Chronometric studies of charcoal production remains are largely based on 14C‐dating of associated charcoal. Owing to intrinsic limitations, however, this method provides no meaningful time resolution for post‐1650 CE features. We investigate the potential of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of heated sandy sediments as an alternative and complementary tool for dating charcoal kiln remains.Seven samples from five relic charcoal kilns and 11 complementary samples from the underlying sandy substrate are used. Through a range of procedural tests, we demonstrate that the single‐aliquot, regenerative‐dose procedure in combination with OSL signals from quartz allows determining equivalent doses both accurately and precisely. For four of the five investigated kilns, OSL ages are consistent with independent age information from 14C‐dating and written sources. Especially for post‐1650 CE features, the precision can be significantly better than that of 14C‐dating, and we highlight the potential of OSL dating for distinguishing, relatively, between charcoal production phases with an unprecedented time resolution. We conclude that the approach is a promising alternative to 14C.
Rock art paintings are notoriously difficult to date numerically. Recently, luminescence dating has been shown to provide reliable rock surface burial ages in various archaeological settings. Here we use the cross‐cutting relationship between a fallen rock and two paintings of the Iberian Levantine (older) and Schematic (younger) styles to constrain the age of the paintings by dating the rockfall event using rock surface luminescence dating. Infrared‐stimulated luminescence (IRSL) signals as a function of depth into the buried face of the talus border indicate that the IRSL signal measured at 50°C (IR50) was sufficiently reset to a depth of about 1.6 mm prior to burial. An uncorrected IR50 age of 1.6 ± 0.2 ka was calculated for the rockfall event by dividing the surface equivalent dose (De) by the total dose rate. This age was corrected using both conventional and field‐to‐laboratory saturation approaches to yield indistinguishable ages of 2.7 ± 0.5 and 2.9 ± 0.3 ka, respectively. Since the panel with Schematic art was first available to the artist after the rockfall, we conclude the Schematic rock art at Villar del Humo is younger than ~2.9 ka. The Levantine rock art was painted on a panel constrained by the talus boulder before detachment, and so it is likely to be older than ~2.9 ka.
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