Radiocarbon dates for the late Middle Palaeolithic at Pech de l'Azé IV, France

McPherron, Shannon P.; Talamo, Sahra; Goldberg, Paul; Niven, Laura; Sandgathe, Dennis; Richards, Michael P.; Richter, Daniel; Turq, Alain; Dibble, Harold L.

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2012.05.017

Cited by 22 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 33 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…An age of ~49 ka (simple average) for the Quina Mousterian of Roc de Marsal is consistent with other published ages (e.g., Pech de l'Azé IV, McPherron et al, 2012;Richter et al, 2013b) for this techno-complex (see also Guibert et al, 2008 for an overview of previously published ages, even although most of those cannot be given too much credit because of apparent methodological problems). For instance, TL ages from Combe-Capelle Bas yielded similar results (between 37 ± 3 and 57 ± 4 ka) for assemblages that are low on scrapers but fit within Quina technology (Dibble and Lenoir, 1995;Valladas et al, 2003).…”

Section: Implications For the Mousterian In Southwest Francesupporting

confidence: 87%

“…For instance, TL ages from Combe-Capelle Bas yielded similar results (between 37 ± 3 and 57 ± 4 ka) for assemblages that are low on scrapers but fit within Quina technology (Dibble and Lenoir, 1995;Valladas et al, 2003). However, these ages also overlap with recently dated MTA assemblages (e.g., Soressi et al, 2013;McPherron et al, 2012). When taken together with the recently obtained TL ages (weighted average: 73 ± 8 ka) for the Quina Mousterian at Jonzac (Richter et al, 2013a), the ages for the Quina Mousterian of Roc de Marsal also suggest a long duration for this techno-complex.…”

Section: Implications For the Mousterian In Southwest Francementioning

confidence: 56%

“…One clear exception is the TL ages from a portion of the thick Quina deposits at Jonzac which, despite very large uncertainties, most likely indicate MIS 4 occupations (Richter et al, 2013a). However, late ages such as these also strongly suggest that Quina Mousterian must overlap with other types of Mousterian, most notably the Mousterian of Acheulean Tradition (MTA; McPherron et al, 2012;Soressi et al, 2013). On the other hand, as the Roc de Marsal Quina assemblages are dominated by reindeer, this would fit better in a late MIS 4 or early MIS 3 paleoenvironemental context (Discamps et al 2011) and would be a better fit with the cultural-historical framework by avoiding chronological overlap with other late Mousterian technocomplexes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

The complementarity of luminescence dating methods illustrated on the Mousterian sequence of the Roc de Marsal: A series of reindeer-dominated, Quina Mousterian layers dated to MIS 3

Guérin

Frouin

Tuquoi

et al. 2017

Quaternary International

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Located in southwest France, Roc de Marsal is a cave with a rich Mousterian stratigraphic sequence. The lower part of the sequence (Layers 9-5) are characterized by assemblages dominated by Levallois lithic technology associated with composite faunal spectra (including red deer, roe deer and reindeer) that shows a gradual increase in the frequency of reindeer. The top of the sequence (Layers 4-2) are characterised instead by Quina lithic technology (both in terms of technology and typology) with the faunal remains dominated by reindeer. Roc de Marsal thus provides a very interesting case study to place behavioural changes in a context of changing climates and environments in western Europe during the late Pleistocene. To link the occupations at Roc de Marsal with global and regional climatic conditions known independently, a robust chronology is needed. With this aim in mind, we applied three luminescence dating methods (TL, OSL and IRSL) on different minerals (flint, quartz and K-feldspar extracts). Here the results of two of these methods are presented in detail (TL and OSL) and compared with preliminary IRSL data. At Roc de Marsal, a comparison of methods was necessary to overcome a complex sedimentary history, with very heterogeneous dose rate distributions, both at the beta (mm) and gamma (dm) dose rate scales. The results indicate that the lower Levallois layers are dated to ~65-70 ka, while overlying Quina layers are dated to ~49 ka. These ages for the lower layers fit well with some models that place mixed faunal assemblages in the initial MIS 4; however, while the Quina ages overlap with several other Quina assemblages from the region, they place the reindeer dominated fauna well after the peak cold of MIS 4 and suggest a more extended and complex period of contemporaneous lithic techno-complexes than posited by some current models. AbstractLocated in southwest France, Roc de Marsal is a cave with a rich Mousterian stratigraphic sequence. The lower part of the sequence (Layers 9-5) are characterized by assemblages dominated by Levallois lithic technology associated with composite faunal spectra (including red deer, roe deer and reindeer) that shows a gradual increase in the frequency of reindeer. The top of the sequence (Layers 4-2) are characterised instead by Quina lithic technology (both in terms of technology and typology) with the faunal remains dominated by reindeer. Roc de Marsal thus provides a very interesting case study to place behavioural changes in a context of changing climates and environments in western Europe during the late Pleistocene. To link the occupations at Roc de Marsal with global and regional climatic conditions known independently, a robust chronology is needed. With this aim in mind, we applied three luminescence dating methods (TL, OSL and IRSL) on different minerals (flint, quartz and K-feldspar extracts). Here the results of two of these methods are presented in detail (TL and OSL) and compared with preliminary IRSL data. At Roc de Marsal, a comparison of metho...

