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Dating human occupation at Toca do Serrote das Moendas, São Raimundo Nonato, Piauí-Brasil by electron spin resonance and optically stimulated luminescence
... Calcite has been of great interest in studies of thermoluminescence (TL) due to its importance in the dosimetry of ionizing radiation, which can be applied to accident and environmental dosimetry, as well as in archaeological and geological dating [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. ...
... Later it was extended to general order kinetics and the constants were reviewed [16]. Another approach is the heating rate variation (VHR) method, based on the fact that T m depends on the heating rate (β) (equation (2)), at which the TL measurement was made. Thus, by making several measurements of TL with different heating rates, a set of T m values and their respective β are obtained. ...
The present study shows morphological characterization, experimental results, theoretical fittings of TL and OSL curves of yellow calcite and the correlation between these emissions.
The OSL of the sample raises with dose and was theoretically decomposed into three components with a lifetime span of 0.5, 10, and 28 seconds. TL peaks at 90 and 126°C were observed in UV region and they could be correlated with OSL emission; these peaks were deconvoluted using general order kinetic theory (GOK) they supplied an activation energy (E) values of 0.7 and 1.0 eV and kinetic order (b) of 1.2 and 2.0 respectively. Both peaks presented good response with beta irradiation in the range between 5 and 41 Gy. TL glow curve recorded at VIS-UV region showed 4 peaks, after deconvolution applying GOK, the peaks temperatures were determined at 92.9, 118.9, 155 and 452°C; with E equal 0.7, 0.8, 1.3, and 1.05 eV, and b equal 1.01, 1.30, 2.00, and 1.70, respectively.
In addition, photoluminescence (PL) spectra were carried out with excitation at 350 nm and the calcite exhibited four broad bands at 413, 440, 470, and 486 nm, and a small one at 390 nm, which can be associated with oxygen vacancies and Me-O defects. The PL results was converted to CIE (Commission International deI'Eclairage) and the coordinates color of the phosphors were determined, values x = 0.14959, y = 0. 11775 (blue) for non-irradiated sample, and x = 0.14593, y = 0.05921 (purplish blue) to irradiated one.
... The preparation of the samples followed the well-established protocol for ESR dating of tooth enamel (e.g., Baffa et al., 2000;Grün, 2002; IAEA-TECDOC-1331; Kinoshita et al., 2005Kinoshita et al., , 20082014b), which can be summarized as follows. The samples were cleaned by alternating steps of brushing and bathing with ultrasonic distilled water. ...
... In order to check the ESR protocol used by the DEN-UFPE (Recife) laboratory, the aliquots of sample 7793-15 were sent to FFCLRP-USP (Ribeirão Preto) laboratory where ESR dating of tooth enamel has been carried out since 2000 (e.g., Baffa et al., 2000;Kinoshita et al., 2005Kinoshita et al., , 2008Kinoshita et al., , 2014b. These measurements were carried out with a Jeol JES-FA-200 spectrometer operating in the X-band (∼9.8 GHz) with a cylindrical cavity, at room temperature, with the following settings: (i) microwave power: 1 mW; (ii) modulation of the magnetic field: 100 kHz (frequency) and 0.1 mT (amplitude); (iii) time constant: 100 ms; (iv) scan width: 20 mT. ...
Excavations in the Lagoa Uri de Cima Archaeological Site (Salgueiro, Pernambuco, Brazil) revealed considerable Pleistocene mammalian fossils and lithics in multiple sedimentary layers of the ancient lake, currently dry. The site was found in 2010 during the construction of an open-air system of canals to connect water sheds of the semi-arid regions with the São Francisco River. The coexistence of a variety of extinct mammals and archaeological remains suggested the possibility of further light on the question of overlapping occupation of Northeastern Brazil by megafauna and humans in the Late Pleistocene. Electron spin resonance (ESR) dating of tooth enamel of mammal fossils can provide valuable information on the chronology of this site. This work presents the ESR dating of four teeth of two mammal species: Toxodon platensis (2) and Haplomastodon waringi (2). Dose-response curves were constructed using T1-B1 and T1-B2 amplitudes of the ESR signal of the hydroxyapatite CO 2⁻ radical, measured with a Bruker EMX-10+ X-band spectrometer. To verify the experimental protocol and the reliability of the exponential fittings for additive-doses and ESR signal intensities, the dose-response curve of one Toxodon platensis sample was independently obtained with a Jeol FA-200 X-band spectrometer. Equivalent dose to age conversions were carried out with the ROSY ESR dating program, with the external dose rate given by the environment and cosmic radiation and the internal dose rate given by probable uranium uptake models. The results show ages varying from 12,000 to 19,000 years for the four samples. The stratigraphical consistency is sub-optimal, but can be explained by the overall geomorphology of the site. These results place the creation of the lowest sedimentary levels of Lagoa Uri de Cima within the Late Pleistocene.
... A pesquisa na Plataforma Capes retornou diversos trabalhos nos quais os sedimentos foram empregados para marcar a contemporaneidade da deposição com aspectos arqueológico/paleontológico (Auler et al., 2006;Faure et al., 1999;Fontugne, 2013;Kinoshita et al., 2014;Michab et al., 1998;Oliveira et al., 2014;Peyre et al., 1998;Piló et al., 2005;Roosevelt et al., 1996;Santos et al., 2003 ...
Registros paleoambientais são importantes para entender a evolução da paisagem, resultando na melhor compreensão dos processos atuais. Protegidos do cenário evolucional superfi cial, os ambientes carvernícolas abrigam ótimos registros cuja dinâmica sedimentar, por vezes, é análoga à superfície. Nesse cenário, os sedimentos clásticos constituem uma boa fonte de estudo ainda pouco explorada no Brasil. Desse modo, este artigo apresenta uma revisão bibliográfi ca da dinâmica sedimentar em ambientes cavernícolas, discutindo aspectos como defi nição, classifi cação, processos de sedimentação, diagênese e fácies, juntamente com os principais métodos utilizados para o estudo de registros paleoambientais (Carbono 14, luminescência, análises químicas e físicas.). A potencialidade do emprego desse objeto de estudo no Brasil comprova-se por meio de buscas a artigos recentes disponíveis no Portal Periódicos CAPES, base Web of Science. Ainda incipiente frente à quantidade de cavernas mapeadas, os resultados demonstram um aumento tímido, porém signifi cativo das pesquisas. A boa resposta à utilização dos vários proxies que abrange intervalos de até milhões de anos constituem alternativa para estudos paleoambientais brasileiros dada a difi culdade de encontrar tais registros em ambientes superfi ciais nos trópicos húmidos.
... Despite growing archaeological evidence that humans were in the Americas during or before the LGM (e.g. Ochsenius & Gruhn, 1979;Guidon & Delibrias, 1986;Lahaye et al., 2013Lahaye et al., , 2018Kinoshita et al., 2014;Bourgeon et al., 2017;Ardelean et al., 2020;Becerra-Valdivia & Higham, 2020;Bennett et al., 2021;Boëda et al., 2016Boëda et al., , 2021Rowe et al., 2022; Waters, 2019;Potter et al., 2022). In light of this fervent discussion, we reinforce through our new radiocarbon dating on fossil tooth material that Santa Elina is chronologically consistent with other pre-LGM archaeological sites in the Americas (Table 3). ...
The Santa Elina rock shelter (Central Brazil) stands out with two human occupation layers with ground sloth fossil remains from the Late Pleistocene. Here, we explore the palaeontological aspect of this site. We update the taxonomic assignment of the ground sloth found in the shelter to Glossotherium phoenesis. Radiocarbon dating performed on bioapatite (14 C bioapatite) from two tooth specimens reveal the minimum ages of 14 944-15 239 cal a BP (unit II2) and 22 339-22 534 cal a BP (unit III4), which were converted to collagen using a novel approach and presented the calibrated ages of 17 450-17 906 cal a BP (14 C collagen = 14 547 ± 40) and 25 994-26 396 cal a BP (14 C collagen = 22 042 ± 40). We reinforce the chronology of the oldest unit of Santa Elina with material culture in association with megafauna bones to the Last Glacial Maximum. Carbon isotopic signatures suggest a mixed feeding diet for both specimens. The most recent ground sloth presents a higher isotopic value (δ 13 C = −1.8‰) and narrower niche breadth (B A = 0.50) than the oldest one (δ 13 C = −3.3‰; B A = 0.74). We conclude that G. phoenesis lived in an arboreal savanna habitat during the phases studied. Slightly different oxygen isotopic values (δ 18 O = 26.2‰ and 27.9‰) might suggest a decrease in humidity over time. Our results provide insights into the palaeoecology of the tropical Pleistocene G. phoenesis and the palaeoenvironmental setting of Santa Elina when occupied by early humans and megafauna during the Late Pleistocene.
