Radiocarbon dating of some Late Pleistocene faunal assemblages in caves in Poland

Abstract

26 bone samples were radiocarbon (AMS) dated. The bones were almost exclusively those of birds and came from cave deposits correlated mainly with the Vistulian (Weichselian). The material came from six sites: Deszczowa Cave, Upper Rock Shelter of the Deszczowa Cave, Cave in Dziadowa Ska³a, S¹spowska Zachodnia Cave, Mamutowa Cave, and Ob³azowa Cave. The ages of most of the radiocarbon-dated samples were not in agreement with the stratigraphy of layers from which they originated that is proposed in the literature.

Radiocarbon ages of bones from Vistulian (Weichselian) cave deposits in Poland and their stratigraphy

“…The rock . Cross-section of sediments at the entrance and in the central part of the Deszczowa Cave (after Cyrek et al 2000); 14 C dates after Lorenc (2006a) and the present study (the latter are in boldface). The succession is as follows (after Cyrek et al 2000;Nadachowski et al 2009): VII -fine-and medium-grained, well-sorted sand (c. 30-60 cm thick in the inner part and c. 10 cm outside the cave entrance); scarce limestone blocks and sharp-edged rubble present; lamination clearly visible outside the cave.…”

“…4. Cross-section of sediments in the inner part of the Dziadowa Skała Cave (after Chmielewski 1958); 14 C dates after Lorenc (2006a) and the present study (the latter are in boldface). The succession is composed of (after Dylik et al 1954 andChmielewski 1958): 6 -laminated loess.…”

“…1C Lorenc (2006a) New date . Sediment succession at the entrance of the Sąspowska Zachodnia Cave (after Madeyska 1988); 14 C dates after (Lorenc 2006a) and the present study (the latter are in boldface). The succession is composed of (after Madeyska 1981Madeyska , 1988): 1 -dusty clay without bones.…”

“…The stratigraphy of cave deposits, and hence the age of the bones yielded, is usually based on sedimentological and lithostratigraphical premises, supplemented sometimes by biostratigraphic analysis of the bone assemblages themselves. Analysis of the radiocarbon ages of bones from Vistulian cave deposits (Lorenc 2006a) produced surprising results. Out of twenty-six bone samples, collected from five localities in the Kraków-Częstochowa Upland and one in the Podhale region (the Deszczowa Cave, the Upper Rock Shelter of the Deszczowa Cave, the cave in Dziadowa Skała, the Sąspowska Zachodnia Cave, the Mamutowa Cave and the Obłazowa Cave), the radiocarbon ages of the majority (sixteen) did not correspond to the stratigraphic dates of their source deposits.…”

“…The remaining samples are from layers dated as Middle Plenivistulian, Late Vistulian and/or Holocene. Together with the dates from the earlier studies (Lorenc 2006a), fifty-three radiocarbon dates from the above-listed localities were obtained (one sample dated twice). In combination with forty-seven radiocarbon dates of other authors, this gave a total of one hundred radiocarbon dates for the localities studied herein.…”