Optical dating of St. Lawrence Iroquoian ceramics from the Mailhot-Curran site, southern Québec

L. Forget Brisson, M. Lamothe, S. Huot, F. Hardy, C. Chapdelaine

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Infrared-stimulated luminescence dating (IRSL) was applied on pottery sherds from the Mailhot-Curran archaeological site (BgFn-2), a Late Woodland period village located in the Saint-Anicet region, southern Québec (Canada). This site witnessed the presence of St. Lawrence Iroquoians and is thought to have been occupied roughly 500 years ago. The main goal of this study is to chronologically constrain the occupation of this site in order to establish a fine chronological sequence for the occupations of various sites found in this area. The IRSL is used to complement previous dating methods used for Mailhot-Curran (radiocarbon and seriation of the archaeological remains).Dating results are reported for ten samples of local ceramics made from Quaternary Champlain Sea clay. Luminescence dating on fine grains was preferentially used, since feldspar luminescence typically emit a decent luminescence signal. Although the latter was rather dim, anomalous fading was measured and luminescence ages were successfully corrected. It is therefore possible to validate the occupation age of this site.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)392-397
Number of pages6
JournalQuaternary Geochronology
Volume30
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 1 2015
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Ceramic dating
  • IRSL
  • Late Woodland
  • Luminescence dating
  • Northeast North American archaeology
  • Southern Québec
  • St. Lawrence Iroquoians
  • St. Lawrence River Valley

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Geology
  • Stratigraphy
  • Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous)

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