... Burials 1 and 2 belonged to subadult individuals with ages estimated between two to four and three to seven years, respectively. Burial 3 was identified as comprising an young adult male (Almeida and Neves 2009), proposed to date to at least 23 ky BP, based on an ESR date obtained for teeth of Blastocerus dichotomus (Guidon et al. 2009a;Kinoshita et al. 2014). If this date is correct, this would, by far, be the oldest skeleton from the New World. ...
... All the area at SCNP and around it has been well studied with a multidisciplinary approach since 1974, with registers of Pleistocene paleontological sites (GUÈRIN and FAURE, 2008;2014) and many other archaeological ones (LOUDEAU and PAGLI, 2014). But especially from 2008, the research of the Franco-Brazilian mission started to be coordinated by Eric Böeda and it has been conducted with the aim to replicate and refine data that originated from BPF and in order to find out new Pleistocene settlement evidence in the region (LAYNE et al., 2013) Despite the results obtained at BPF during the excavations from 1978 to 1988 that have been published since 2001 (PARENTI, 2001;SANTOS et al., 2002;VALLADAS et al., 2003;CHAVES et al., 2006), most of the current publishing do not consider the data beforementioned. ...
At the Brazilian parks - Serra da Capivara and Serra das Confusões (Piauí, Brazil), as well as in their adjacent areas, there is a wide concentration of archaeological sites with rock paintings that subsidize several elements of the first human occupations in America as they show and represent many features of their existence and daily life in the multiple ecosystems in the region. Those representations have diversified attributions, which reveal that the daily life of the first inhabitants in the territory was very proactive and dynamic, what could supply indicators that there was history, education, socialization of practices and knowledge, several types of communication, relationships with other ways of life as well as traces of religiosity in ancient times in the history of Brazil. It is possible to recognize in the paintings – to date the numerous phytomorphic and zoomorphic rupestrian registers and their possible interpretations – non-existing species in the region currently and others that are totally extinct; some are so well produced so it is even possible to recognize the gender of the animal through the presence of antlers and other determining features of the species. From analysis and identifications of prehistoric environmental memories that are connected to deeper studies about the flora and fauna in the rock paintings found in the regions that surround the parks of the study, as well as the collection and condensation of information found in the literature, this article aims, besides stablishing episodes of the relationship human/ nature, reconstructs traces of the environmental conditions that are relevant to the period when they were performed, and then becoming an environmental indicator variable of past time.
... Instead, faunal elements nearby have been dated by electron spin resonance (ESR) to ca. 24-29 thousand years (Kinoshita et al. 2014). But the problem also lies in the association between the fauna and human remains, given that they are in a sediment matrix that could be related to outside elements washing into the cave. ...
Many archaeologists are still skeptical about a human presence in the Americas during or before the Late Glacial Maximum (LGM), considering that the claim is not yet sustained by hard evidence. Boqueirão da Pedra Furada (Brazil) is one of the most famous pre-LGM claims, but the site has so far been considered ambiguous, and similar concerns have been raised about nearby sites. Nonetheless, for E. Boëda and co-workers, who have been working at these sites, researchers who are still skeptical about the anthropic origin of the assemblages have a psychological barrier and no scientific arguments. Are all skeptics completely blinded by their preconceptions that they cannot see the obvious and unambiguous evidence? To find out, I reviewed the numerous publications of the Piauí sites, and the outcome of my analysis is quite simple: the anthropic nature of the LGM/pre-LGM artifacts of the Piauí sites has not been demonstrated.
... Several numerical ages have been obtained in mammalian teeth from the SVF, continental shelf and TPF, using the electron spin resonance (ESR) method (Lopes et al., , 2014a, which allows obtaining ages far beyond the upper limit of the 14 C method and has been employed to date fossil and archaeological remains of Pleistocene and Holocene ages (Mascarenhas et al., 1982;Kinoshita et al., 2008Kinoshita et al., , 2014aRibeiro et al., 2013). Sediment samples were dated by thermoluminescence (TL) and optically-stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating methods. ...
The Late Pleistocene-early Holocene faunal turnover in South America was characterized by the extinction of all mammals with body mass >300 kg and several smaller taxa, but the driving mechanisms behind it are still poorly understood. Here is presented an analysis of the extinction in the Pampa of southern Brazil (Rio Grande do Sul state), based on fossil assemblages found in the coastal plain (CPRS) and western area of the state (WRS). The comparison between fossil and extant mastofaunas show that 90% of the mammals represented in fossil assemblages went extinct, and allowed distinguishing three groups: 1) taxa that underwent local extinction, i.e., disappeared locally but survived in other regions until becoming extinct later (including all megamammals); 2) pseudoextinct taxa that disappeared locally but survive until today in other areas, and 3) taxa that disappeared locally but returned during the Holocene. The faunal changes recorded along stratigraphic successions and available numerical ages indicate two phases of extinction, the first around 30 ka b2k in the CPRS (apparently also recorded in Argentina and Uruguay) would have been related to the onset of the cold and dry conditions of the stadial MIS 2, predating the arrival of humans to the region by about 25 kyrs. The second phase eliminated taxa that survived until about 12.7 ka BP in WRS in reduced suitable environments ('refugia') associated with perennial rivers; it coincides with the transition from glacial to interglacial conditions, but pollen data suggest that humans may have contributed for environmental modifications through fire. The results show that the Pleistocene xenarthran-dominated mastofauna was replaced by a Holocene fauna dominated by small rodents and carnivores, and indicate that climate-driven environmental changes, also influenced by sea-level oscillations, were a major agent in the Late Pleistocene mammalian extinctions in the Brazilian Pampa.
... A pesquisa na Plataforma Capes retornou diversos trabalhos nos quais os sedimentos foram empregados para marcar a contemporaneidade da deposição com aspectos arqueológico/paleontológico (Auler et al., 2006;Faure et al., 1999;Fontugne, 2013;Kinoshita et al., 2014;Michab et al., 1998;Oliveira et al., 2014;Peyre et al., 1998;Piló et al., 2005;Roosevelt et al., 1996;Santos et al., 2003 ...
Resumo: Registros paleoambientais são importantes para entender a evolução da paisagem, resultando na melhor compreensão dos processos atuais. Protegidos do cenário evolucional superfi cial, os ambientes carvernícolas abrigam ótimos registros cuja dinâmica sedimentar, por vezes, é análoga à superfície. Nesse cenário, os sedimentos clásticos constituem uma boa fonte de estudo ainda pouco explorada no Brasil. Desse modo, este artigo apresenta uma revisão bibliográfi ca da dinâmica sedimentar em ambientes cavernícolas, discutindo aspectos como defi nição, classifi cação, processos de sedimentação, diagênese e fácies, juntamente com os principais métodos utilizados para o estudo de registros paleoambientais (Carbono
... 4 Martin (1973); Tamm et al. (2007); Mulligan et al. (2008);Meltzer (2015). Kinoshita et al. (2014) present new evidence from north-east Brazil that suggests human transit south may have been much earlier, possibly by boat. 5 Oyuela-Caycedo and Kawa (2015: 32). ...
obacco has become one of the most widely used and traded commoditites on the planet. Reflecting contemporary anthropological interest in material culture studies, Anthropology of Tobacco makes the plant the centre of its own contentious, global story in which, instead of a passive commodity, tobacco becomes a powerful player in a global adventure involving people, corporations and public health. Bringing together a range of perspectives from the social and natural sciences as well as the arts and humanities, Anthropology of Tobacco weaves stories together from a range of historical, cross-cultural and literary sources and empirical research. These combine with contemporary anthropological theories of agency and cross-species relationships to offer fresh perspectives on how an apparently humble plant has progressed to world domination, and the consequences of it having done so. It also considers what needs to happen if, as some public health advocates would have it, we are seriously to imagine 'a world without tobacco'. This book presents students, scholars and practitioners in anthropology, public health and social policy with unique and multiple perspectives on tobacco-human relations.
