First Name:
Karen
Last Name:
Stevens
Major Department:
Anthropology
Thesis Director:
Cheryl Claassen
Date of Thesis:
May 2011
Fluoride dating has proven to be among the fastest and most affordable methods for relative dating of archaeological human and faunal remains. Fluoride concentration increases in bone samples with burial time, allowing for the determination of the chronology of burial, where higher percentages of fluoride represent older specimens. The percentage of fluoride was chemically determined for fifty-two human bone samples from an archaeological site in McLean County, Kentucky using potentiometry with standard addition. Samples came from the Kirkland site (15McL12), a shell-free mortuary belonging to the Green River Valley sacred site system. Previously obtained radiocarbon dates have placed the usage of Kirkland from 8307 to 3998 cal B.P. in the Archaic period. Fluoride analysis demonstrated that the majority of adult burials are older than 6607-6298 cal B.P.