Published April 23, 2025 | Version v3
Dataset Open

Environmental proxy data from the Chap archaeological site (Kyrgyzstan)

Authors/Creators

  • 1. ROR icon La Trobe University

Description

Sediment particle size, magnetic susceptibility, loss-on-ignition (LOI) and pollen data from the Chap archaeological site (described in Motuzaite Matuzeviciute et al. 2019, 2021, 2022).

Particle size analysis using Malvern Mastersizer 2000 after treatment with HCl and H2O2.

Particle size end members (EM 1 & 2) modelled using Analysize package (Paterson & Heslop 2015) for Matlab.

Dimensionless magnetic susceptibility (Κ) readings were taken using a Bartington MS2B at low (0.46 kHz) and high (4.6 kHz) frequencies. Mass magnetic susceptibility (χ) was calculated by dividing Κ by sample bulk density. The percentage of frequency dependent components (χ­­fd%) was calculated as 100[(χlf – χhf)/χlf].

For LOI calculations, samples were weighed, fired at 550 degrees C for 4 hours, re-weighed then fired at 950 degrees C for 4 hours. 

Pollen was extracted following heavy liquid methods described in Leipe et al. (2019).

Units in dataset:

Centimetre (cm)

Relative abundance (%)

Absolute abundance (#)

Sorting (σg) – after Folk & Ward (1957)

Mass magnetic susceptibility (SI/g)

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Additional details

Related works

Is supplement to
Journal article: 10.1016/j.quaint.2025.109803 (DOI)

References

  • Folk, R. L., & Ward, W. C. (1957). Brazos River bar [Texas]; a study in the significance of grain size parameters. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 27(1), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.1306/74D70646-2B21-11D7-8648000102C1865D
  • Leipe, C., Kobe, F., & Müller, S. (2019). Testing the performance of sodium polytungstate and lithium heteropolytungstate as non-toxic dense media for pollen extraction from lake and peat sediment samples. Quaternary International, 516, 207–214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2018.01.029
  • Motuzaite Matuzeviciute, G., Tabaldiev, K., Hermes, T., Ananyevskaya, E., Grikpedis, M., Luneau, E., Merkyte, I., & Rouse, L. M. (2019). High-Altitude Agro-Pastoralism in the Kyrgyz Tien Shan: New Excavations of the Chap Farmstead (1065–825 cal b.c. ). Journal of Field Archaeology, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/00934690.2019.1672128
  • Motuzaite Matuzeviciute, G., Mir-Makhamad, B., & Tabaldiev, K. (2021). The first comprehensive archaeobotanical analysis of prehistoric agriculture in Kyrgyzstan. Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, 30(6), Article 6. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-021-00827-0
  • Motuzaite Matuzeviciute, G., Van Unen, M., Karaliute, R., & Tabaldiev, K. (2022). The resilience of pioneer crops in the highlands of Central Asia: Archaeobotanical investigation at the Chap II site in Kyrgyzstan. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 10, 934340. https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2022.934340
  • Paterson, G. A., & Heslop, D. (2015). New methods for unmixing sediment grain size data. Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems, 16(12), Article 12. https://doi.org/10.1002/2015GC006070