... Burials 1 and 2 belonged to subadult individuals with ages estimated between two to four and three to seven years, respectively. Burial 3 was identified as comprising an young adult male (Almeida and Neves 2009), proposed to date to at least 23 ky BP, based on an ESR date obtained for teeth of Blastocerus dichotomus (Guidon et al. 2009a;Kinoshita et al. 2014). If this date is correct, this would, by far, be the oldest skeleton from the New World. ...
The Serra da Capivara region in northeastern Brazil contains several archaeological sites that have yielded human skeletal remains. Compared to other regions of Brazil, these sites have produced a smaller number of human skeletons (i.e., 3 to 4 individuals). However, the human fossil record of the region, especially that which is not associated with pottery, remains as yet inadequately investigated. Here we present a comprehensive review of previously-collected, non-pottery-associated human skeletal remains from Serra da Capivara. Additionally, we report on newly recovered human skeletons from recent excavations at the Pedrinho and of Toca da Barra da Janela do Antonião sites in the region. Current dates for these skeletal remains derive from associated materials, as efforts to obtain direct radiocarbon dates on the bones have proved unsuccessful due to the lack of bone collagen. The current understanding that the region was occupied for several thousands of years makes it difficult to define valid operational taxonomic units. While attempts for the extraction of ancient DNA remain thus far unproductive, future efforts should focus more on improving the estimates of antiquity for the skeletons. Resumen La región de la Serra da Capivara en el noreste de Brasil contiene varios sitios arqueológicos en donde se han hallado restos óseos humanos. En comparación con otras regiones de Brasil, estos sitios han producido un menor número de esqueletos humanos (i.e. de 3 a 4 individuos). Sin embargo, el registro fósil huma-no de la región, especialmente aquel que no está asociado con cerámica, sigue inadecuadamente investigado. Aquí se presenta una revisión exhaustiva de los restos óseos humanos previamente colectados y no asociados con cerámica de la Serra de Capivara. Del mismo modo, reportamos nuevos restos humanos recu-perados durante excavaciones recientes en Pedrinho y Toca da Barra da Janela do Antonião, localizados en la misma región. Las dataciones actuales para estos restos óseos derivan de materiales asociados, ya que los intentos para obtener fechados radiocarbónicos de los huesos no han sido exitosos debido a la falta de
... The resulting spectrum was then fitted to a simulated signal with spin Hamiltonian of axial CO 2 -, which has the following g values: g ? = 2.0025 and g // = 1.9973 [14,33]. The agreement between the signals confirmed the presence of radicals induced by radiation from the atomic bomb. ...
Explosion of the bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki corresponds to the only historical moment when atomic bombs were used against civilians. This event triggered countless investigations into the effects and dosimetry of ionizing radiation. However, none of the investigations has used the victims’ bones as dosimeter. Here, we assess samples of bones obtained from fatal victims of the explosion by Electron Spin Resonance (ESR). In 1973, one of the authors of the present study (SM) traveled to Japan and conducted a preliminary experiment on the victims’ bone samples. The idea was to use the paramagnetism induced in bone after irradiation to measure the radiation dose. Technological advances involved in the construction of spectrometers, better knowledge of the paramagnetic center, and improvement in signal processing techniques have allowed us to resume the investigation. We obtained a reconstructed dose of 9.46 ± 3.4 Gy from the jawbone, which was compatible with the dose distribution in different locations as measured in non-biological materials such as wall bricks and roof tiles.
... South America's earliest date was 14.5 kya from the famous Monte Verde site in southern Chile (81,82). However, those finds are now superseded by a 2015 report of at least 18 kya at Monte Verde (83) and a 2014 report of dates of roughly 30-20 kya in northeast Brazil (84). This latter finding makes a formerly largely rejected claim of around 32 kya in northeast Brazil (85) now not so incredible. ...
Homo sapiens phylogeography begins with the species' origin nearly 200 kya in Africa. First signs of the species outside Africa (in Arabia) are from 125 kya. Earliest dates elsewhere are now 100 kya in China, 45 kya in Australia and southern Europe (maybe even 60 kya in Australia), 32 kya in northeast Siberia, and maybe 20 kya in the Americas. Humans reached arctic regions and oceanic islands last-arctic North America about 5 kya, mid- and eastern Pacific islands about 2-1 kya, and New Zealand about 700 y ago. Initial routes along coasts seem the most likely given abundant and easily harvested shellfish there as indicated by huge ancient oyster shell middens on all continents. Nevertheless, the effect of geographic barriers-mountains and oceans-is clear. The phylogeographic pattern of diasporas from several single origins-northeast Africa to Eurasia, southeast Eurasia to Australia, and northeast Siberia to the Americas-allows the equivalent of a repeat experiment on the relation between geography and phylogenetic and cultural diversity. On all continents, cultural diversity is high in productive low latitudes, presumably because such regions can support populations of sustainable size in a small area, therefore allowing a high density of cultures. Of course, other factors operate. South America has an unusually low density of cultures in its tropical latitudes. A likely factor is the phylogeographic movement of peoples from the Old World bringing novel and hence, lethal diseases to the New World, a foretaste, perhaps, of present day global transport of tropical diseases.
... The archaeological site Toca do Enoque is located in Serra das Confusões National Park (Brazil), 50 km away from Serra da Capivara National Park. The former Park has been a World Heritage Site since 1991 and contains many prehistoric paintings that have constantly been the object of studies (Guidon and Arnaud 1991, Guidon and Delibrias 1986, Kinoshita et al. 2014, Lahaye et al. 2013, Watanabe et al. 2003 excavations have uncovered cave paintings in Toca do Enoque. One of these excavations unearthed a collective sepulcher with 17 skeletons, as shown in Fig. 1. ...
This work reports the dating of a fossil human tooth and shell found at the archaeological site Toca do Enoque located in Serra das Confusões National Park (Piauí, Brazil). Many prehistoric paintings have been found at this site. An archaeological excavation unearthed three sepulchers with human skeletons and some shells. Two Brazilian laboratories, in Ribeirão Preto (USP) and Recife (UFPE), independently performed Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) measurements to date the tooth and the shell and obtain the equivalent dose received by each sample. The laboratories determined similar ages for the tooth and the shell (~4.8 kyBP). The results agreed with C-14 dating of the shell and other samples (charcoal) collected in the same sepulcher. Therefore, this work provides a valid inter-comparison of results by two independent ESR-dating laboratories and between two dating methods; i.e., C-14 and ESR, showing the validity of ESR dating for this range of ages.
Key words:
Dating; ESR; EPR; shell; tooth; enamel.
... Faunal remains, lithic tools and human fossils have been found in the Cave of Toca do Serrote das Moedas (Sao Raimundo Nonato, Piaui). Although the human fossils have not been directly dated, ESR and OSL ages ranging between 29 ± 3 to 21 ± 3 ka have been obtained for the archaeological assemblage ( Kinoshita et al., 2014). In the same area, the Toca da Tira Peia rockshelter has yielded OSL ages of 20,000 ± 1500 for level C7, and 15,100 ± 1200 for level C6, both containing lithic artefacts ( Lahaye et al., 2013). ...
This article presents the first results of an archaeo-palaeontological study which began in 2007 at the sites of Chazumba I and II in the Barranca del Muerto, located in the Sierra Madre del Sur (Santiago Chazumba, Oaxaca, Mexico). The excavation work is part of a larger international cooperation project titled “Biodiversity and Quaternary hunter–gatherer societies from Mexico”, led by the Institut de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social (IPHES, Tarragona, Spain) and the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia of Mexico. The main objective of the project is to study hunter–gatherer groups and their relationships with Pleistocene fauna and rock art.
