The age of the ‘Anosovka-Tel’manskaya Culture’ and the issue of a late Streletskian at Kostёnki 11, SW Russia

Triangular, concave-base ‘Streletskian points’ are documented in several assemblages from the Kostёnki complex of Upper Palaeolithic sites in south-western Russia. Some of these assemblages have been argued to evidence very early modern human occupation of Eastern Europe. However, Streletskian points are also recorded from younger contexts, notably at Kostёnki 11, where examples are attributed both to Layer V and the stratigraphically higher Layer III. The apparent relatively young age of Layer III has led some to view it as the latest manifestation of the Streletskian, although its assemblage has also been compared to the non-Streletskian Layer I of Kostёnki 8, with the two described together as the Anosovka-Tel’manskaya Culture. Radiocarbon dates of 24–23,000 bp (c. 28,500–27,000 cal bp) for a wolf burial associated with Layer III of Kostёnki 11 confirm the layer as younger than other Streletskian assemblages at Kostёnki. New radiocarbon dates for Kostёnki 8 Layer I show that the two layers are broadly contemporary, and that both are close in age to assemblages of Kostёnki’s (Late Gravettian) Kostёnki-Avdeevo Culture. In the light of these new radiocarbon dates the context of the Streletskian point from Kostёnki 11 Layer III is considered. Although firm conclusions are not possible, unresolved stratigraphic problems and the lack of technological context for this single artefact at the very least leave a question mark over its association with other material from the layer

The age of the ‘Anosovka-Tel’manskaya Culture’ and the issue of a late Streletskian at Kostёnki 11, SW Russia

Triangular, concave-base ‘Streletskian points’ are documented in several assemblages from the Kostёnki complex of Upper Palaeolithic sites in south-western Russia. Some of these assemblages have been argued to evidence very early modern human occupation of Eastern Europe. However, Streletskian points are also recorded from younger contexts, notably at Kostёnki 11, where examples are attributed both to Layer V and the stratigraphically higher Layer III. The apparent relatively young age of Layer III has led some to view it as the latest manifestation of the Streletskian, although its assemblage has also been compared to the non-Streletskian Layer I of Kostёnki 8, with the two described together as the Anosovka-Tel’manskaya Culture. Radiocarbon dates of 24–23,000 bp (c. 28,500–27,000 cal bp) for a wolf burial associated with Layer III of Kostёnki 11 confirm the layer as younger than other Streletskian assemblages at Kostёnki. New radiocarbon dates for Kostёnki 8 Layer I show that the two layers are broadly contemporary, and that both are close in age to assemblages of Kostёnki’s (Late Gravettian) Kostёnki-Avdeevo Culture. In the light of these new radiocarbon dates the context of the Streletskian point from Kostёnki 11 Layer III is considered. Although firm conclusions are not possible, unresolved stratigraphic problems and the lack of technological context for this single artefact at the very least leave a question mark over its association with other material from the layer

Quantum Optical Phenomena in Nuclear Resonant Scattering

With the advent of high-brilliance, accelerator-driven light sources such as modern synchrotron radiation sources or x-ray lasers, it has become possible to extend quantum optical concepts into the x-ray regime. Owing to the availability of single photon x-ray detectors with quantum efficiencies close to unity and photon-number resolving capabilities, fundamental phenomena of quantum optics can now also be studied at Angstrom wavelengths. A key role in the emerging field of x-ray quantum optics is taken by the nuclear resonances of Mössbauer isotopes. Their narrow resonance bandwidth facilitates high-precision studies of fundamental aspects of the light-matter interaction. A very accurate tuning of this interaction is possible via a controlled placement of Mössbauer nuclei in planar thin-film waveguides that act as cavities for x-rays. A decisive aspect in contrast to conventional forward scattering is that the cavity geometry facilitates the excitation of cooperative radiative eigenstates of the embedded nuclei. The multiple interaction of real and virtual photons with a nuclear ensemble in a cavity leads to a strong superradiant enhancement of the resonant emission and a strong radiative level shift, known as collective Lamb shift. Meanwhile, thin-film x-ray cavities and multilayers have evolved into an enabling technology for nuclear quantum optics. The radiative coupling of such ensembles in the cavity field can be employed to generate atomic coherences between different nuclear levels, resulting in phenomena including electromagnetically induced transparency, spontaneously generated coherences, Fano resonances and others. Enhancing the interaction strength between nuclei in photonic structures like superlattices and coupled cavities facilitates to reach the regime of collective strong coupling of light and matter where phenomena like normal mode splitting and Rabi oscillations appear. These developments establish Mössbauer nuclei as a promising platform to study quantum optical effects at x-ray energies. In turn, these effects bear potential to advance the instrumentation and applications of Mössbauer science as a whole