ESR Dating of Tooth Enamel: Comparison with AMSC at El Castillo Cave, Spain

At El Castillo, in Cantabrian Spain, uncalibrated AMS¹⁴C dating has shown the transition from Mousterian to Aurignacian to occur at 39·3±1·6 kaBP. We found ESR tooth enamel ages from the basal Aurignacian level at El Castillo to be 36·2±4·1 ka (early and linear uptake). The enamel and dentine had very low U contents, but ESR ages are strongly dependent upon knowledge of the moisture content history of the sediments. Although the Aurignacian ESR age is 8% younger than the weighted average uncalibrated AMS¹⁴C age of 39·6±1·3 ka obtained from charcoal samples, we have shown that the methods agree within experimental uncertainty. However, since no precise¹⁴C calibration yet exists for this period of time, we are unable to specify which of the ages is more accurate, nor are we able ascribe the apparent age discrepancy to a particular deficiency in the ESR method.