Calibrating human population dispersals across Earth’s surface is fundamental to assessing rates and timing of anthropogenic impacts and distinguishing ecological phenomena influenced by humans from those that were not. Here, we describe the Hartley mammoth locality, which dates to 38,900–36,250 cal BP by AMS ¹⁴C analysis of hydroxyproline from bone collagen. We accept the standard view that elaborate stone technology of the Eurasian Upper Paleolithic was introduced into the Americas by arrival of the Native American clade ∼16,000 cal BP. It follows that if older cultural sites exist in the Americas, they might only be diagnosed using nuanced taphonomic approaches. We employed computed tomography (CT and μCT) and other state-of-the-art methods that had not previously been applied to investigating ancient American sites. This revealed multiple lines of taphonomic evidence suggesting that two mammoths were butchered using expedient lithic and bone technology, along with evidence diagnostic of controlled (domestic) fire. That this may be an ancient cultural site is corroborated by independent genetic evidence of two founding populations for humans in the Americas, which has already raised the possibility of a dispersal into the Americas by people of East Asian ancestry that preceded the Native American clade by millennia. The Hartley mammoth locality thus provides a new deep point of chronologic reference for occupation of the Americas and the attainment by humans of a near-global distribution.
The date of the earliest human occupation in America is a matter of great debate with estimates ranging from 16,000 to 130,000 years for the time of the arrival of Homo sapiens on the continent. Ages older than ca. 50,000 years imply that the New World could have been populated by other species of the genus Homo. Hypotheses of a settlement prior to the last glacial maximum, however, remain entrenched in the debate around the anthropogenic or natural origin of features or objects described as bonfires, stone artifacts and cut/break marks on animal bones. Human skeletons older than 12,000 years, which would constitute indisputable evidence of human presence, have never been described for the New World. Genetic analyzes of current populations and ancient skeletons indicate an age of colonization of no more than ca. 16,000 years ago. Therefore, the bioarchaeological evidence favors an understanding of settlement occurring after the last glacial maximum in America. Alternatively, it indicates that if there was a very old population in the New World it disappeared without a trace, an event that would be unique in deep history of humanity.
Electron spin resonance (ESR) is a spectroscopic technique that detects unpaired electrons, such as the ones present in free radicals. When a calcified tissue is irradiated, free radicals are generated, like the CO2−. This paper presents a preliminary study on the application of this spectroscopic technique for monitoring bone mineralization processes during the bone repair in animal model, induced by polyurethane in two forms, as an occlusive membrane and as a bone grafting. In the first experiment, the ESR results and microscopic analysis demonstrate centripetal bone growth and advanced stage of bone regeneration in the treated group. In the second experiment, the ESR spectrum of collected bone pieces presents the superposition of the spectrum of the biomaterial and the radical CO2−. The separation of the components was made using spectral simulation, and the percentage of mature bone tissue in the defect region was determined through the comparison with the spectrum of the native bone. In both experiments, ESR provided results consistent with microscopic analysis, demonstrating the feasibility of the technique for monitoring bone regeneration.
The first colonization of the Americas has always been a hotly debated issue. One of the current discussions is the presence of assemblages (and thus human occupation) in the Americas dating from or before the Late Glacial Maximum (LGM), i. e. before ca. 20.000 years ago. Many archaeologists are skeptical about the presence of humans in the Americas before the LGM, considering that the claim is not yet sustained by hard evidence. Indeed, there are relevant concerns about the published pre-LGM assemblages. The Boqueirão da Pedra Furada rock-shelter (Brazil) is one of the most famous and published pre-LGM sites from the Americas. However, the site has so far been considered very ambiguous because all alleged artifacts are simple cobble tools made on the same raw material cobbles as those naturally falling from the cliff’s wall hanging above the site. Nonetheless, for É. Boëda and co-workers, who have been working at various sites of the region for the last decade, researchers that are still skeptical about the anthropic origin of the assemblages have a psychological barrier and no scientific arguments. Were all skeptics completely blinded by their preconceptions that they could not see the obvious and unambiguous evidence coming out of these South American LGM/ pre-LGM sites ? In order to find out, I dove into the publications of the Piauí sites. Why the Piauí sites ? Because for the last 40 years there has been extensive research and publications on Boqueirão da Pedra Furada and related sites, thus offering the possibility of a detailed analysis. According to É. Boëda, most critics never took the time to go back to the published data. So to take up the challenge and refine my own judgment, I launched a large-scale comparative analysis of the published data on the Piauí site (close to 60 publications, including peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, unpublished master and PhD theses) concerning the Piauí sites, from the first article announcing the discovery of Boqueirão da Pedra Furada published in Nature in 1986 to the most recent research articles of the É. Boëda team in 2021. These publications include original research from the N. Guidon and F. Parenti excavations, from É. Boëda’s excavations, original work by other researchers, original ethological studies on tool-use by capuchin monkeys, as well as points of view from outside archaeologists arguing either for or against the anthropic nature of these sites.
In the following sections, I will present some of the main concerns archaeologists have with Boqueirão da Pedra Furada and other related sites (Vale da Pedra Furada, Sítio do Meio, Toca da Pena, Toca da Janela da Barra do Antonião, Toca da Tira Peia, etc). Indeed, the problems do not only lie in the geological context of the sites, but also with the raw materials, the selection protocol of artifacts (i. e., how archaeologists determine alleged artifacts within the large quantity of natural cobbles in the sediment), the taphonomical analyses of natural cobbles, the use-wear analysis and the anthropic nature of the structures and hearths. In the introduction of their very first article, É. Boëda and his colleagues state that “ this very passionate debate is actually little suited for scientific argument” and “ it would thus be futile to present arguments” and that we simply have “ to trust” in their capabilities. But the fact is that there are many questions about Pedra Furada and the Piauí sites that have yet to be addressed.
The outcome of my analysis is straightforward : the anthropic nature of the LGM/ pre-LGM levels of Pedra Furada and the other Piauí sites has not been demonstrated based on the data presently available in the scientific literature. Throughout this article, my goal is to show that far from skepticism based on ideological grounds with no scientific basis, many and major scientific issues remain with the Piauí sites. The present article focuses on deconstructing the methodological caveats concerning the alleged pre-LGM artifacts and structures/ hearths from Boqueirão da Pedra Furada and other related sites from the Piauí region. The final outcome of this analysis, based on the analysis of the numerous published data, is that it is difficult to support a human presence in this region during or before the Last Glacial Maximum. However, the published data seem to convincingly establish a human presence at these sites starting with the Serra Talhada phases (Pleistocene/ Holocene transition). Is it because the chronology is then acceptable and fits our colonization model ? No, the reason lies in the available and published archaeological data : (1) to date, no taphonomical study has been published to exclude the presence of geofacts in the assemblages from the older Pedra Furada phases ; (2) ethological data show how Capuchin monkeys have been using and making simple stone tools for at least a few millennia ; (3) during the Serra Talhada phases (Pleistocene/ Holocene transition), we see the appearance of unambiguous tools, exogenous raw materials, pit hearths, rock art, human remains and human coprolites ; (4) current paleogenetic data show a peopling of the Americas (excluding Beringia) starting around 20,000 years ago.
O termo “mudanças climáticas” têm feito, cada vez mais, parte do vocabulário contemporâneo, sendo seus efeitos sentidos das mais distintas formas por todo o globo. Entretanto, não se trata de um fenômeno exclusivamente recente. Os efeitos das mudanças climáticas têm influenciado na ontologia do comportamento humano, com expressões marcantes na sua cultura material, em uma via dupla de relações, onde a própria cultura material serve de indicadores das mudanças ambientais provocadas pelas variações climáticas. Nesse sentido propomos uma metodologia de abordagem dupla, pautada na análise por fragmentação e por intersecção, como forma de compreender a complexidade das relações clima/patrimônio na região do Parque Nacional Serra da Capivara, Piauí, Brasil.
The study presents three sedimentary profiles from Tarimba cave in central Brazil. The data allow constraining the late Quaternary sedimentary evolution of cave systems in the region. A multi-techniques approach was used to characterize sediment texture (grain size and circularity index), mineralogical composition (X-Ray Diffraction), chemical composition (ICP-OES) and deposition ages (Optically Stimulated Luminescence and radiocarbon). Eight sedimentary facies were identified, including a facies formed by autochthonous sediments (Guano) and seven facies formed by allochthonous siliciclastic sediments. The siliciclastic facies range from clayey to gravelly deposits that correspond to high-density gravity flows (Diamicton) and water laid traction process of varied deposition energy (Channel, Backswamp, and Slackwater). The studied deposits reflect an intense cave filing from the Middle to Late Pleistocene in the last 200 Ka. Subsequent depositional events formed three sedimentation phases: the first before 200 Ka corresponding to a larger granulometric interval, clay to gravel, identified through erosive surfaces; the second, after 197 Ka, is composed of sandy sediments and oscillations in the water flow energy. The third phase between 87 and 52 Ka (which covered the other stages) was responsible for the last fluvial deposition.
