Salazar Guerra, Carlos Enrique (2024) Testing a methodology for high-resolution Archaeoentomology to examine human-environment interactions at L’Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.
Full text not available from this repository.
Abstract
The UNESCO World Heritage site of L’Anse aux Meadows has been the home of many cultures, such as the Maritime Archaic, Pre-Inuit Dorset, Norse, and groups ancestral to the Beothuk/Innu. It is commonly agreed that the presence of these cultures at the site were seasonal and/or short-lived. Therefore, any attempt to provide meaningful insights into past human-environment interactions at L’Anse aux Meadows using palaeoenvironmental analysis requires a high-temporal resolution sampling method. This thesis has designed a methodology to address this challenge, by building on the ‘standard’ archaeoentomological methodology and drawing lessons from other methods deployed in Human Paleoecology, most specifically palynology. A custom-made sampling tin was used to collect a 40-cm thick peat monolith located within a 20-m distanced from the nearest Norse building at the site. Within the monolith, vertically thin (0.5 cm-thick) and volumetrically small (c. 5 mL) subsamples were analyzed for palaeoecological data (beetle and charcoal concentrations as well as loss-on-ignition). This data paired with radiocarbon date age-depth modelling identified the section of the whole monolith worthwhile examining for human-mediated beetle biodiversity change as being located between 40.5 and 30 cm deep, which covered a period of time when the Pre-Inuit Dorset, Norse, and groups ancestral to the Beothuk/Innu occupied the site. Volumetrically small subsamples permitted to test and select a weak alkaline chemical treatment ideal to ease the sorting of clean beetle sclerites. From this 10-cm thick section, a total of 21 subsamples (each 0.5-cm thick) yielded a total of 621 individual beetles, with a recovery rate of 6 MNI/mL, much higher in contrast to the ‘standard’ archaeoentomological method (anywhere between 5 and 50 MNI/L). The designed methodology successfully localized a section containing a ca. 1,000-years record of local beetle assemblage change, representing a palaeoecological reconstruction resolved at a time scale close to 34 years (on average) per subsample. The beetle assemblages reported for the Indigenous hunter-gatherers and the Norse presented high concentration of Omaliinae and Aleocharinae subfamilies, joined by Ptiliidae, Elateridae, Cryptophagidae, and Latridiidae families, all of which benefit from nutrient-rich microhabitats. The Norse assemblage also included members of the Micropeplinae, Pselaphinae, Paederinae, and Staphylininae subfamilies and Nitidulidae family, all of which thrive in microhabitats found in forest litter or similar habitats that could have been maintained inside the Norse buildings.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Masters) |
|---|---|
| URI: | http://research.library.mun.ca/id/eprint/16690 |
| Item ID: | 16690 |
| Additional Information: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 97-135) -- Restricted until September 256, 2025 |
| Keywords: | archaeoentomology, palaeoecology, L'Anse aux Meadows, peat bogs, beetles |
| Department(s): | Humanities and Social Sciences, Faculty of > Archaeology |
| Date: | September 2024 |
| Date Type: | Submission |
| Library of Congress Subject Heading: | Paleoecology--Newfoundland and Labrador; Peat bogs--Newfoundland and Labrador; Beetles--Newfoundland and Labrador; Palynology--Newfoundland and Labrador; L'Anse aux Meadows (N.L.) |
Actions (login required)
 |
View Item |
