Hayonim Cave: a TL-based chronology for this Levantine Mousterian sequence

The thermoluminescence dating method was applied to 77 heated flints from the Mousterian layers of Hayonim Cave in order to provide a precise TL-based chronology for this important Levantine sequence. A detailed dosimetric study was performed by using 76 dosimeter capsules and revealed strong spatial dose-rate variations. In parallel, Fourier transform infrared spectrometry enabled the identification of various mineral assemblages in the sediments of the cave and to localize the boundaries of these assemblages. By comparing these two data sets, it is shown that low dose-rate values (∼500 μGy/a) are systematically recorded in areas where the calcite-dahllite (CD) assemblage is preserved, whereas higher values (up to 1300 μGy/a) are associated with the leucophosphite, montgomeryite, variscite and siliceous aggregates (LMVS) assemblage. The dosimetric and mineralogical information was combined in order to assess, where possible, the dose-rate experienced by each flint during its burial. Some of the flint samples analyzed were too close to mineral assemblage boundaries and were therefore discarded. This rigorous selection led to TL ages ranging from 230 to 140 ka for the lower part of the Mousterian sequence (layers F and Lower E), which contains lithic industries characterized by blade production using the laminar method.     

Thermoluminescence dating of a Stillbay–Howiesons Poort sequence at Diepkloof Rock Shelter (Western Cape,South Africa)

New excavations have been undertaken at Diepkloof Rock Shelter (DRS; South Africa) since 1999. It is one of the very few sites where Howiesons Poort and Stillbay assemblages can be collected from the same archaeological sequence. These Middle Stone Age techno-complexes are particularly interesting for their affinities with the much younger Later Stone Age facies, and their association with evidence for symbolic behaviour. Establishing their chronology is therefore particularly important for the understanding of the apparition and the evolution of the so-called “modern” behaviours. Data already available suggest ages ranging from 55 to 80 ka for the Howiesons Poort and from 70 to 80 ka for the Stillbay techno-complexes in several South African sites. The thermoluminescence dating undertaken at DRS on 22 stone samples originating from the entire stratigraphic record indicates intervals starting 10–50 ka earlier for these techno-complexes in this site. Possible caveats in the dating process are examined but to the best of our current knowledge must be rejected.     

Does it come from the Pays de Bray? Examination of an origin hypothesis for the ferrous reinforcements used in French medieval churches using major and trace element analyses

A new methodology based on major and trace element analyses of slag inclusions is proposed to determine (or exclude) the provenance of iron artefacts. It is applied to verify if the Pays de Bray, a French area between Rouen and Beauvais, could have been an important supplier for the ferrous reinforcements used in the Middle Ages for the building of churches and cathedrals in these two towns. To this purpose, the behaviour of trace elements during both direct and indirect operating chains is studied combining experimental smelting and different analytical methods, such as SEM–EDS, ICP–MS, LA–ICP–MS and INAA, performed on archaeological samples. The chemical signature of the Pays de Bray iron ore and slag is determined considering MnO and P₂O₅ contents as a first rough filter and seven couples of trace elements. Then, the major and trace elements are analysed using the same methods in the slag inclusions of 32 artefacts from the Beauvais and Rouen churches, made by the bloomery process. The trace element signature of the inclusions from each artefact is compared with the ore from the Pays de Bray area. The iron used in the Rouen and Beauvais churches seems not to come mainly from the Pays de Bray.     

OSL and TL dating of the Middle Stone Age sequence at Diepkloof Rock Shelter (South Africa): a clarification

Diepkloof Rock Shelter offers an exceptional opportunity to study the onset and evolution of both Still Bay (SB) and Howiesons Poort (HP) techno-complexes. However, previous age estimates based on luminescence dating of burnt quartzites (Tribolo et al., 2009) and of sediments (Jacobs et al., 2008) were not in agreement. Here, we present new luminescence ages for 17 rock samples (equivalent dose estimated with a SAR-ITL protocol instead of classical MAAD-TL) as well as for 5 sediment samples (equivalent dose estimated with SAR-single grain OSL protocol) and an update of the 22 previous age estimates for burnt lithics (modified calibration and beta dose estimates). While a good agreement between the rock and sediment ages is obtained, these estimates are still significantly older than those reported by Jacobs et al. (2008). After our own analyses of the sediment from Diepkloof, it is suspected that these authors did not correctly chose the parameters for the equivalent dose determination, leading to an underestimate of the equivalent doses, and thus of the ages.     

New datings of Amudian layers at Qesem Cave (Israel): results of TL applied to burnt flints and ESR/U-series to teeth

Because only a few radiometric data are actually available, the chronology of the Amudian – a blade-dominated industry of the Acheulo-Yabrudian Cultural Complex (AYCC) of the late Lower Paleolithic in the Levant – is still not well constrained. Qesem Cave offers the opportunity to enhance our knowledge of the chronological position of this industry which is unique to the Levant. The Qesem Amudian bearing layers yielded also human remains showing affinities with those of modern populations recovered in the Middle Paleolithic sites of Skhul and Qafzeh. The results presented here are the first attempt to apply the TL and ESR/U-series dating methods at this site and these methods yielded results which are generally in agreement. They support a time interval of hominid-bearing occupation of the areas of the cave where Amudian lithic artifacts were recovered during MIS 8 and likely 9 for the Deep Pit Area, and during MIS 8 and possibly 7 for the Upper part of the sequence (Square K/10 and the Eastern Microfauna-Bearing Area). An older occupation of the cave is also conceivable on the base of two dating results (MIS 11).