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Unas fechas antiguas no hacen una nueva arqueología: la necesitad de integrar métodos arqueométricos y arqueológicos en los estudios de arte rupestre
Abstract
An international group of archaeologists specializing in cave art explain the diffi- culties they faced to publish their response to another paper, previously published in Science (Hoffmann et al. 2018), reporting a Neanderthal origin of some Spanish cave pain- tings according to Uranium-thorium method. In their reply, they underlined the diffe- rent sources of error that lead to overestimate the dates and summarized the contra- dictions with archeological arguments. Some American reviewers put more trust in ar- cheometry than in European arqueology, which is unfamiliar to them. Thus, the paper passed through the hands of many reviewers and it took more than one year to finally publish it in Journal of Human Evolution. This whole process illustrates the lack of trans- parency in peer review procedures -although apparently objective and neutral- when renowned authors are concerned.
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Hoffmann et al . (Reports, 23 February 2018, p. 912) report the discovery of parietal art older than 64,800 years and attributed to Neanderthals, at least 25 millennia before the oldest parietal art ever found. Instead, critical evaluation of their geochronological data seems to provide stronger support for an age of 47,000 years, which is much more consistent with the archaeological background in hand.
The Matthew effect describes the phenomenon that in societies, the rich tend to get richer and the potent even more powerful. It is closely related to the concept of preferential attachment in network science, where the more connected nodes are destined to acquire many more links in the future than the auxiliary nodes. Cumulative advantage and success-breads-success also both describe the fact that advantage tends to beget further advantage. The concept is behind the many power laws and scaling behaviour in empirical data, and it is at the heart of self-organization across social and natural sciences. Here, we review the methodology for measuring preferential attachment in empirical data, as well as the observations of the Matthew effect in patterns of scientific collaboration, socio-technical and biological networks, the propagation of citations, the emergence of scientific progress and impact, career longevity, the evolution of common English words and phrases, as well as in education and brain development. We also discuss whether the Matthew effect is due to chance or optimization, for example related to homophily in social systems or efficacy in technological systems, and we outline possible directions for future research.
The present work is a critical review of 130 alpha-spectrometric U/Th analyses of speleothems from north-eastern
Italy. About 33% of measurements display activity ratios (230Th/234U)>1 while maintaining (234U/238U) close to unity,
thus falling outside the closed system U-series disequilibrium fi eld. The open-system behaviour was mostly observed
in speleothems that, based on geological data and petrographic observations, have experienced dramatic environmental
changes, such as fl ooding of caves by glacial meltwater or dissolution by undersaturated waters. The paper discusses
possible causes of the open-system behaviour in the U-Th system, and evaluates evidence for the U leaching vs. 230Th
introduction. By considering only samples which do not show the open-system behaviour and are not contaminated
by detrital thorium, fi ve periods of active speleothem deposition have been identifi ed for north-eastern Italy: 0 to 10
ka, 40 to 63 ka, 88 to 100 ka, 140 to 160 ka, and 190 to 250 ka. Even in these, apparently good, data set, the ages of
140 to 160 ka might be affected by undetected 230Th introduction, since they appear to be 20 to 40 ka older than the
data obtained for the same paleoclimate period from European speleothems.
We present the first application of cross-dating (Th/U measured by thermo-ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) and 14C measured by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS)) of calcite covering prehistoric paintings. Th/U age estimates of cave drapery range from 9800 to 27,300 yr B.P. while conventional 14C age is estimated between 9900 and 7610 yr B.P. depending on the dead carbon correction. The age discrepancy is attributed to a disturbance of Th/U and/or 14C geochemical systems, showing the limits of the geochronological approach applied to this kind of material. For the Th/U system, the poor consistency of U data (U content, 234U/238U activity ratios) and apparent ages argue for open system conditions. For 14C system, variation of the dead carbon fraction (dcf) and a possible mixing of successive generations of calcite could account for age discrepancy. Nevertheless, one sample shows concordant ages for the two methods. Compatible ages through corrections for open system conditions are assumed for other samples. Then, the cross-dating suggests 9900 yr as the minimum age of the piece of drapery; the underlying painting must be older. This study of rock art demonstrates the presence of a Pleistocene population before 9900 yr in the southeast of Borneo, whereas previously the only population in evidence in this area was of Austronesian type from ∼5000 to 6000 yrs ago.
