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ABSTRACT Considered in isolation, the radiocarbon ( 14 C) dates on short-lived plant remains from the Jean-Baptiste Lainé (formerly Mantle) site, Ontario, yield an ambiguous result: more or less similar probability around AD 1500 or alternatively around AD 1600. This village site, likely of no more than ca. 20–30 years total duration, illustrates the challenges of high-resolution dating across periods with a reversal/plateau in the 14 C calibration curve. Another problem we identify is the tendency for dating probability for short-duration sites to sometimes be overly compressed as dating intensity increases under analysis with OxCal, and for probability to shift away from the real age range especially during reversal/plateau episodes. To address both issues additional constraints are necessary. While a tree-ring sequenced 14 C “wiggle-match” is the best option where available, we investigate how, in the absence of such an option, use of the in-built age in wood-charcoal samples can be used to distinguish the likely correct date range. This approach can resolve ambiguities in dating, e.g., for shorter-duration Late Woodland village sites in northeastern North America, but also other short-duration cases corresponding with reversal/plateau episodes on the 14 C calibration curve. We place the Jean-Baptiste Lainé site most likely in a range between ca. AD 1595–1626 (95.4% probability). 

This article presents results to date of the Dating Iroquoia project. Our objective is to develop high-precision radiocarbon chronologies for northeastern North American archaeology. Here, we employ Bayesian chronological modeling of 184 AMS radiocarbon dates derived from 42 Northern Iroquoian village sites in five regional sequences in order to construct new date estimates. The resulting revised chronology demands a rethinking of key assumptions about cultural process in the region regarding the directionality and timing of processes of coalescence and conflict and the introduction of European trade goods. The results suggest that internal conflict may have preceded confederacy formation among the Haudenosaunee but not the Wendat, as has been previously assumed. External conflict, previously thought to have begun in the early seventeenth century, began more than a century earlier. New data also indicate that the timing and distribution of European materials were more variable between communities than acknowledged by the logic underlying traditional trade-good chronologies. This enhanced chronological resolution permits the development and application of archaeological theories that center the lived experiences and relational histories of Iroquoian communities, as opposed to the generalized thinking that has dominated past explanatory frameworks 

ABSTRACT Reversals and plateaus in the radiocarbon ( 14 C) calibration curve lead to similar 14 C ages applying to a wide range of calendar dates, creating imprecision, ambiguity, and challenges for archaeological dating. Even with Bayesian chronological modeling, such periods remain a problem when no known order—e.g., a stratigraphic sequence—exists, and especially if site durations are relatively short. Using the reversal/plateau AD 1480–1630 and the archaeology of northeastern North America as our example, we consider possible strategies to improve chronological resolution across such reversal/plateau periods in the absence of stratigraphic sequences, including uses of wood-charcoal TPQs from even very short wiggle-matches, and site phase duration constraints based on ethnohistoric and archaeological evidence. 

Reversals and plateaus in the radiocarbon (14C) calibration curve lead to similar 14C ages applying to a wide range of calendar dates, creating imprecision, ambiguity, and challenges for archaeological dating. Even with Bayesian chronological modeling, such periods remain a problem when no known order—e.g., a stratigraphic sequence—exists, and especially if site durations are relatively short. Using the reversal/plateau AD 1480–1630 and the archaeology of northeastern North America as our example, we consider possible strategies to improve chronological resolution across such reversal/plateau periods in the absence of stratigraphic sequences, including uses of wood-charcoal TPQs from even very short wiggle-matches, and site phase duration constraints based on ethnohistoric and archaeological evidence. 

La datation par le radiocarbone est rarement utilisée dans l'archéologie de l'Amérique du Nord, historique ou de l’époque des contacts, en raison des particularités de la courbe de calibration qui donnent lieu aux dates ambiguës pour le calendrier. Nous explorons le potentiel et les exigences pour les datations radiocarbone et d'analyses Bayésienne afin de créer un calendrier pour les sites de début de la période contact dans le nord-est de l'Amérique du Nord séparent des hypothèses et approximations impliquées dans les constructions temporelles basées sur les marchandises commerciales et d'autres corrélats archéologiques. Comme démonstration, nous utilisons la modélisation chronologique Bayésienne pour analyser les dates par le radiocarbone sur des échantillons éphémères et un poteau de quatre sites Huron-Wendat Arendarhonon (Benson, Sopher, Ball et Warminster) afin d’établir une chronologie indépendante. Nous trouvons que Warminster était probablement occupé pendant 1615–1616, ce qui en fait le candidat le plus probable pour le site de Cahiagué visité par Samuel de Champlain en 1615–1616, par rapport à l'autre alternative principale suggérée, Ball, qui est plus ancien, comme les sites Sopher et Benson. En fait, le site Benson semble dater d'environ cinquante ans (~50) plus tôt que prévu. Nous présentons les méthodes employées pour arriver à ces nouvelles estimations d’âge indépendant et affirmons qu'une re-datation absolue des sites de l'époque historique est nécessaire pour évaluer avec précision les interprétations existantes basées sur la datation relative et les récits régionaux associés. 

A time frame for late Iroquoian prehistory is firmly established on the basis of the presence/absence of European trade goods and other archeological indicators. However, independent dating evidence is lacking. We use 86 radiocarbon measurements to test and (re)define existing chronological understanding. Warminster, often associated with Cahiagué visited by S. de Champlain in 1615–1616 CE, yields a compatible radiocarbon-based age. However, a well-known late prehistoric site sequence in southern Ontario, Draper-Spang-Mantle, usually dated ~1450–1550, yields much later radiocarbon-based dates of ~1530–1615. The revised time frame dramatically rewrites 16th-century contact-era history in this region. Key processes of violent conflict, community coalescence, and the introduction of European goods all happened much later and more rapidly than previously assumed. Our results suggest the need to reconsider current understandings of contact-era dynamics across northeastern North America.