Carbon stable isotope analysis of cereal remains as a way to reconstruct water availability: preliminary results

Flohr, P., Muldner, G. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4513-9263 and Jenkins, E. (2011) Carbon stable isotope analysis of cereal remains as a way to reconstruct water availability: preliminary results. Water History, 3 (2). pp. 121-144. ISSN 1877-7244 doi: 10.1007/s12685-011-0036-5

Abstract/Summary

Reconstructing past water availability, both as rainfall and irrigation, is important to answer questions about the way society reacts to climate and its changes and the role of irrigation in the development of social complexity. Carbon stable isotope analysis of archaeobotanical remains is a potentially valuable method for reconstructing water availability. To further define the relationship between water availability and plant carbon isotope composition and to set up baseline values for the Southern Levant, grains of experimentally grown barley and sorghum were studied. The cereal crops were grown at three stations under five different irrigation regimes in Jordan. Results indicate that a positive but weak relationship exists between irrigation regime and total water input of barley grains, but no relationship was found for sorghum. The relationship for barley is site-specific and inter-annual variation was present at Deir ‘Alla, but not at Ramtha and Khirbet as-Samra.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/35721
Identification Number/DOI	10.1007/s12685-011-0036-5
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Science > School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Science > Scientific Archaeology Science > School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Science > Department of Archaeology
Publisher	Springer
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