Chronology during the Bronze Age in the archaeological site Tell Qubr Abu al-‘Atiq, Syria

Archaeosediments are deposits with a direct or indirect anthropogenic component. They provide useful information about past human activities and interaction with the environment. When other materials, such as pottery, are present in archaeosediment layers, the combination of TL ages from pottery and OSL ages from sediments can provide complete data about the occupation and evolution of an archaeological setting. In Mesopotamia, tells are mounds formed by the debris of human occupation and the accumulation of muddy sediments mainly due to the decomposition of mud bricks in ancient towns. Many other materials such as pottery fragments, bones and charcoal can be found in the sediment layers. The combination of OSL, TL and radiocarbon ages can be very useful in the case of the Bronze Age Period in Syria, allowing the occupation sequence of such archaeological sites to be reconstructed. Tell Qubr Abu al-’Atiq, is located on the left bank of the Middle Euphrates River (Syria). The archaeological artefacts found in the sediment layers (pottery) collected during excavations in two areas of the site, indicated the occupation of the tell during the Early and Late Bronze Age by typological pottery classification. The radiocarbon ages of charcoal indicate that human occupation fits the archaeological hypothesis, providing an older and maximum occupation period between 2800 and 2300 BC and a younger period between 1400 and 900 BC. OSL dating of sediments shows ages younger than charcoal, while TL ages of pottery are generally older than sediment and charcoal ages. This can be explained as the different materials correspond to different events. The charcoal and pottery correspond to occupation periods, while sediments correspond to the further destruction of the site.     

西沙群岛“石屿二号”沉船遗址出水青花瓷器的测年研究

“石屿二号”沉船遗址位于西沙群岛石屿东侧的珊瑚礁石上,是西沙群岛海域一处重要水下文化遗存。该遗址出水了青花、卵白釉、白釉、青灰釉、酱釉等多种瓷器,是探索古代海上丝绸之路和外销瓷贸易的关键窗口。虽然前人通过青花瓷器类型学分析确定了遗址的相对年代,但由于未发现船体痕迹无法进行碳十四测年,而热释光测年方法则为确定遗址的绝对年代提供了一种替代手段。为了探究该遗址出水青花瓷器的热释光性质及年代,本研究利用前剂量饱和指数法对16件青花瓷片进行了古剂量测试。使用电感耦合等离子体质谱仪(ICP-MS)和电感耦合等离子体发射光谱仪(ICP-OES)分析样品的放射性元素U、Th、⁴⁰K的含量。在剂量率的计算过程中综合考虑了样品的经纬度、埋藏深度、含水率以及放射性元素含量等参数,并首次使用综合矿物分析(TIMA)揭示了瓷胎中的石英粒径分布情况,以提高剂量率计算的准确度。热释光年代结果表明,这批青花瓷烧制于元代至明代早期,在释光有限的误差范围内符合传统鉴定方法得出的该遗址属于元代这一结论。这有助于揭示该历史时期相关器物的制作工艺、实际用途和可能的产地。此外,这也为理解该历史时期青花瓷器在...     

Human occupation in South America by 20,000 BC: the Toca da Tira Peia site,Piauí, Brazil

When and how did the first human beings settle in the American continent? Numerous data, from archaeological researches as well as from palaeogenetics, anthropological and environmental studies, have led to partially contradictory interpretations in recent years, often because of the lack of a reliable chronological framework. The present study contributes to the establishment of such a framework using luminescence techniques to date a Brazilian archaeological site, the Toca da Tira Peia. It constitutes an exemplary case study: all our observations and measurements tend to prove the good integrity of the site and the anthropological nature of the artifacts and we are confident in the accuracy of the luminescence dating results. All these points underline the importance of the Toca da Tira Peia. The results bring new pieces of evidence of a human presence in the north-east of Brazil as early as 20,000 BC. The Toca da Tira Peia thus contributes to the rewriting of the history of the peopling of the American continent.     

Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating investigations of rock and underlying soil from three case studies

Three rock samples and associated underlying surface (floor) soils of geoarchaeological significance from Greece, Sweden and a modern surface stone-sample from a Danish site were investigated using OSL dating. Thin slice, sub-samples, from drilled core surfaces were prepared. A single-aliquot regenerative-dose (SAR) protocol was used on whole rock slices to estimate the laboratory equivalent dose. Laboratory tests showed that the SAR protocol successfully corrected for sensitivity changes and that a known laboratory dose could be measured accurately.     

Dating and Interpreting Desert Structures: The Enclosures of The Judean Desert,Southern Levant,Re‐Evaluated

Enclosures, single large curvilinear structures, constitute ubiquitous relics of past human societies in marginal environments. Many enclosures suffer from severe scarcity of related artefactual and ecofactual remains, allowing only tentative assessments of their date and function. A case in point comes from the Judean Desert, Southern Levant, where several dozen enclosures were surveyed and described as Chalcolithic cult sites. Using new research strategies, incorporating critical evaluation of previous surveys, test excavations and optically stimulated luminescence dating, we were able to date enclosures to a much broader time span than previously suggested, and reject their proposed ritualistic function.     

Lapa das boleiras rockshelter: stratigraphy and formation processes at a paleoamerican site in Central Brazil

Lapa das Boleiras rockshelter, a Paleoamerican archaeological site in Central Brazil, was intensely occupied by humans from 10,000 ¹⁴C BP (11.8 cal kyr BP), until approximately 7500 ¹⁴C BP (8.4 cal kyr BP). In this paper we present some interpretations about the formation processes operating on the site. One of our main conclusions is that the bulk of accumulated sediments at the site is of anthropogenic origin: they are constituted by volumetrically significant quantities of plant ash remains, what is somewhat unexpectedly in view of prevailing models about the lifestyle of Paleoamerican hunter–gatherers in South America. The evidence we discuss below is also consistent with paleoenvironmental data that suggest a dry period during the mid-Holocene in the region, probably leading to a decrease in human occupation [Araujo, A.G.M., Neves, W., Piló, L.B., Atui, J.P., 2005. Holocene dryness and human occupation in Brazil during the ‘Archaic Gap’. Quaternary Research 64, 298–307]. We surmise that both factors underpin a surprising reduction in sediment accumulation at the site during the mid-Holocene.