The Coastal Plain of Rio Grande do Sul state (CPRS), southern Brazil, encompasses Quaternary barrier-lagoon depositional systems developed in response to successive marine transgressions driven by glacial-interglacial cycles. Here are reported Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) ages from 42 disarticulated shells of the marine bivalve Amiantis purpurata preserved in Pleistocene depositional systems, consisting of 35 specimens from five boreholes made during the construction of wind farms, plus another 7 shells from an irrigation channel. The shells were obtained from depths between 5.5 and 14 m, in two chronostratigraphically distinct depositional units (Barrier-Lagoon Systems II and III). Although the ages in each group of samples vary widely, the youngest age from the Barrier II (∼247 ka) is consistent with the marine transgression of the marine isotope stage (MIS) 7 inferred from other luminescence and ESR ages of sediments and shells. The ages obtained in shells from the Lagoon III deposits located landward of the Barrier III indicate deposition by the sea-level highstand of the substage MIS 5e, despite being older than the estimated age of ∼120 ka of the latter. The younger shells from the seaward side of the Barrier III dated as of ∼100 ka indicate deposits formed by the low-amplitude MIS 5c highstand, in agreement with luminescence ages of ∼109, 104 and 101 ka obtained in outcrops on the shoreline. One shell dated as ∼87 ka could indicate another highstand during MIS 5a. The presence of shells much older than the depositional systems indicate that marine deposits older than MIS 7 existed in the CPRS but were totally eroded by subsequent transgressions, and that shells can be preserved for periods of about 100–200 kyrs under certain conditions. Moreover, the ages younger than the highstand of MIS 5e on the seaward side of the Barrier III indicate that one (and possibly two) smaller amplitude highstands previously unrecognized in the CPRS left geological and fossil records in the study area.
Resumo A área da Serra da Capivara (Piauí, Brasil) é famosa na comunidade arqueológica internacional, principalmente pela polêmica ao redor do sítio Pedra Furada e de suas datas do Pleistoceno superior, fazendo dele um dos sítios mais antigosdas Américas. Os dados oriundos deste sítio contribuem indiscutivelmente nas discussões e nos conhecimentos sobre os processos de povoamento do continente. Por outro lado, a concentração das atenções sobre ele e sobre os debatesprovocados ofuscaram numerosas pesquisas nesse local que forneceram uma impressionante quantidade de dados sobre as primeiras ocupações humanas nas mais variadas áreas de conhecimento. No presente artigo, a partir de umarevisão bibliográfica, sintetizamos os resultados dessas pesquisas quanto aos contextos e aos comportamentos dos grupos humanos que ocuparam a região durante o final do Pleistoceno superior e o Holoceno inicial. Mostramos, assim, comoa pré-história da Serra da Capivara dialoga com os grandes temas sobre o povoamento do continente americano e traz uma contribuição relevante sobre essas questões, nas escalas macrorregionais e continentais
In the present work, Pleistocene records of fluvial deposition, with megafauna bones fossils, are dated with optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) method using single aliquots of quartz and SAR protocol. The basal fluvial samples supplied a precise OSL ages in an interval of 15.7 ka to 19.6 ka, which can be related to Last Glacial Maximum. FTIR-VIS spectroscopy experiments were made to determine the rates between hematite (Hm) and goethite (Gt), (Hm/(Hm+Gt). The obtained rates ranging from 0.06 to 0.24 were indicating wetter and cooler climatic conditions, in agreement with OSL ages and with megafauna extinction time.
A calcite formation was found on a rockwall painting at Toca da Bastiana rockshelter at Serra da Capivara National Park, Piaui, Brazil. Thermoluminescence and EPR dating of this calcite gave an age of 35 to 43 ka, indicating that humans lived there prior to 35 ka ago. This result supports the radiocarbon dates ranging up to 48 ka BP found earlier for this site.
Americas Redefining the Age of Clovis: Implications for the Peopling of the This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. clicking here. colleagues, clients, or customers by , you can order high-quality copies for your If you wish to distribute this article to others here. following the guidelines can be obtained by Permission to republish or repurpose articles or portions of articles): July 7, 2014 www.sciencemag.org (this information is current as of The following resources related to this article are available online at
ROSY is a program that enables the calculation of average dose rates and age estimates in the ESR dating of tooth enamel, but has more general applicability to other situations involving layers of different media in planar geometry. The user has the freedom to chage a wide range of parameters, including the composition of each of the media. The latest Version, 1.4, includes consideration o gradients in the alpha track dose as well as in the beta dose, and several options for the input or computationof gamma and cosmic ray doses. The theoretical assumptions and procedures used in the ROSY calculations are described. We discuss the various user-controllable features of the program and the input and output of data, and aspects that may need particulat attention by users are highlighted. Possible improvements to the software in future Versions are discussed.
When and how did the first human beings settle in the American continent? Numerous data, from archaeological researches as well as from palaeogenetics, anthropological and environmental studies, have led to partially contradictory interpretations in recent years, often because of the lack of a reliable chronological framework. The present study contributes to the establishment of such a framework using luminescence techniques to date a Brazilian archaeological site, the Toca da Tira Peia. It constitutes an exemplary case study: all our observations and measurements tend to prove the good integrity of the site and the anthropological nature of the artifacts and we are confident in the accuracy of the luminescence dating results. All these points underline the importance of the Toca da Tira Peia. The results bring new pieces of evidence of a human presence in the north-east of Brazil as early as 20,000 BC. The Toca da Tira Peia thus contributes to the rewriting of the history of the peopling of the American continent.
ESR dating has become an efficient tool in earth sciences for geochronological studies on different kinds of littoral deposits (coral reefs terraces, beach ridge systems, aeolianites) during the last ten years. Improvements in annual dose rate (D’) estimation and the newly developed approach for equivalent dose (DE) determination (DE -Dmax plot procedure) increase the precision of ESR dating of Holocene and Pleistocene corals as well as marine and terrestrial mollusc shells. This is strongly supported by the comparison of ESR dating results with other numeric dating methods such as radiocarbon and TIMS Uranium series analysis (TIMS 230Th/234U). The latter is the main focus of this paper. The uncertainties associated in ESR dating of Holocene corals coincide with the variability of 14C ages caused by the marine reservoir effect. The dating of Pleistocene corals permits the differentiation between the main marine isotope stages (MIS) 5, 7, 9, 11 and 13 as well as between sub-stages 5e3/2 and 5e1, 5c, and 5a2 and 5a1. The average error range when dating corals is between 5 to 8%. Furthermore, ESR dating of marine and terrestrial mollusc shells has yielded some promising results and permits the differentiation between the interglacial MIS 1, 5, 7 and 9 with an average dating error range of 10 to 15%. ESR dating of quartz is another promising dating technique for Quaternary and even Neogene geological formations. The presence of quartz in volcanic rocks, tephra, fault gouge and sediments (heated or unheated) allows determining the last time of heating, fault movement or sunlight exposure. Although challenged by several experimental issues, ESR dating of quartz is often the only method able to produce numerical ages for older formations. ESR has also been applied to a wide variety of other materials such as foraminifera, speleothems, travertines, calcretes and tooth enamel. The most common and reliable application is the ESR dating of mammal teeth, which becomes in conjunction with laser ablation U-series dating, an important method for determining the age of archaeological sites beyond the time range of the 14C dating method back to about 200 to 300 ka.
A Paleoindian campsite has been uncovered in stratified prehistoric deposits in Caverna da Pedra Pintada at Monte Alegre in
the Brazilian Amazon. Fifty-six radiocarbon dates on carbonized plant remains and 13 luminescence dates on lithics and sediment
indicate a late Pleistocene age contemporary with North American Paleoindians. Paintings, triangular bifacial spear points,
and other tools in the cave document a culture distinct from North American cultures. Carbonized tree fruits and wood and
faunal remains reveal a broad-spectrum economy of humid tropical forest and riverine foraging. The existence of this and related
cultures east of the Andes changes understanding of the migrations and ecological adaptations of early foragers.