show abstract

Section: Implications For the Mousterian In Southwest Francesupporting

confidence: 87%

Section: Implications For the Mousterian In Southwest Francementioning

confidence: 56%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

The complementarity of luminescence dating methods illustrated on the Mousterian sequence of the Roc de Marsal: A series of reindeer-dominated, Quina Mousterian layers dated to MIS 3

Guérin

Frouin

Tuquoi

et al. 2017

Quaternary International

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Conard & Bolus, 2003; d 'Errico & Sánchez-Goñi, 2003;d'Errico et al, 2012contra Benazzi et al, 2011Fedele et al, 2008;Jöris & Street, 2008;McPherron et al 2012;Mellars, 2004;Roebroeks, 2008;Talamo et al 2012a, b;Tzedakis et al, 2007;Walker et al, 2008;Zilhão, 2006Zilhão, , 2013Zilhão & d'Errico, 1999;Zilhão et al, 2010Zilhão et al, , 2011a. Given that many ambitious uses of large scale chronometric datasets can be described as 'somewhat cavalier' (Roebroeks 2008, 918) it is no surprise that a sizable literature has accumulated surrounding the controversies over the dating of sites with deep stratigraphies that have so far been crucial to our understanding of the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition, and most of this debate has centred around a relatively few of these.…”

Section: Recent Debates In Palaeolithic Archaeologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This should be obvious, but does not in all cases deter the use of Bayesian age models to calculate phase boundaries on the basis of very small numbers of dated samples (e.g. Pech de l'Azé IV - McPherron et al 2012). These may be correct, but if larger numbers of samples are measured and included in the models would the results change?…”

Section: Recent Debates In Palaeolithic Archaeologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Problematizing Bayesian approaches to prehistoric chronologies

Pettitt

Zilhão

2015

World Archaeology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. as human dispersals and extinctions, the spread of agriculture and culture change, the method can offer a powerful means to improve considerably the precision of prehistorians' investigation of some of the most major questions in human prehistory. As such its potential is profound -it has even been regarded as the third radiocarbon revolution -but its appropriateness is dependent on the assumptions that must be made of the samples selected for dating. How sound are these assumptions, and therefore how reliable are Bayesian analyses? Here, we introduce some aspects and assumptions that underline Bayesian modelling of radiocarbon measurements, and we problematise their application in Palaeolithic archaeology. We conclude that many existing models are faulty, and suggest some criteria for quality control in this field.

show abstract

An Absolute Chronological Framework for Pech IV

Jankowski

2017

Cave and Karst Systems of the World

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Radiocarbon dates for the late Middle Palaeolithic at Pech de l'Azé IV, France

Cited by 22 publications

References 33 publications

The complementarity of luminescence dating methods illustrated on the Mousterian sequence of the Roc de Marsal: A series of reindeer-dominated, Quina Mousterian layers dated to MIS 3

The complementarity of luminescence dating methods illustrated on the Mousterian sequence of the Roc de Marsal: A series of reindeer-dominated, Quina Mousterian layers dated to MIS 3

Problematizing Bayesian approaches to prehistoric chronologies

An Absolute Chronological Framework for Pech IV

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About