Aragonite and calcite speleothems were sampled in the cave of Pierre Saint-Martin (Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France). These speleothems contain significant amounts of uranium and strontium, which were measured spatially and chemically by nuclear microprobe analysis. Sr and U distributions are highly varied, with a marked contrast between aragonite and calcite because the aragonite concentrates Sr and U. On the other hand, Zn is preferentially located in calcite and in layers of organic matter trapped in CaCO3. Sr contents ranged from 440 to 1100 μg/g in the calcite and 4900 to 18,500 μg/g in the aragonite. U concentrations show remarkably high values from 11 to 19 μg/g in the calcite and 89 to 350 μg/g in the aragonite. These U and Sr concentrations are amongst the highest measured in supergene speleothems deposited by infiltrating meteoric waters. X-ray absorption experiments with synchrotron radiation suggested that uranium was incorporated in its hexavalent oxidation state in both aragonite and calcite. Recrystallization from aragonite into calcite was indicated by micromorphological observations for some of the samples. This recrystallization process may explain the uranium loss in neogenic calcite deposits and consequently the opening of the geochemical system, which can lead to errors in age dating with the U-series dating method. Uranium loss in recrystallized calcite is one of the important aspects to be considered in U-series dating and more generally for U geochemical stability in CaCO3.
We analyzed uranium-series concentrations and isotopic ratios in a mixed aragonite and calcite stalagmite from Juxtlahuaca Cave, from the Sierra Madre del Sur of Mexico. The U-series data for the aragonite layers return highly precise and stratigraphically correct ages over the past ca. 4300 years. In contrast, age determinations from calcite layers are too old by several hundred years relative to the precise aragonite ages, have analytical uncertainties an order of magnitude larger than aragonite ages, and yield ages that do not overlap the aragonite ages within analytical uncertainties. Based on geochemical and petrographic observations, we interpret the calcite layers to have formed from recrystallization of aragonite soon after primary aragonite deposition. Calcite occurs as discontinuous lenses on and off the growth axis, and laminae can be traced between aragonite and calcite layers, demonstrating that visible growth banding is not effaced in the recrystallization process. Paired aragonite-calcite U-series data from coeval stratigraphic layers demonstrate that uranium concentrations decrease by two orders of magnitude during calcitization, and result in decreased (U-234/U-238) Uranium loss during diagenesis mimics a need for an age correction using an initial Th-230/Th-232 ratio one to two orders of magnitude larger than the bulk Earth ratio of 4.4 +/- 2.2 x 10(-6). A need for apparent high initial Th-230/Th-232 ratios results from ingrowth of Th-230 during U-234 decay. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
C and U/Th methods were used to date three thin carbonate layers deposited on decorated walls of Nerja Cave (Malaga, southern Spain) in order to constrain the age of the parietal non-figurative marks situated under these carbonate layers. Modern formations were also dated to estimate the detritic contribution for the U/Th method and the dead carbon proportion for ¹⁴ C dating. We sampled two locations with ocher painting marks. In one case (mark 1), the good agreement between the ages obtained by the two methods suggests that the sample was not subjected to post-deposition alteration and that the results are reliable. In the other case (mark 2), the age discrepancy between the two methods reached 30,000 yr, indicating that geochemical alteration had affected the sample and that one or both results were inaccurate. The ages for mark 1 indicate that this type of non-figurative representation is older than 25,000 cal BP and that it can be associated with the oldest attested Paleolithic occupation of Nerja Cave.