Both radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating methods were applied to test their suitability for establishing
a chronology of arid-zone lacustrine sediments using a 5.88-m-long core drilled from Lake Ulaan, southern Mongolia. Although
the radiocarbon and OSL ages agree in some samples, the radiocarbon ages are older than the corresponding OSL ages at the
550-cm depth horizon (late Pleistocene) and in the 100–300-cm interval (early to late Holocene). In the early to late Holocene,
radiocarbon ages are consistently older than OSL ages by 4,100–5,800years, and in the late Pleistocene by 2,700–3,000years.
Grain-size analysis of early to late Holocene sediments and one late Pleistocene sediment sample (550-cm depth) indicates
that eolian processes were the dominant sediment-transport mechanism. Also, two late Pleistocene sediments samples (from 400-
to 500-cm depths) are interpreted to have been deposited by both eolian and glaciofluvial processes. Accordingly, the radiocarbon
ages that were older than the corresponding OSL ages during the Holocene seem to have been a consequence of the influx of
14C-deficient carbon delivered from adjacent soils and Paleozoic carbonate rocks by the westerly winds, a process that is also
active today. In addition to the input of old reworked carbon by eolian processes, the late Pleistocene sediments were also
influenced by old carbon delivered by deglacial meltwater. The results of this study suggest that when eolian sediment transport
is suspected, especially in lakes of arid environments, the OSL dating method is superior to the radiocarbon dating method,
as it eliminates a common ‘old-carbon’ error problem.
KeywordsRadiocarbon–OSL–Lacustrine sediment–Arid condition–Mongolia
A Bison antiquus cranium and partial skeleton from Ayer Pond wetland on Orcas Island, San Juan Islands, Washington, date to 11,760 ± 70 14C yr BP. They lay in lacustrine sediments below peat, unconformably above emergent Everson Glaciomarine Drift (> 12,000 14C yr BP). Several bison finds in similar contexts on Orcas and Vancouver Islands dating between 11,750 and 10,800 14C yr BP indicate an early postglacial land mammal dispersal corridor with reduced water barriers between mainland and islands. New bison dates and published shell dates allow estimation of early postglacial relative sea-level trends for the San Juans, with a drop below modern datum ∼ 12,000 14C yr BP, and assist in evaluation of marine reservoir corrections. Emergence by ∼ 60 m is suggested by data from nearby areas. A tundra-like or meadow community and succeeding open pine parkland before 11,000 14C yr BP supported bison but horn-core reduction suggests suboptimal forage or restricted habitat. Expanding mixed-conifer forests after 11,000 14C yr BP contributed to bison extirpation. Dispersing ungulates such as bison must have influenced island vegetation establishment and early succession. Possible evidence for butchering by early coastal people adds significance to the Ayer Pond discovery, given its pre-Clovis age.
The tip of a projectile point made of mastodon bone is embedded in a rib of a single disarticulated mastodon at the Manis
site in the state of Washington. Radiocarbon dating and DNA analysis show that the rib is associated with the other remains
and dates to 13,800 years ago. Thus, osseous projectile points, common to the Beringian Upper Paleolithic and Clovis, were
made and used during pre-Clovis times in North America. The Manis site, combined with evidence of mammoth hunting at sites
in Wisconsin, provides evidence that people were hunting proboscideans at least two millennia before Clovis.
The Clovis complex is considered to be the oldest unequivocal evidence of humans in the Americas, dating between 11,500 and 10,900 radiocarbon years before the present (14C yr B.P.). Adjusted 14C dates and a reevaluation of the existing Clovis date record revise the Clovis time range to 11,050 to 10,800 14C yr B.P. In as few as 200 calendar years, Clovis technology originated and spread throughout North America. The revised age range for Clovis overlaps non-Clovis sites in North and South America. This and other evidence imply that humans already lived in the Americas before Clovis.
The colonization of Beringia appears closely linked to the arrival of the oldest firmly documented archeological tradition
in mid-latitude North America (Paleoindian). The discovery of a Paleoindian complex in central Alaska, combined with the recent
redating of the Bering Land Bridge and key archeological sites, suggests that Beringia was settled during the final Pleistocene
interstadial (12,000 to 11,000 years before present). Its population expanded rapidly into other parts of the New World. Beringia
probably was colonized in response to changes in climate and vegetation that occurred during this interstadial. Access to
the Americas was controlled by Beringian environments and not by changing sea levels or continental ice masses.
The timing of the first human migration into the Americas and its relation to the appearance of the Clovis technological complex
in North America at about 11,000 to 10,800 radiocarbon years before the present (14C years B.P.) remains contentious. We establish that humans were present at Paisley 5 Mile Point Caves, in south-central Oregon,
by 12,300 14C years B.P., through the recovery of human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from coprolites, directly dated by accelerator mass
spectrometry. The mtDNA corresponds to Native American founding haplogroups A2 and B2. The dates of the coprolites are >1000
14C years earlier than currently accepted dates for the Clovis complex.
The antiquity of the first Americans is one of the most controversial issues in American archaeology, and it must be resolved to understand fully the adaptive radiation of Homo sapiens into the New World. Humans were in the Americas at least by Clovis times 11,200 years ago. Accepting that these were the first Americans, however, is complicated by claims of an even earlier presence, by the absence of a Clovis source (i.e. an Alaskan predecessor is lacking), and by the theoretical demands of explaining how or why Clovis groups apparently migrated rapidly through the hemisphere. New models from evolutionary ecology, along with possible changes in the Clovis chronology (resulting from improved radiocarbon calibration), may address some of these anomalies. But there still remains the possibility of an earlier (pre-Clovis) entry, supported by some mtDNA and archaeological evidence. The mtDNA evidence, however, is complicated by questions about the viability of the presumed founder effect (on which the mtDNA clock is based). Also, the several possible pre-Clovis archaeological sites have not yet been accepted. Resolution of the timing of the peopling of the Americas, on which several theoretical and methodological issues hinge, remains a question of developing archaeological evidence, resolving ambiguity in analytical techniques and dating methods (and rejecting ones that now appear critically flawed), and expanding search strategies. The Monte Verde site in Chile is the most viable pre-Clovis candidate, although for now neither it nor any other site resolves when and by which route humans first came to the Americas.
Initially application was to ancient pottery and other baked clay, detection of forgeries in art ceramics having a particularly powerful impact. In recent years there has been a growing extension of TL into non-pottery materials. Heated flints from paleolithic fire-places is one application. Another is in the dating of igneous rocks from recent volcanic events; formerly this had been impossible on account of the malign phenomenon of non-thermal ('anomalous') fading exhibited by volcanic minerals but this is now being circumvented by utilising TL in the 600 oC region of the glow curve. TL dating has also been extended to unburnt calcite, one application being stalagmitic floors in paleolithic caves. Another recent development is the use of TL for dating aeolian sediment and some types of waterborne sediment. These developments give prospect of establishing a TL-based chronology, both for archaeology and quaternary research, extending back well beyond the range of radiocarbon, perhaps reaching a million years ago.
The last decades of fieldwork have not decisively upset the long-held view that the settlement of the Americas occurred in the very latest Pleistocene, as marked in North America by the Clovis archaeological horizon at about 11,200 years ago, and by a variety of contemporaneous South American industries. Yet there are several sites that may prove to be older, among them Pedra Furada, in the thorn forest of northeastern Brazil, a large and remarkable rock-shelter, whose Pleistocene deposits have been interpreted as containing clear evidence of human occupation.
This paper offers a considered view of Pedra Furada from three archaeologists with a wide range of experiences in sites of all ages in the Americas and elsewhere, but who also share a special interest and expertise in the issues Pedra Furada has raised: Meltzer from long study of the peopling of the Americas and the frame of thinking within which we address that issue (Meltzer 1993a; 1993b); Adovasio from his intensive excavations and analysis of the Meadowcroft Rockshelter in Pennsylvania, the prime North American pre-Clovis candidate (Adovasio et al. 1990; Donahue & Adovasio 1990); and Dillehay from his work at the Monte Verde site in Chile, a site in which extraordinary preservation has produced a rich archaeological record with radiocarbon ages in excess of 12,500 years b.p. (Dillehay 1989a; in press). At the invitation of the Pedra Furada team, the three travelled to Brazil last December to participate in an international conference on the peopling of the Americas, and see first-hand the evidence from Pedra Furada.
