Radiocarbon, Bayesian chronological modeling and early European metal circulation in the sixteenth-century AD Mohawk River Valley, USA

European metal artifacts in assemblages from sites predating the physical presence of Europeans in Northern Iroquoia in present-day New York, USA and southern Ontario, Canada have been used as chronological markers for the mid-sixteenth century AD. In the Mohawk River Valley of New York, European metal artifacts at sites pre-dating the physical presence of Europeans have been used by archaeologists as a terminus post quem (TPQ) of 1525 to 1550 in regional chronologies. This has been done under the assumption that these metals did not begin to circulate until after sustained European presence on the northern Atlantic coast beginning in 1517. Here we use Bayesian chronological modeling of a large set of radiocarbon dates to refine our understanding of early European metal circulation in the Mohawk River Valley. Our results indicate that European iron and cuprous metals arrived earlier than previously thought, by the beginning of the sixteenth century, and cannot be used as TPQs. Together with recent Bayesian chronological analyses of radiocarbon dates from several sites in southern Ontario, these results add to our evolving understanding of intra-regional variation in Northern Iroquoia of sixteenth-century AD circulation and adoption of European goods.如今坐落于美国纽约州与加拿大安大略省南部的北易洛魁（Northern Iroquoia）地区，在欧洲人实际抵达前的遗址出土器物组合中发现的欧洲金属器物，曾被用作公元16世纪中期的年代标志物。在纽约州莫霍克河谷，考古学家曾将早于欧洲人实际抵达的遗址中出土的欧洲金属器物，设定为区域年代学中公元1525至1550年的年代始点（terminus post quem, TPQ）。该做法的理论前提为，这些金属器物直至1517年欧洲人在北大西洋北岸建立持续定居点后，才开始流通。本研究通过对大量放射性碳定年数据开展贝叶斯年代学建模（Bayesian chronological modeling），深化了学界对莫霍克河谷地区早期欧洲金属器物流通情况的认知。研究结果显示，欧洲铁质与铜质器物的传入时间早于此前学界认知，可追溯至16世纪初，因此无法再作为年代始点（TPQ）使用。结合近期针对安大略省南部多处遗址放射性碳定年数据开展的贝叶斯年代学分析，本研究结果进一步丰富了我们对公元16世纪北易洛魁地区内部各区域间欧洲商品流通与接纳模式差异的不断深化的认知。