Skip to main content

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

Flohr, P., Muldner, G. and Jenkins, E. L., 2011. Carbon stable isotope analysis of cereal remains as a way to reconstruct water availability: preliminary results. Water History.

Full text available as:

[img]
Preview
PDF (Online first)
Flohr_2011.pdf - Accepted Version

801kB

DOI: 10.1007/s12685-011-0036-5

Abstract

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
ISSN:1877-7236
Uncontrolled Keywords:Carbon isotopes, water, irrigation, Jordan
Group:Faculty of Science & Technology
ID Code:18538
Deposited By: Dr Emma L. Jenkins
Deposited On:26 Sep 2011 07:59
Last Modified:14 Mar 2022 13:40

Downloads

Downloads per month over past year

More statistics for this item...
Repository Staff Only -