The researchers will use the geochemical signature of shells from the European Limpet, Patella vulgata, collected from archaeological sites along the Scottish coast, to reconstruct surface seawater temperature (SST) seasonality during the mid-to-late Holocene. The specific goal of the project is to test hypotheses related to shifts in winter/summer seasonality during the Sub-boreal to Sub-Atlantic transition and the Medieval-Climate Anomaly to Little-Ice-Age transition.
The broader impacts include support of graduate students and strong international collaboration. Furthermore, research methods and results will be broadly disseminated through exhibits and lectures at the North Carolina Museum of Natural History, and the Orkney and Mull Museums in Scotland. Finally, software developed through the project will be made freely available to the international scientific community.
