rapanui-radiocarbon

A repository of radiocarbon data for Rapa Nui

This repository is intended to provide access to various tables of radiocarbon dates that exist for Rapa Nui. One challenge we have found in doing analyses of radiocarbon samples is that the data are often in tables as appendices but not included in an easy-to-share format (such as CSV). Thus when working on projects involving analyses of dates, one must painfully reenter the data. At the same time, many of these tables have errors in them as they reflect incorrectly coded data or typos. These problems mean that the data have to be updated/corrected. It is our intention for this repository to provide versions of the original data (so one can redo analyses as originally conducted by authors) but also corrected versions. Note that some of the files report dates that are reported in other publications.

Current Datasets

Ayers 1975

• ./data/Ayers-1975-CulturalDyamics.csv -- Ayers, W. S. (1975). Easter Island: Investigations in prehsitory cultural dynamics. Columbia, SC: Unpublished Manuscript, University of South Carolina.

Khamnuevae et al 2018

• ./data/Khamnuevae-EtAl-2018.csv -- Khamnueva, S., Mieth, A., Dreibrodt, S., Out, W. A., Madella, M., & Bork, H.-R. (2018). Interpretation of prehistoric reddish pit fillings on Easter Island: A micromorphological perspective. Spanish Journal of Social Science, 8(2), 236–257. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Interpretation-of-prehistoric-reddish-pit-fillings-Khamnueva-Mieth/d37140858411620109087b6d1e535dc2f536bef8

Out et al 2020

• ./data/OutEtAl-2020-RapaNuiPigments.csv -- Out, W. A., Mieth, A., Pla-Rabés, S., Madella, M., Khamnueva-Wendt, S., Langan, C., et al. (2021). Prehistoric pigment production on Rapa Nui (Easter Island), c. AD 1200–1650: New insights from Vaipú and Poike based on phytoliths, diatoms and 14 C dating. The Holocene, 31(4), 592–606. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683620981671

Mulrooney et al 2021

• ./data/MulrooneyEtAl-2021-OriginalData.csv -- Mulrooney, M., Van Tilburg, J. A., Horn, A., & McCoy, P. C. (2021). Refining the Chronology of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) Settlement. Journal of Pacific Archaeology. https://pacificarchaeology.org/index.php/journal/article/view/318

Dinapoli et al 2020

• ./data/DinapoliEtAl-2020-ModelBasedApproach.csv -- DiNapoli, R.J., Rieth, T.M., Lipo, C.P., Hunt, T.L., 2020. A model-based approach to the tempo of “collapse”: The case of Rapa Nui (Easter Island). Journal of Archaeological Science 116, 105094. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2020.105094

Hunt and Lipo 2006

• ./data/HuntAndLipo-2006-Anakena-DuneExcavation.csv -- Hunt T.L., Lipo CP. 2006. Late colonization of Easter island. Science 311:1603–1606. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1121879 ** Note: the original Beta Analytic report for these dates is included here. These data have been updated to reflect the accurate SD values for Beta-196713. The Beta Analytic original report is included in the repository. The file also includes 3 new dates measured from rattus exulans bone that were collected as part of the excavation. The Oxford report for these dates is included in this repository.

Mulrooney 2013

• ./data/Mulrooney-Appendix-Data.csv -- Mulrooney, M.A., 2013. An island-wide assessment of the chronology of settlement and land use on Rapa Nui (Easter Island) based on radiocarbon data. Journal of Archaeological Science 40, 4377–4399.

Lima et al. 2020

• ./data/Lima-Et-Al-2020-Original-Data.csv -- Lima, M., E. M. Gayo, C. Latorre, et al. 2020 Ecology of the Collapse of Rapa Nui Society. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 287(1929). Royal Society: 20200662. ** Note: the Lima et al. 2020 data consist of Class 1 and Class 2 dates from Mulrooney 2013 plus dates from Commendador et al. 2014.

Commendador et al. 2014

• ./data/Commendador-EtAl-2014-Original-Data.csv -- Commendador, A.S., Dudgeon, J.V., Fuller, B.T., Finney, B.P., 2014. Radiocarbon dating human skeletal material on Rapa Nui: evaluating the effect of uncertainty in marine-derived carbon. Radiocarbon 56, 277–294.

Stevenson et al. 2019

• ./data/Stevenson-EtAl-2019-Original-Data.csv -- Stevenson, C.M., Williams, C., Carpenter, E., Hunt, C.S., Novak, S.W., 2019. Architecturally Modified Caves on Rapa Nui: Post-European Contact Ritual Spaces? Rapa Nui Journal 32, 1–36.

Simpson et al. 2018

• ./data/Simpson-EtAl-2018-Original-Data.csv -- Toki (adze) and Pick Production During Peak Moai (Statue) Manufacture: Geochemical and radiometric analyses reveal prehistoric provenance, timing and use of Easter Island’s fine-grain basalt resources, 2018. . Journal of Pacific Archaeology 9, 12–34.

Sherwood et al. 2019

• ./data/Sherwood-EtAl-2019-Original-Data.csv -- Sherwood, S.C., Van Tilburg, J.A., Barrier, C.R., Horrocks, M., Dunn, R.K., Ramírez-Aliaga, J.M., 2019. New excavations in Easter Island’s statue quarry: Soil fertility, site formation and chronology. Journal of Archaeological Science 111, 104994. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2019.104994

Stevenson et al. 2019 Hiva Hiva

• ./data/Stevenson-EtAl-2019-HivaHiva-Original-Data.csv - Stevenson, C.M., Ladefoged, T.N., Chadwick, O.A., 2019. Taking a Close Look at Ground Level: The Ancient Gardens and Population Dynamics on the Hiva Hiva Lava Flow, Rapa Nui, Chile, in: Haoa Cardinali, S., Ingersoll, K.B., Ingersoll Jr., D.W., Stevenson, C.M. (Eds.), Cultural and Environmental Change on Rapa Nui. Routledge, New York, pp. 1–23.

Vogt and Kühlem 2019

• ./data/Vogt-and-Kühulem-2019-Original-Data.csv -- Vogt, B., Kühlem, A., 2019. New Rituals and Technology: By the Quebrada of Ava Ranga Uka A Toroke Hau, About Landscape Transformation and the Significance of Water and Trees, in: Ingersoll, K.B., Ingersoll Jr., D.W., Haoa Cardinali, S., Stevenson, C.M. (Eds.), Cultural and Environmental Change on Rapa Nui. Routledge, New York, p. 1-20.