Walrus population-specific marine reservoir offsets (ΔR) for calibration of radiocarbon dates: Implications for Arctic chronologies and medieval trade.
- 1NTNU University Museum, Trondheim, Norway.
- 2Natural History Museum, London, UK.
Abstract
Walruses have long played a vital role in Arctic subsistence and commercial economies, yet accurate radiocarbon dating of walrus-derived archaeological materials is complicated by regional variation in marine reservoir effects. This study presents new ΔR values derived from 31 new and 15 legacy radiocarbon dates on known-age walrus specimens spanning multiple populations of Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus and O. r. divergens. The results reveal substantial inter-population variability, with ΔR values ranging from -140 (Franz Josef Land) to +295 (Pacific), underscoring the importance of population-specific calibration. A pooled ΔR of +17±12 was calculated for western Greenland and the Canadian Arctic-regions central to the medieval Norse ivory trade-and applied to 12 walrus rostra and ivory artefacts excavated in Trondheim, Norway. The resulting calibrated dates are from the 11th to early 14th centuries CE, confirming that seemingly anomalous post-15th-century finds are residual rather than evidence of continued trade. An alternative ΔR estimate of -110 ± 35, derived solely from archaeological context dates, suggests potential time lags between harvest and deposition. These findings demonstrate the value of known-age walrus ΔR data for refining chronologies of Arctic exploitation and long-distance trade, while highlighting the need for provenance studies in archaeological dating and both the pertinence and limitations of mollusc-based reservoir corrections.
Related
- Radiocarbon dating of wooden beams at Herodium palace-fortress: Modeling tree-felling events and their implications on site chronology
- Geometric Reliability of Neural Population Codes: Sampling Calibration and Within-Session Nonstationarity
- Temperature-Dependent Development, Survival, and Population Growth of Novius penicillioides: Implications for Biological Control of Icerya jacobsoni Under Climate Warming
- Radiocarbon dating of bird and mammal eye lenses reveals long-term chronology
- Stored carbohydrates buffer Bomb and Suess radiocarbon effects in maple leaves across a 65-year Ottawa region record
BibTeX
@article{philippsen2026walrus,
title = {{Walrus population-specific marine reservoir offsets (ΔR) for calibration of radiocarbon dates: Implications for Arctic chronologies and medieval trade.}},
author = {Bente Philippsen and Katrien Dierickx and Mohsen Falahati-Anbaran and Erin H Kunisch and Thomas C A Royle and Richard Sabin and Eirik Sollid and James H Barrett},
journal = {The Holocene},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.1177/09596836261468295},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42953551},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Walrus population-specific marine reservoir offsets (ΔR) for calibration of radiocarbon dates: Implications for Arctic chronologies and medieval trade.
AU - Bente Philippsen
AU - Katrien Dierickx
AU - Mohsen Falahati-Anbaran
AU - Erin H Kunisch
AU - Thomas C A Royle
AU - Richard Sabin
AU - Eirik Sollid
AU - James H Barrett
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/15
JO - The Holocene
DO - 10.1177/09596836261468295
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42953551
AB - Walruses have long played a vital role in Arctic subsistence and commercial economies, yet accurate radiocarbon dating of walrus-derived archaeological materials is complicated by regional variation in marine reservoir effects. This study presents new ΔR values derived from 31 new and 15 legacy radiocarbon dates on known-age walrus specimens spanning multiple populations of Odobenus rosmarus rosmarus and O. r. divergens. The results reveal substantial inter-population variability, with ΔR values ranging from -140 (Franz Josef Land) to +295 (Pacific), underscoring the importance of population-specific calibration. A pooled ΔR of +17±12 was calculated for western Greenland and the Canadian Arctic-regions central to the medieval Norse ivory trade-and applied to 12 walrus rostra and ivory artefacts excavated in Trondheim, Norway. The resulting calibrated dates are from the 11th to early 14th centuries CE, confirming that seemingly anomalous post-15th-century finds are residual rather than evidence of continued trade. An alternative ΔR estimate of -110 ± 35, derived solely from archaeological context dates, suggests potential time lags between harvest and deposition. These findings demonstrate the value of known-age walrus ΔR data for refining chronologies of Arctic exploitation and long-distance trade, while highlighting the need for provenance studies in archaeological dating and both the pertinence and limitations of mollusc-based reservoir corrections.
SN - 0959-6836
SN - 1477-0911
ER -