Luminescence dating and modern human origins

Feathers, James K.

doi:10.1002/(sici)1520-6505(1996)5:1<25::aid-evan7>3.0.co;2-v

Cited by 19 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…2003; Richter 2007). Feathers (1996) provided a review of luminescence dating techniques, discussing how they are applied to different materials such as sediments and burnt lithics, and with particular reference to the origins of modern humans, discussing the results obtained at Skhul (Mercier et al . 1993), Tabun (Mercier et al .…”

Section: The Next Six Years 1979–1985 and Their On‐going Impactmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fifty Years of Luminescence Dating*

Wintle

2008

Archaeometry

144

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Luminescence techniques for dating both heated materials (e.g., pottery and burnt stone) and sediments have gone through three phases in the past 50 years. The first 22 years, from 1957 to 1979, were devoted to thermoluminescence (TL) techniques applied to heated material. In the next six years, from 1979 to 1985, it was found that TL dating could be applied to sediments. However, the TL signals of both quartz and feldspar grains observed for modern sediments were small, but were not zero, thus making them useful only for older sediments. A new luminescence signal that was totally zeroed by exposure to sunlight for a relatively short period of time, a few hours or less, was found; this led to the development of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating techniques in 1985. Further developments have continued to the present day. Within the past 22 years, 1999 was also a year with major developments. A reliable procedure for single aliquots of quartz that have a rapidly bleached ('fast') OSL component was formalized and an instrument that allowed rapid measurement of equivalent doses for single grains was constructed. These developments have led to OSL becoming a major dating tool in Quaternary geology, at least for the past 100 000 years, and in archaeology, particularly as related to the dispersal of modern humans.

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Section: The Next Six Years 1979–1985 and Their On‐going Impactmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fifty Years of Luminescence Dating*

Wintle

2008

Archaeometry

144

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“…However, luminescence dates on older Israeli deposits tend to be significantly greater than their ESR counterparts, and the discrepancy grows with age. Incomplete zeroing probably affected the luminescence dating of sands at Katanda (Feathers, 1996), and their true age may be closer to 12,000 years than to 90,000 years ago or more. Most of the Katanda bone artifacts are finely crafted barbed points like those that usually postdate 12,000 years ago elsewhere in Africa.…”

Section: Is It Really True That Modern Behavioral Markers Appearedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Archaeology at the Millennium

Feinman¹,

Price²

2001

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“…Other approaches include the dating of speleothem formation with the U-series methodology, in particular when applied to flow stones (St Pierre et al, 2009). An important improvement was the introduction of luminescence dating to date cave deposits (Feathers, 1996;Roberts, 1997;Roberts et al, 2015). Using optical stimulation, this approach allows us to directly date the deposition age of quartz and feldspar grains from sediments found in caves.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

New data from the Middle Palaeolithic Cotencher cave (Swiss Jura): site formation, environment, and chronology

Deák¹,

Preusser

Cattin³

et al. 2019

E&G Quaternary Sci. J.

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Abstract. Cotencher cave is one of the oldest Palaeolithic sites of Switzerland and is known for its rich faunal and Mousterian artefacts, the latter suggesting one or several passages of Neanderthal hunter–gatherer tribes. This interdisciplinary study summarises novel data concerning site formation processes and anthropic attendance of the site. While the lithic artefacts indicate tool production at the site, the faunal remains do not yield any evidence of a link to human occupation. The sedimentary sequence permits us to unravel several important environmental changes that occurred during the Late Pleistocene. The presence of a local glacier around 70 ka (Marine Isotope Stage, MIS 4) is revealed followed by ice-free conditions characterised by alternating soil formation processes and landscape destabilisation during MIS 3. Solifluction processes suggesting recurrent frozen ground were responsible for the displacements of part of the artefacts and faunal remains. Evidence of local glacier development around 36 ka is related to the particular geomorphological conditions of the studied region and shed new light on the complexity of glacier dynamics. The recognition and dating of recurrent hostile glacier landscapes might contribute to understanding the reasons for the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic attendance hiatuses known in the studied region.

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Luminescence dating and modern human origins

Cited by 19 publications

References 69 publications

Fifty Years of Luminescence Dating*

Fifty Years of Luminescence Dating*

Archaeology at the Millennium

New data from the Middle Palaeolithic Cotencher cave (Swiss Jura): site formation, environment, and chronology

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