of cyclically marine sediments cropping out in land-based sections and recovered from deep-sea successions, increased the accuracy of stratigraphic ranges of planktonic foraminiferal species improving the biostratigraphic resolution and biochronology. The large amount of data on planktonic foraminifera obtained through quantitative/semiquantitative analyses, published in the recent years, allow…

Pliocene sapropels in the northern Adriatic area: chronology and paleoenvironmental significance

1997

Abstract A detailed stratigraphic and paleoenvironmental study was carried out ona marine section from the Marecchia Valley in the Northern Apennines. The section consists predominantly of deep-water hemipelagic clays intercalated with 15 thick, laminated sapropels (M1–M15). Based on biostratigraphic (calcareous nannoplankton and planktonic foraminifera) and magnetostratigraphic results, the Marecchia Valley section is interpreted as being middle to late Pliocene in age, extending from the upper part of the Gauss Chron to the lower part of the Matuyama Chron. The high resolution stratigraphy allows us to correlate, for the first time, these northern Italian sapropels with sapropels previous…

The Radiocarbon Chronology of Southern Spain's Late Prehistory (5600-1000 cal BC): A Comparative Review

2015

Summary This paper is the first updated review of the scope, depth and problems related to the current radiocarbon chronology of the late prehistory of southern Iberia. The aim is twofold. First, it critically analyses the quantity and quality of radiocarbon dates used to interpret the diverse trajectories of western Mediterranean societies throughout more than four millennia. Secondly, it reviews a set of three different and prominent archaeological phenomena from an inter-regional comparative perspective: primary and secondary burial practices, domestic stone architecture and ditched enclosures. Our long-term, geographically wide-ranging approach locates similarities while highlighting th…

Trace and minor element records in aragonitic bivalve shells as environmental proxies

2019

Abstract Investigation of the geochemical composition of bivalve shells can provide information on changes in the marine environment occurring during the lifespan of an organism. Three species, locally abundant in the Adriatic Sea, were chosen in this study, namely Glycymeris pilosa, Callista chione, and Venus verrucosa. Of these, G. pilosa has the longest lifespan, exceeding 50 years, and therefore presents a potential archive of decadal climate variability. The other two species, C. chione and V. verrucosa, are commercially important. Samples were collected alive by SCUBA diving in the North Adriatic Sea, near Barbariga, Istria. Major growth increments in these shells form on an annual ba…

Geochemistry, Isotope Geochemistry and Geochronology: Application to Field Studies

1990

Structural studies make it possible to reconstruct the metamorphic and deformation history of a rock body but do not provide information on the absolute timing of these processes. Likewise, field observations and structural work alone may not unambiguously identify the protoliths of many high-grade gneisses or the compositional changes associated with migmatisation, anatexis and the general action of fluid and/or vapour phases in a rock. Geochemical research can answer many of these problems but, as most of this research is laboratory-oriented, we limit ourselves to some general outlines of the possible lines of research, so that these can be borne in mind during fieldwork.

Genetic Evidence of the Black Death in the Abbey of San Leonardo (Apulia Region, Italy): Tracing the Cause of Death in Two Individuals Buried with Co…

2021

The Abbey of San Leonardo in Siponto (Apulia, Southern Italy) was an important religious and medical center during the Middle Ages. It was a crossroads for pilgrims heading along the Via Francigena to the Sanctuary of Monte Sant’Angelo and for merchants passing through the harbor of Manfredonia. A recent excavation of Soprintendenza Archeologica della Puglia investigated a portion of the related cemetery, confirming its chronology to be between the end of the 13th and beginning of the 14th century. Two single graves preserved individuals accompanied by numerous coins dating back to the 14th century, hidden in clothes and in a bag tied to the waist. The human remains of the individuals were …