This paper concerns the dating of the Paleolithic rock art of the Fuente del Trucho cave. We used the U–Th method to date calcite crusts superimposed to the paintings. Whenever sub-samples of a single crust could be dated we obtained stratigraphically consistent results and the correction for detrital contamination is negligible. Our results are strictly reliable as minimum ages and suggest that the decoration of this site is of a Gravettian or earlier age, even though a Solutrean chronology cannot be excluded in a few cases. These results are upheld by stylistical comparison with Spanish and French parietal and mobiliary art.
The reward and communication systems of science are considered.
F-33615 Pessac Cedex, France I feruglio@free
- Valérie Feruglio
Valérie Feruglio: UMR 5199 PACEA, Université de Bordeaux, Avenue Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, CS 50023, F-33615 Pessac Cedex, France I feruglio@free.fr
Harald Floss: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Institut für Ur-und Frühgeschichte und Archäologie des Mittelalters, Abteilung Ältere Urgeschichte und
Quartärökologie, Schloss, Burgsteige 11, D-72070 Tübingen, Deutschland I Harald.Floss@uni-tuebingen.de
UMR 7041 ArScAn, «Ethnologie préhistorique» MAE René-Ginouvès 21, allée de l'Université, F-92023 Nanterre, France I fuentes.osc@gmail.com Diego Gárate Maidagán: Instituto Internacional de Investigaciones Prehistóricas de Cantabria
- Oscar Fuentes
Oscar Fuentes: UMR 7041 ArScAn, «Ethnologie préhistorique» MAE René-Ginouvès 21, allée de l'Université, F-92023 Nanterre, France I fuentes.osc@gmail.com
Diego Gárate Maidagán: Instituto Internacional de Investigaciones Prehistóricas de Cantabria, Universidad de Cantabria, Santander, Gobierno de Cantabria,
Edificio Interfacultativo, Avda. de los Castros, 52, 39005 Santander, España I garatemaidagandiego@gmail.com
Universidad de Cantabria, Avda. de los Castros s/n
- Gómez Jesús González
Jesús González Gómez: Grupo de Altas Presiones y Espectroscopia, CITIMAC, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Cantabria, Avda. de los Castros s/n, 39005
CReA-Patrimoine (Centre de recherche en archéologie et patrimoine)
- Marc Groenen
Marc Groenen: Université libre de Bruxelles, CReA-Patrimoine (Centre de recherche en archéologie et patrimoine), Avenue FD Roosevelt 50, CP 133/1, 1050
Grande Rue, F-21310 Mirebeau-sur-Bèze, France. romain I pigeaud@wanadoo.fr Geneviève Pinçon: UMR 5608 TRACES Toulouse, Centre national de Préhistoire, ministère de la culture, 38 Rue 26ème R I, F-24000 Périgueux, France I genevieve
- Romain Pigeaud
Romain Pigeaud: UMR 6566 CReAAH du CNRS, Université de Rennes-1, 42, Grande Rue, F-21310 Mirebeau-sur-Bèze, France. romain I pigeaud@wanadoo.fr
Geneviève Pinçon: UMR 5608 TRACES Toulouse, Centre national de Préhistoire, ministère de la culture, 38 Rue 26ème R I, F-24000 Périgueux, France I
genevieve.pincon@culture.gouv.fr
Fundación cueva de Nerja, Carretera de Maro s/n, 29787 Nerja, Málaga, España I gt1satoj@uco.es Georges Sauvet: CREAP-Cartailhac
- España Córdoba
- Instituto De Investigación
Córdoba, España. Instituto de Investigación, Fundación cueva de Nerja, Carretera de Maro s/n, 29787 Nerja, Málaga, España I gt1satoj@uco.es
Georges Sauvet: CREAP-Cartailhac, Maison des Sciences de l'Homme et de la Société de Toulouse (USR 3414), Université de Toulouse Jean-Jaurés, Maison de
la Recherche, 5 Allées Antonio Machado, F-31058 Toulouse cedex 9, France I georges.sauvet@sfr.fr
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