The paper gives a review of archaeological work in the south‐eastern part of Piaui State, Brazil, with particular reference to the chronology and geological history of rocksheiter sites, such as Toca do Boqueiräo at Pedra Furada, and Toca do Sitio do Meio. The article analyses critiques of early dates in South America, notes a bias towards the rejection of early dates, and gives additional documentation to the early dates in Piaui State. It concludes by urging that a new consensus be developed among archaeologists studying early American sites.
About 30 years ago a rock shelter with engravings by early settlers was found at Montalvânia, northern end of state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Lower part of engravings was covered with thin deposit of calcite mixed with quartz grains, due to occasional flood. This mixture of two minerals was dated by thermoluminescence and electron paramagnetic resonance using in both cases, additive method. The accumulated dose DAC, that is, natural radioactivity and cosmic rays radiation dose that induces TL and EPR signal intensity has been found to be around 50 Gy both by TL and EPR methods. The annual radiation dose rate was estimated to be about 1.027 mGy/a from knowledge of uranium, thorium and potassium content determined by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer system. The age of this calcite plus quartz deposits was estimated to be about 50 ka.
Recent genetic research suggests an expansion along the tropical coastline of the Indian Ocean, between 75,000 and 60,000 years ago, of the population which included the ancestors of all of the non-African human mitochondrial DNA lineages known today. In view of the arid sections along this coastal stretch, irregularly punctuated by resource-rich estuaries, and the crossings over open sea during the last leg to Australia/ New Guinea, this expansion would necessarily have involved the features of watercraft, portage of potable water, and adaptation to estuaries. These features could well have been the cultural basis for the rapid tropical dispersal of Homo sapiens out of Africa to Australia/ New Guinea.
Tasmania and the Bass Strait islands (King and Flinders) preserve a widespread but fragmentary Quaternary coastal record. Quaternary coastal sediments occur in a range of morphostratigraphic settings, typically contain well‐preserved and diverse molluscan fossil assemblages of shallow water origin, and provide evidence for varying degrees of neotectonic uplift over contrasting temporal and spatial scales. Holocene and Late Pleistocene (last interglacial) coastal strata occur most extensively in this region, as revealed by amino acid racemization, electron spin resonance and radiocarbon dating. Radiocarbon dates for marine molluscs from Holocene coastal strata range between 790 to 7120 a and relate specifically to the interval since the culmination of the post‐glacial marine transgression. Holocene coastal sediments in this region do not provide convincing evidence for a higher sea level during the last 7000 years. The last interglacial coastal sediments in Tasmania represent the highest topographic occurrences of coastal strata of this age on the Australian continent (+11 to +32 m above present sea‐level) and consistently occur above the de facto global ‘eustatic’ sea level datum of +6 m for oxygen isotope substage 5e. Thus, tectonic processes must be considered for their anomalously high elevation. In contrast, sediments of last interglacial age on King Island and Flinders Island do not provide evidence for uplift. Neotectonic uplift is indicated, however, by the elevation of Early and Middle Pleistocene coastal strata in this region. A southerly migration in the locus of neotectonic uplift is suggested, such that uplift occurred earlier in the Bass Strait islands than in Tasmania. The nature and precise timing of neotectonic uplift remain unresolved.
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.
The view that man did not arrive on the American continent before the last glaciation has been supported by the fact that until now the known and dated archaeological sites have not been of very great antiquity. But now we report radiocarbon dates from a Brazilian site which establish that early man was living in South America at least 32,000 years ago. These new findings come from the large painted rockshelter of Boqueirao do Sitio da Pedra Furada, the walls and the ceiling of which are decorated with a rich set of prehistoric paintings. We have excavated a sequence containing abundant lithic industry and well-structured hearths at all levels. Carbon-14 dates from charcoal establish a continuous chronology indicating human occupation from 6,160+/-130 to 32,160+/-100 years BP. A date of 17,000+/-400 BP, obtained from charcoal found in a level with fragments of a pictograph fallen from the walls, testifies to the antiquity of rupestral art in this region of Brazil.
The antiquity of the first Americans is one of the most controversial issues in American archaeology, and it must be resolved to understand fully the adaptive radiation of Homo sapiens into the New World. Humans were in the Americas at least by Clovis times 11,200 years ago. Accepting that these were the first Americans, however, is complicated by claims of an even earlier presence, by the absence of a Clovis source (i.e. an Alaskan predecessor is lacking), and by the theoretical demands of explaining how or why Clovis groups apparently migrated rapidly through the hemisphere. New models from evolutionary ecology, along with possible changes in the Clovis chronology (resulting from improved radiocarbon calibration), may address some of these anomalies. But there still remains the possibility of an earlier (pre-Clovis) entry, supported by some mtDNA and archaeological evidence. The mtDNA evidence, however, is complicated by questions about the viability of the presumed founder effect (on which the mtDNA cl...
Mechanisms of thermoluminescence (TL) in aragonite have been studied using electron spin resonance (ESR) techniques. Natural aragonite shows a prominent TL glow peak at 613 K. Additional gamma irradiation enhanced this glow peak but displaces it slightly to 593 K, and induces two glow peaks at 393 and 493 K. Pre-annealing at 653 K for 10 min and subsequent gamma irradiation also induces and enhances two glow peaks at 393 and 493 K. The authors show that second-order kinetics characterizes all the glow peaks reasonably well. Results of dose calibration in aragonite indicate that the 393 K peak increases linearly with dose, whereas the others exhibit anomalous behaviours. On the other hand, aragonite presents a complex ESR spectrum. The pre-anneal and subsequent irradiation procedure is found to enhance Pb3+ and CO3- ESR hole centres. An isochronal thermal anneal sequence experiment indicates that these ESR centres can be related to two glow peaks at 393 and 493 K. A model for the recombination mechanism is suggested on the basis of TL and ESR measurements.
Jinmium rock shelter is famous for the claims made by Fullagar et al. (1996) for the early human colonization and ancient rock art of northern Australia. These claims were based on thermo-luminescence ages obtained for the artefact-bearing quartz sediments that form the floor deposit at the site. In this paper, we outline the background to the optical dating programme at Jinmium, and describe the experimental design and statistical methods used to obtain optical ages from single grains of quartz sand. The results, interpretations, and implications of this dating programme are reported in a companion paper (Roberts et al. 7999, this volume).
Results of the dating of fossil human teeth excavated from a shelter in the surroundings areas of the Serra da Capivara National Park, São Raimundo Nonato, Piauí, Brazil are presented. This shelter was partially excavated to search for more data that could improve the archaeological context of the Garrincho’s limestone hill sites, where the Toca do Gordo do Garrincho shelter provided two human teeth dated by conventional C-14 in (12,170 ± 40) yBP (years before present) and calibrated age (2 Sigma, 95% probability) 15,245-14,690 yBP (Beta 136204) [E. Peyre, C. Guérin, N. Guidon, I. Coppens, CR Acad. Sci. Paris, Sciences de la terre et des planètes/ Earth & Planetary Sciences 327 (1998) 335, [1]].
In previous work, we have discussed the way in which the contribution of cosmic rays to the dose rates for TL/ESR dating depends on altitude, latitude and depth below ground level. The present paper extends the discussion to greater depths. Long-term changes in the geomagnetic field and the galactic cosmic ray intensity could affect the dose rate. The effects are shown to be small over the past 500 ka in most circumstances.
The study of the constituents of teeth, dentine and enamel, by a combination of ESR and U-series techniques offer unique constraints on the history of uranium migration into these materials. Our results imply that it is inappropriate to assume a simplified U-uptake model for neither the components of a single tooth nor for the faunal remains of a given site. However, the combination of both methods may provide a new technique for establishing reliable chronologies for archaeological/Quaternary sites of up to several hundred thousand years.
The timing and cause of late Pleistocene faunal extinctions in Australia are subjects of a debate that has become polarised by two vigorously defended views. One contends that the late Pleistocene extinction was a short event caused by humans colonising the Australian continent, whereas the other promotes a gradual demise of the fauna, over a period of at least 10–20 ka, due to a combination of climatic changes and ecological pressures by humans. Cuddie Springs is central to this debate as it is the only site known in continental Australia where archaeological and megafauna remains co-occur.
