Dating of prehistoric caves sediments and flints using 10Be and 26Al in quartz from Tabun Cave (Israel): Progress report

Berkovits, D.; Hass, M.; Hui, SK; Kaufman, Aaron; Paul, M.; Weiner, Steve

doi:10.1016/s0168-583x(00)00349-9

Cited by 23 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…But to unequivocally prove there is no remaining meteoric 10 Be, we are performing sequential dissolution experiments and will remeasure 26 Al (with carrier addition) on an aliquot of this chert. We note that Boaretto et al (2000) also found that flint tools could be effectively cleaned of meteoric 10 Be using standard procedures.…”

Section: Chemical Treatment and Ams Measurement Of The Chert Samplesmentioning

confidence: 73%

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Can We Use Cosmogenic Isotopes to Date Stone Artifacts?

Ivy‐Ochs¹,

Wüst

Kubik

et al. 2001

Radiocarbon

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ABSTRACT. Two chert artifacts from the region near Luxor, Egypt have yielded concentrations of cosmogenic 10 Be that allow calculation of nominal exposure ages of 326,000 and 304,000 years. Both artifacts are flakes that were collected atop limestone benches of the Eocene Thebes Formation which form cliffs along the west side of the Nile. The site is at elevation 240 m and is about 15 km from the Nile. Tools associated with these artifacts can be attributed to the Late Acheulean or early Middle Paleolithic (the transition has been suggested to have been on the order of 250,000-300,000 years ago). This area, where abundant chert nodules have weathered out, has been a collection, extraction, and fabrication site since the Early Paleolithic (since at least 400,000 years ago). Surface exposure dating records all periods of exposure. That means these ages represent composite ages, comprised of exposures both before and after working. But what fraction of the 10 Be concentration we have measured was acquired before the flakes were produced? Here we propose several approaches to deconvolute the different exposure periods and better approximate the real age of the artifacts. As there is no a priori reason that the two ages should agree with the typological ages of the artifacts, nor for the two independent ages to agree, these first results are especially exciting and intriguing.

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Section: Chemical Treatment and Ams Measurement Of The Chert Samplesmentioning

confidence: 73%

“…We present here the first two 10 Be results for two different chert artifacts. Technically, the analysis of chert does not appear to pose unique problems (see also Boaretto et al 2000). On the other hand, we are clearly in the early stages of the exposure dating of stone tools.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 88%

Can We Use Cosmogenic Isotopes to Date Stone Artifacts?

Ivy‐Ochs¹,

Wüst

Kubik

et al. 2001

Radiocarbon

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“…The samples were measured at the 14UD Pelletron Koffler accelerator of the Weizmann Institute (Israel) [4] and at the EN Tandem Accelerator of ETH/PSI (Switzerland). For details see [6], [18] and [21].…”

Section: Sample Preparation Formentioning

confidence: 99%

Flint procurement strategies in the Late Lower Palaeolithic recorded by in situ produced cosmogenic 10Be in Tabun and Qesem Caves (Israel)

Verri¹,

Barkai²,

Gopher³

et al. 2005

Journal of Archaeological Science

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“…Beryllium is eluted with 1 M HCl and aluminum with 4.5 M HCl. The two separated fractions are precipitated as hydroxides at pH 8.5 and then ignited in the oven at 850°C to obtain BeO and Al 2 O 3 ; the latter is stored for 26 Al analysis. The entire chemical procedure is performed in Teflon containers to reduce to a minimum the presence of 10 B, which severely interferes with the 10 Be measurement.…”

Section: Analytical Proceduresmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flint mining in prehistory recorded by in situ -produced cosmogenic ¹⁰ Be

Verri

Barkai

Bordeanu

et al. 2004

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

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The development of mining to acquire the best raw materials for producing stone tools represents a breakthrough in human technological and intellectual development. We present a new approach to studying the history of flint mining, using in situproduced cosmogenic 10 Be concentrations. We show that the raw material used to manufacture flint artifacts Ϸ300,000 years old from Qesem Cave (Israel) was most likely surface-collected or obtained from shallow quarries, whereas artifacts of the same period from Tabun Cave (Israel) were made of flint originating from layers 2 or more meters deep, possibly mined or quarried by humans.T he first archaeological evidence of the use of stone tools dates to Ϸ2.5 million years ago (1). In prehistory, one of the most widely used raw materials was flint, a microcrystalline form of quartz. Because flint quality varies, the choice of raw materials for producing tools is important; flint mined from underground is generally more easily workable than surface-collected material, which is not always present in large quantities and usually weathered by atmospheric agents (2, 3). There are only a few reports of flint mining sites in the early Paleolithic, such as the Acheulian complex at Isampur (India) (Ϸ1.0 million years B.P.), ¶ ¶ the Lower-Middle Paleolithic in Mount Pua (Israel) (Ϸ200,000 B.P.) (5), and the Middle Paleolithic in Qena (Egypt) (Ϸ50,000 B.P.) (6). The approach presented in this article can be used to directly analyze flint artifacts from different stratigraphic layers in prehistoric caves, leading to information on the provenance of the raw material. We show that the analysis can determine whether the raw material originated from deep layers (1 m or more), possibly mined by humans. The application of this method will contribute to our understanding of the history of flint mining in different regions of the world and can be expanded to other raw materials. Be in Situ Production in Flint MineralsThe interaction of showers of high-energy primary and secondary cosmic ray particles with the atmosphere and shallow matter in the earth's crust produces a number of long-lived cosmogenic isotopes by nuclear reactions (7,8). The cosmogenic isotope in situ buildup in rocks has been extensively studied both theoretically and experimentally by accelerator mass spectrometry methods of analysis (ref. 9 and references therein). In situ cosmogenic production was shown to involve a complex balance between various geophysical processes and parameters: (i) altitude-and latitude-dependent cosmic-ray particle fluxes; (ii) proton and neutron absorption coefficients in the earth's crust (the mean attenuation length for spallation reactions in rocks is about ⌳ Ϸ 160 g͞cm 2 , and the average rock density is ϭ 3 g͞cm 3 ); (iii) the erosion rate of surface rocks; (iv) the burial history of rocks; and (v) the production rate by slow (stopping) and fast muons, penetrating particles produced as secondary particles in the shower caused by cosmic particles. The case of cosmogenic 10 Be (T 1/2 ϭ 1.5 milli...

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Dating of prehistoric caves sediments and flints using 10Be and 26Al in quartz from Tabun Cave (Israel): Progress report

Cited by 23 publications

References 11 publications

Can We Use Cosmogenic Isotopes to Date Stone Artifacts?

Can We Use Cosmogenic Isotopes to Date Stone Artifacts?

Flint procurement strategies in the Late Lower Palaeolithic recorded by in situ produced cosmogenic 10Be in Tabun and Qesem Caves (Israel)

Flint mining in prehistory recorded by in situ -produced cosmogenic ¹⁰ Be

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Dating of prehistoric caves sediments and flints using 10Be and 26Al in quartz from Tabun Cave (Israel): Progress report

Cited by 23 publications

References 11 publications

Can We Use Cosmogenic Isotopes to Date Stone Artifacts?

Can We Use Cosmogenic Isotopes to Date Stone Artifacts?

Flint procurement strategies in the Late Lower Palaeolithic recorded by in situ produced cosmogenic 10Be in Tabun and Qesem Caves (Israel)

Flint mining in prehistory recorded by in situ -produced cosmogenic 10 Be

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Flint mining in prehistory recorded by in situ -produced cosmogenic ¹⁰ Be