(originally published in the Mammoth Trumpet, June 2001, Vol.16(3):9-11) (a quarterly magazine of the Center for the Study of the First Americans)
ARCHAEOLOGISTS have a new and wonderfully useful tool on the Internet to help in their search for the First Americans-a Website that lists radiocarbon dates from thousands of sites throughout Canada and the Arctic. The Canadian Archaeological Radiocarbon Database (CARD), hosted by the Canadian Archaeological Association, was developed by Richard E. Morlan, curator of Palaeoenvironmental Studies at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Quebec. Selected dates in CARD are presented graphically in a related website called "Mapping Ancient History" (MAH). MAH is presented on the Internet by the Geological Survey of Canada as part of its Earth Science Viewer series. Coauthored by R. E. Morlan, A. S. Dyke, and R. McNeely, MAH uses Geographic Information System software to plot dated sites on a series of 15 basemaps, created by Dyke and V. Prest, that depict the changing environment of North America from the last glacial maximum to the present. The result reveals the spread of ancient animals and people across a continent emerging from the grip of the Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets. The maps show that people may already have been south of the ice at the last glacial maximum. By 4,500 years ago, people were living throughout North America, even in the High Arctic. An eminently usable tool The MAH Website is a masterful marriage of graphic and tabular media. Choose a time period, click on a site, and you get a thumbnail summary of the radiocarbon dates at the site. Want more information? A link to CARD instantly gives exhaustive details—location, kind of material dated, provenience, even the name of the person who submitted the material. Another side of the CARD Website (it is bilingual, English and French)
is a primer that explains fundamentals and technical aspects of carbon-14
dating as part of the Canadian Archaeological
At last, a central repository for widely scattered data CARD is a compilation of radiocarbon measurements that document the age of archaeological and vertebrate paleontological sites in North America. Since radiocarbon dating was invented about 50 years ago, archaeologists and paleontologists have invested heavily in radiocarbon analysis. Unfortunately, tens of thousands of radiocarbon dates have become scattered throughout scores of publications and reports—when they have been published at all. CARD makes the information accessible. The main purpose of the database, says Morlan, is to rescue from oblivion the expensive radiocarbon analysis we all pay for. It is regrettable, he says, that "many of these radiocarbon dates simply end up languishing in gray literature, and many of them are purchased with public money and should be available to the public." He feels the analyses have inherent value; the more interpretation we can bring to them, the more valuable they become. So he became interested in organizing them so that people could have access to them. Not only are CARD elements accessible; ages are normalized (corrected for isotopic fractionation). A great idea that had to wait for technology to catch up The project idea arose, Morlan recalls, at a 1987 workshop convened by Renee Kra at Yale University to plan the scope and content of an international radiocarbon database. Sadly, that first discussion was ahead of its time because technology, especially computer technology, wasn't sufficiently advanced to compile a database of the scope needed. "It just never got off the ground," says Morlan of the International Database project. "There were all kinds of good intentions, but we were a little ahead of our time. Remember, in 1987 not everybody had a desktop computer. Laptops hadn't even been invented." Also missing was uniformity in software. "There was no Internet," he reminds us, "and no e-mail." Without them, you can't communicate freely or transmit data easily. In the mid-1990s, technology finally having evolved to the point where a database was practical, the project slowly came to life. The Canadian Museum of Civilization was the logical hub for the project, according to Morlan. For one thing, the museum had submitted more than 1,500 radiocarbon dates. Starting from those as a base, Morlan began collecting other data sets by laboriously poring through the journal Radiocarbon and by reading page by page through other journals and reports, collecting and tabulating radiocarbon dates. He sent out requests to researchers and institutions to supply data sets. Many of those first data sets arrived as attachments to e-mail messages, the way Morlan now receives most of his data. He makes an effort to trace every radiocarbon date back to its original report—all from his computer. "I haven't done any traveling for this project yet," he confesses, "except in cyberspace." Satisfaction comes from seeing it used—and there's more to come Morlan is gratified that the database is being heavily used. Some Arctic archaeologists are using it, he says, "as a way to tease out the degree of overlap between the Dorset and Thule cultures." Other researchers are using the bibliographic component of the Website to write scientific papers. For one researcher in England, the database is a source of information on carbon-13 ratios of bison bones for a paleoenvironmental study. Other researchers find the faunal component useful. Although oriented
principally toward archaeology and radiocarbon dates, CARD also includes
vertebrate data that are being incorporated into the FAUNMAP database
established at the Illinois State Museum. FAUNMAP will soon return
to the Internet via the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. "FAUNMAP lets
us look at the history of any mammal species
There is good reason, according to Morlan, to include vertebrate paleontological sites in the database. For one thing, archaeological and paleobiological studies sometimes overlap; and it isn't always clear whether a paleobiological find or locality also has archaeological significance. By demonstrating that the postglacial environment at a site was suitable to mammals and humans, paleobiological evidence can open the door for further investigation. Although there are other databases, CARD is widely acclaimed the most complete and extensive. (See, for example, John W. Hoopes's article, "Accessing Proof that the Past is Past: Radiocarbon Databases Online," in the 2001 SAA Archaeological Record, Vol. I, no. I, pp. 36-38.) Delaware, for example, has a radiocarbon database, but like most databases it is little more than a list of laboratory numbers and ages, with no analysis. Morlan readily concedes that CARD coverage for the U.S. is still inadequate. "For some states, we have hardly any information," he admits. "For others, we have a fairly comprehensive database." CARD will remain a work in progress, with continual updating. Today it is eminently usable, an organized, readily accessible source of radiocarbon dates, something not previously available. "At least everybody is reading off the same page," Morlan notes. Chronologies inevitably benefit from uniform data and analysis. Hard-core researchers aren't the only ones who benefit from the Website. It also has a wealth of information for casual investigators of the First Americans controversy. You can find answers to such fundamental questions about radiocarbon dating as. What is radiocarbon? What is radiocarbon dating? What can be dated? How is radiocarbon measured? Why do radiocarbon dates have plus-or-minus signs? What are the age limits of radiocarbon dating? What does "B.P." mean? What is the importance of association? There's also background information for the seasoned and amateur researcher on bone and bone collagen dating, calibrating radiocarbon dates, and laboratory methods of processing samples for radiocarbon dating. Morlan emphasizes that the success of CARD depends on the archaeologists that use it. Because it is an evolving working document, admittedly incomplete and containing errors, it requires the participation of archaeologists to correct erroneous information and to supply radiocarbon dates to broaden the scope. "I've tried to load the Website up with a variety of useful features," says Morlan, "to make it an easy-to-use tool for separating useful from non-useful information." Try it, and you'll agree he has succeeded marvelously. George Wisner How to contact the principal in this article:
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Although the
database is far from complete and may contain scattered errors, Dr. Morlan
sees it as a major first step in helping researchers establish the chronological
framework required in all archaeological studies. "Yes, I am very satisfied
with the results so far," Morlan said in a telephone interview. He believes
the database, one of the most complete anywhere in the world, gives archaeologists
a valuable research tool. "The main thing now," he says, "is to maintain
the database and expand it into the U.S. I'm working with state archaeologists,
who are happy to have this material available for resource management and
for research purposes." The next step is to link the U.S. dates in MAH
to detailed records in CARD.