Different single-aliquot regenerative-dose (SAR) protocols have now been applied for some years to quartz grains for determining the equivalent dose, in both dating and retrospective dosimetry studies. This paper begins by laying out the basic principles of the SAR procedure on which the various SAR protocols are based. A general model is examined and three simple performance tests are laid out. Recent experimental characterisation of the optically stimulated luminescence signals from quartz grains is reviewed, giving particular regard to implications for SAR protocols. Various published SAR protocols are presented and discussed, particularly with regard to changes in experimental procedure and methods of data analysis in order to isolate the fast component of the OSL signal. It is concluded that the SAR procedure has proved to be a very powerful approach for determining the equivalent dose using quartz OSL signals dominated by the fast component. The presence of other components complicates the simplest protocols and further quantification of their behaviour is required.
New radiometric data are reported from the recent excavation of the type locality of the Early Upper Palaeolithic entity of the Bohunician. Recently obtained radiocarbon (14C) data on charcoal are compared with new Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating of sediment. OSL ages were determined on sediment from the archaeological occupation at Brno-Bohunice, as well as from the over- and underlying loessic sediments. Multiple techniques were applied, which all gave congruent results. While a dual protocol (post IR-OSL) failed the quality criteria tests, ages were obtained by Multiple-Aliquot-Additive-Dose (MAAD) on polymineral material and Single-Aliquot-Regeneration (SAR) on fine grain quartz extract as well as on polymineral material. Fading tests show significant loss of Infrared Stimulated Luminescence (IRSL) after storage for 3 and 12 months for one sample, but little or no fading for others. The resulting (uncorrected) age estimates are smaller than those on quartz by OSL methods. The latter are considered to be more reliable estimates of the sedimentation age of these deposits. The measured OSL doses do not show a simple distribution and the lowest 5% was used for age calculation to represent the most likely sedimentation age. The quartz from the loess overlying the archaeological layer is OSL dated to 30.9 ± 3.1 ka, while the sediment for the paleosol which contains the archaeological layer gave an age of 58.7 ± 5.8 ka. The attribution of this paleosol to the Hengelo interstadial is therefore questionable. However, if the Hengelo interstadial is correlated with the Dansgaard/Oeschger (D/O) event 12, statistical agreement within 2-σ is achieved. The OSL result for the archaeological layer is in accordance with a weighted average TL date on heated flint artifacts of 48.2 ± 1.9 ka from this layer as well as calibrated radiocarbon data (CalPal Hulu 2007) from nearby locations. However, radiocarbon data on charcoal samples obtained during excavation at Brno-Bohunice 2002 provide age estimates between 30 and 40 ka 14C-years, which translate to approximately (33) 35–44 ka on the calendric time scale according to the Hulu 2007 model. For the underlying loess a depositional age of 104.3 ± 10.6 ka was obtained by OSL. The presented OSL ages indicate that a simple correlation of soil sequences between sites within a region has to be verified by chronometric dating.
The Shaluli Mountains, a tectonically controlled mountain range between the Jinsha and Yalong River Rifts, are located in southeastern Tibetan Plateau. In the central Shaluli Mountains, an ice cap of ~ 3600 km2 once developed on the Haizi Shan. Abundant glacial landforms are present on the Haizi Shan and in the surrounding river valleys. Together with the outwash terraces in the Yazheku River, the northeastern part of the Haizi Shan provides an ideal site to examine the Quaternary glacial history of the region. Sedimentological and morphostratigraphical analysis, field mapping, and dating by electron spin resonance (ESR) define at least seven major glacier advances in the Haizi Shan area. Six major glacier advances likely occurred during marine oxygen isotope stage (MIS)-16, MIS-14/12, MIS-6, MIS-3, early MIS-2, and the global Last Glacial Maximum. These can be defined on the basis of ESR dating and stratigraphical analysis of the glacial landforms in front of the Kuzhaori glacial trough on the southern slope of the Haizi Shan. The outwash terraces in the Yazheku River also record four major glacier advances, which occurred during MIS-16, MIS-12, MIS-6, and MIS-2. In addition, the moraines preserved on the southwestern part of the Haizi Shan suggest that a glacial advance likely occurring during the Lateglacial. The extent of glaciation on the Haizi Shan decreased with time.
ESR dating requires that growth curves be determined by interpreting complex spectra. Spectra, however, can vary significantly in shape and field position between different samples, or occasionally between subsamples, even though the mineralogy remains the same. In some cases, this spectral variability does not affect the resulting accumulated dose calculation. In other cases, signal subtraction may be needed. However, some samples that until recently might have been considered unsuitable for dating are now shown to yield accurate and precise results because a broad interference peak is integral to the hydroxyapatite signal. By studying the spectrum at the Q-band frequency, it can be shown that the interfering signal in most cases is not a problem for dating. A second concern has been that artificially irradiating sample aliquots can introduce a short-lived component that is simply an unstable enhancement of the dating signal. The apparent accumulated dose from growth curves created immediately after irradiation is considerably greater than that after annealing, although the curve's shape remains unchanged. Annealing both the natural and artificially irradiated signal shows the dating signal's lifetime to be greater than 10(10) years.
Nearly 25 years ago, Motoji Ikeya demonstrated the potential of ESR dating. From a single substance (stalagmitic carbonate) and a single site (Akiyoshi Cavern), the field has grown to include materials from all over the world and time periods from a few thousand years ago to several million years ago. A vigorous program of instrumentation development has increased the precision of measurements as well as opening up new ways of collecting and interpreting spectra. Yet there are still references to ESR dating as an 'experimental' technique, one which cannot be trusted to produce dates that are accurate or precise. This paper discusses areas for which this is true and suggests what should be done to convince skeptics. Other areas for which the evidence suggests that ESR is at least as reliable as 'standard' methods will also be covered.
Improve-ments in dating tooth enamel by ESR Keeping track of time: Dating Monte Alegre and the peopling of South Am erica
- A R Skinner
- B A B Blackwell
- N D Chasteen
- J Shao
- S S Min
Skinner, A.R., Blackwell, B.A.B., Chasteen, N.D., Shao, J., Min, S.S., 2000. Improve-ments in dating tooth enamel by ESR. Appl. Radiat. Isotopes 52, 1337e1344. Tankersley, K., 1997. Keeping track of time: Dating Monte Alegre and the peopling of South Am erica. Rev. Archaeol. 18, 28e34.
Keeping track of time: Dating Monte Alegre and the peopling of South América
- Tankersley
Tankersley, K., 1997. Keeping track of time: Dating Monte Alegre and the peopling of
South Am erica. Rev. Archaeol. 18, 28e34.
Pre-Clovis mastodon hunting 13,800 years ago at the Manis site, Washington
- M R Waters
- T W Stafford
- H G Mcdonald
- C Gustafson
- M Rasmussen
- E Cappellini
- J V Olsen
- D Szklarcyzk
- L J Jensen
- M T P Gilbert
- E Willerslev
Waters, M.R., Stafford Jr., T.W., McDonald, H.G., Gustafson, C., Rasmussen, M.,
Cappellini, E., Olsen, J.V., Szklarcyzk, D., Jensen, L.J., Gilbert, M.T.P., Willerslev, E.,
2011. Pre-Clovis mastodon hunting 13,800 years ago at the Manis site, Washington. Science 334, 351e353.
- A Kinoshita
A. Kinoshita et al. / Journal of Human Evolution xxx (2014) 1e9
New radiometric ages for the Early Upper Paleolithic type locality of Brno-Bohunice (Czech Republic): comparison of OSL, IRSL, TL and 14 C dating results
- D Richter
- G Tostevan
- P Skrdla
- W Davies
- W J Rink
- H P Schwarcz
- H K Lee
- V C Vald Es
- F Bernaldo De Quir Os
- M Hoyos
Richter, D., Tostevan, G., Skrdla, P., Davies, W., 2009. New radiometric ages for the
Early Upper Paleolithic type locality of Brno-Bohunice (Czech Republic): comparison of OSL, IRSL, TL and 14 C dating results. J. Archaeol. Sci. 36, 708e720.
Rink, W.J., Schwarcz, H.P., Lee, H.K., Vald es, V.C., Bernaldo de Quir os, F., Hoyos, M.,
1996. ESR dating of tooth enamel, comparison with AMS 14 C at El Castillo Cave,
Spain. J. Archaeol. Sci. 23, 945e951.
Cosmic ray contributions to dose rates for luminescence and ESR dating: large depths and long-term time variations
- Prescott