ESR Dates for the Mousterian Layers and Neanderthal Infant at Roc de Marsal, Dordogne, France

International audienc

Coupled 230Th/234U-ESR analyses for corals: A new method to assess sealevel change

Although coupled 230Th/234U-ESR analyses have become routine for dating teeth, they have never been used for corals. While the ESR age depends on, and requires assumptions about, the time-averaged cosmic dose rate, over(D, -)cos (t), 230Th/234U dates do not. Since over(D, -)cos (t) received by corals depends on the attenuation by any intervening material, over(D, -)cos (t) response reflects changing water depths and sediment cover. By coupling the two methods, one can determine the age and a unique over(D, -)cos, coupled (t) simultaneously. From a coral's water depth and sedimentary history as predicted by a given sealevel curve, one can predict over(D, -)cos, sealevel (t) . If over(D, -)cos, co

ESR analyses for teeth from the open-air site at Attirampakkam, India: Clues to complex U uptake and paleoenvironmental change

In open-air sites, diagenetic alteration makes teeth difficult to analyze with electron spin resonance (ESR). Despite strong diagenetic alteration, three ungulate teeth from Pleistocene fluvial sediment in the open-air Paleolithic site at Attirampakkam, Tamil Nadu, India, were analyzed using standard and isochron ESR. Diagenetic alteration features in two teeth indicated rapid submergence in quiet saline to hypersaline water, following a short subaerial exposure, while the third remained constantly buried under reducing conditions. Geochemical signatures and ESR data all indicate that the teeth experienced at least three independent U uptake events during diagenesis, including two that occurred long after burial

Neanderthal settlement of the Central Balkans during MIS 5: Evidence from Pešturina Cave, Serbia

Recent research in the southern Central Balkans has resulted in the discovery of the first Middle Paleolithic sites in this region. Systematic excavations of Velika and Mala Balanica, and Pešturina (southern Serbia) revealed assemblages of Middle Paleolithic artifacts associated with hominin fossils and animal bones. This paper focuses on Pešturina Layer 4, radiometrically and biostratigraphically dated to Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5, which yielded traces of temporary hunting camps. The remains of large ungulate prey are associated with predominantly Quina-type artifacts made of quartz. Artifacts from Pešturina Cave have no parallels at Mousterian sites in the Balkans but are rather similar to the Central European Charentian, which demonstrates that this cultural unit was widespread during MIS 5, not only in the southern Pannonian Basin but also in the Central Balkans. The position of the site – on the outskirts of the known spread of the Quina model of techno-economic behavior during MIS 5 – raises several questions related to population movements, residential mobility, and technological variability in the early Middle Paleolithic of Central and Southeast Europe