Black pitch, carved histories: Radiocarbon dating, wood species identification and strontium isotope analysis of prehistoric wood carvings from Trinidad's Pitch Lake Vrije Universiteit Brussel KU Leuven
We report on the results of a multi-disciplinary project (including wood identification, radiocarbon dating and strontium isotope analysis) focused on a collection of pre-Columbian wooden carvings and human remains from Pitch Lake, Trinidad. While the lake's unusual conditions are conducive to the survival of organic artefacts, they also present particular challenges for analysis. There is a loss of any contextual association beyond that of the ...