New Neanderthal remains associated with the ‘flower burial’ at Shanidar Cave

Shanidar Cave in Iraqi Kurdistan became an iconic Palaeolithic site following Ralph Solecki's mid twentieth-century discovery of Neanderthal remains. Solecki argued that some of these individuals had died in rockfalls and—controversially—that others were interred with formal burial rites, including one with flowers. Recent excavations have revealed the articulated upper body of an adult Neanderthal located close to the ‘flower burial’ location—the first articulated Neanderthal discovered in over 25 years. Stratigraphic evidence suggests that the individual was intentionally buried. This new find offers the rare opportunity to investigate Neanderthal mortuary practices utilising modern archaeological techniques.Leverhulme Trust (Research Grant RPG-2013-105), the Rust Family Foundation, the British Academy, the Wenner-Gren Foundation, the Society of Antiquaries, the McDonald Institute of Archaeological Research at the University of Cambridge and the Natural Environment Research Council’s Oxford Radiocarbon Dating Facility (grant NF/2016/2/14). The ongoing dating program is supported by the European Research Council under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) / ERC grant agreement number 324139 “PalaeoChron” awarded to Professor Tom Higham, University of Oxfor

Infrared Radiofluorescence (IR-RF) of K-Feldspar:An Interlaboratory Comparison

Infrared Radiofluorescence (IR-RF) is a relatively new method for dosimetric dating of the depositional timing of sediments. This contribution presents an interlaboratory comparison of IR-RF measurements of sedimentary feldspar from eight laboratories. A comparison of the variability of instrumental background, bleaching, saturation, and initial rise behaviour of the IR-RF signal was carried out. Two endmember samples, a naturally bleached modern dune sand sample with a zero dose and a naturally saturated sample from a Triassic sandstone (~250 Ma), were used for this interlaboratory comparison. The major findings of this study are that (1) the observed IR-RF signal keeps decreasing beyond 4000 Gy, (2) the saturated sample gives an apparent palaeodose of 1265 ± 329 Gy and (3) in most cases, the natural IR-RF signal of the modern analogue sample (resulting from natural bleaching) is higher than the signal from laboratory-induced bleaching of 6 h, using a solar simulator (SLS). In other words, the laboratory sample bleaching was unable to achieve the level of natural bleaching. The results of the investigations are discussed in detail, along with possible explanations

Infrared radiofluorescence (IR-RF) dating:A review

International audienceLuminescence dating methods on natural minerals such as quartz and feldspars are indispensable for establishing chronologies in Quaternary Science. Commonly applied sediment dating methods are optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL). In 1999, Trautmann et al. (1999a, b) proposed a new related technique called infrared radiofluorescence (IR-RF). IR-RF denotes the infrared luminescence signal of feldspar resulting from exposure to ionizing radiation and potentially offers a significant methodological advance compared to OSL and IRSL regarding luminescence signal stability, dating range and required measurement time. The method has rarely been applied due to a lack of commercially available measurement equipment but experienced a revival during the last years. The present article provides a state-of-the-art overview of the physical background of IR-RF, its challenges, applications and the potential as a dating method. The paper particularly addresses practical considerations for applying IR-RF dating, including signal bleachability and saturation behaviour, and summarizes proposed solutions

Feldspars as support for the luminescence dating of archaeological deposits and quaternary sequences of Aquitaine

Les données chronologiques disponibles pour les gisements du Paléolithique moyen du Sud-Ouest de la France font état d’un manque de jalons chronologiques fiables. Pour ces périodes anciennes, l’établissement d’un cadre chronologique nécessite un investissement méthodologique important dans le domaine de la datation numérique. Les résultats obtenus dans cette étude reposent essentiellement sur la datation par luminescence optique de grains de feldspaths et de quartz contenus dans les sédiments. En particulier, l’étude des signaux de luminescence classiquement exploités (IRSL, pIR-IRSL), nous permet de mieux évaluer la fiabilité des datations à partir des feldspaths potassiques. Un protocole de datation fondé sur l’exploitation du signal de radioluminescence (IR-RF) de ces minéraux a aussi été développé. Ainsi, la luminescence optique a été appliquée à des échantillons provenant de six gisements de référence : Les Pradelles (Marillac, Charente), Combe Brune 2 (Creysse, Dordogne), Roc de Marsal (Campagne, Dordogne), Artenac (Saint-Mary, Charente), La Quina (Gardes-le-Pontaroux, Charente) et La Ferrassie (Savignac-de-Miremont, Dordogne). La combinaison des résultats obtenus nous a permis, au sein de chaque niveau archéologique, d’évaluer la pertinence des datations et de proposer pour chaque gisement un scénario chronologique qui nous semble fiable. À l’issue de cette étude, les occupations humaines, caractérisées selon leurs industries, ont pu être replacées sur une échelle des temps en regard des variations paléoclimatiques et paléoenvironnementales régionales. Plusieurs constats ont été dressés enrichissant le registre de nos connaissances sur les cultures néandertaliennes.Currently available chronological information for Middle Palaeolithic sites in southwestern France precludes the establishment of a robust chronological framework. For these early periods, developing such a framework relies upon important methodological advancements in numerical dating techniques. The results of this study are essentially based on the optical luminescence dating of sedimentary feldspars and quartz. Focusing on the most commonly employed luminescence signals (IRSL, pIR-IRSL), it was possible to more clearly evaluate the reliability of dates obtained on K-feldspars. A dating protocol for these materials based on their radioluminescence signal (IR-RF) was also developed. Optical luminescence dates were produced for six major archaeological sites: (Marillac, Charente), Combe Brune 2 (Creysse, Dordogne), Roc de Marsal (Campagne, Dordogne), Artenac (Saint-Mary, Charente), La Quina (Gardes-le-Pontaroux, Charente) et La Ferrassie (Savignac-de-Miremont, Dordogne). Collating the results for each archaeological level allowed the coherence of the dates to be tested and a reliable chronological sequence to be proposed for each site. The different human occupations, characterised by their industrial attribution, could be placed within a chronological framework that incorporates regional palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic variations. Finally, several observations provide new insights for our understanding of Neandertal cultures

Evidence of shallow TL peaks contributions in infrared radiofluorescence

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Assessing the dating potential of violet stimulated luminescence protocols

© 2019 M. Sontag-González et al. publised by sciendo 2019. Violet stimulation is a new development in optical dating which has been suggested to extend the upper age limit of optically simulated luminescence (OSL) dating of quartz. Despite the reported advantage, few validation tests and applications have been published so far. The present study investigated the violet stimulated luminescence (VSL) using a single aliquot regenerative dose (SAR) protocol and a multiple aliquot additive dose (MAAD) protocol. Sedimentary quartz samples from four archaeological sites in Europe with independent age controls spanning 40-900 ka were used, including Grotte Mandrin (France), Brooksby Quarry (UK), Cueva Negra del Estrecho del Rió Quípar (Spain) and Sima de las Palomas del Cabezo Gordo (Spain). The equivalent dose of a relatively young sample (~40 ka) was successfully determined. However, significant underestimations were observed for older samples with higher doses. These findings indicate the need for further development of the measurement protocol to date high-dose natural samples

Chronology of Neanderthal burial sites in south-west France: preliminary IRSL dating results-

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Datations radionumériques : Bilan chronologique pour les sites du Sud-Ouest

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A chronology of the mousterian reindeer hunting camp of Les Pradelles (Marillac-le-Franc, France): Preliminary results

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