Ages for the Middle Stone Age of Southern Africa: Implications for Human Behavior and Dispersal

Jacobs, Zenobia; Roberts, Richard G.; Galbraith, R. F.; Deacon, H. J.; Grün, Rainer; Mackay, Alexander; Mitchell, Peter; Vogelsang, Ralf; Wadley, Lyn

doi:10.1126/science.1162219

Cited by 460 publications

(368 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…The relative numbers of rejected grains are similar to those of other OSL studies, e.g. in Jacobs et al (2008a) the corresponding numbers are (i) 24 ± 1 % and (ii) 1.8 ± 0.2 % (n = 48 samples). However, we observe no significant changes in the dose recovery ratio or in the dispersion in the equivalent dose distribution (i.e.…”

Section: Dose Recovery Experimentssupporting

confidence: 72%

The complementarity of luminescence dating methods illustrated on the Mousterian sequence of the Roc de Marsal: A series of reindeer-dominated, Quina Mousterian layers dated to MIS 3

Guérin

Frouin

Tuquoi

et al. 2017

Quaternary International

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Located in southwest France, Roc de Marsal is a cave with a rich Mousterian stratigraphic sequence. The lower part of the sequence (Layers 9-5) are characterized by assemblages dominated by Levallois lithic technology associated with composite faunal spectra (including red deer, roe deer and reindeer) that shows a gradual increase in the frequency of reindeer. The top of the sequence (Layers 4-2) are characterised instead by Quina lithic technology (both in terms of technology and typology) with the faunal remains dominated by reindeer. Roc de Marsal thus provides a very interesting case study to place behavioural changes in a context of changing climates and environments in western Europe during the late Pleistocene. To link the occupations at Roc de Marsal with global and regional climatic conditions known independently, a robust chronology is needed. With this aim in mind, we applied three luminescence dating methods (TL, OSL and IRSL) on different minerals (flint, quartz and K-feldspar extracts). Here the results of two of these methods are presented in detail (TL and OSL) and compared with preliminary IRSL data. At Roc de Marsal, a comparison of methods was necessary to overcome a complex sedimentary history, with very heterogeneous dose rate distributions, both at the beta (mm) and gamma (dm) dose rate scales. The results indicate that the lower Levallois layers are dated to ~65-70 ka, while overlying Quina layers are dated to ~49 ka. These ages for the lower layers fit well with some models that place mixed faunal assemblages in the initial MIS 4; however, while the Quina ages overlap with several other Quina assemblages from the region, they place the reindeer dominated fauna well after the peak cold of MIS 4 and suggest a more extended and complex period of contemporaneous lithic techno-complexes than posited by some current models. AbstractLocated in southwest France, Roc de Marsal is a cave with a rich Mousterian stratigraphic sequence. The lower part of the sequence (Layers 9-5) are characterized by assemblages dominated by Levallois lithic technology associated with composite faunal spectra (including red deer, roe deer and reindeer) that shows a gradual increase in the frequency of reindeer. The top of the sequence (Layers 4-2) are characterised instead by Quina lithic technology (both in terms of technology and typology) with the faunal remains dominated by reindeer. Roc de Marsal thus provides a very interesting case study to place behavioural changes in a context of changing climates and environments in western Europe during the late Pleistocene. To link the occupations at Roc de Marsal with global and regional climatic conditions known independently, a robust chronology is needed. With this aim in mind, we applied three luminescence dating methods (TL, OSL and IRSL) on different minerals (flint, quartz and K-feldspar extracts). Here the results of two of these methods are presented in detail (TL and OSL) and compared with preliminary IRSL data. At Roc de Marsal, a comparison of metho...

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Section: Dose Recovery Experimentssupporting

confidence: 72%

The complementarity of luminescence dating methods illustrated on the Mousterian sequence of the Roc de Marsal: A series of reindeer-dominated, Quina Mousterian layers dated to MIS 3

Guérin

Frouin

Tuquoi

et al. 2017

Quaternary International

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“…In particular, it is often argued in the literature that typical OD values for wellbleached, single dose component samples are lower than 20 %. For example, Jacobs et al (2008) state that, based on the work by Olley et al (2004b) "samples consisting of well-bleached quartz grains commonly have De distributions that are overdispersed by up to 20%"; then, they "ran the FMM using σ d values of between 10 and 20%" (Jacobs et al, 2008;Supporting Online Material, p. 13). On the same subject of the application of the FMM to identify well-bleached components, and in particular when justifying that a maximum of 20 % for the OD value is used to run the FMM, Jacobs et al (2011) state that "there is little merit *…+ in using very high OD values (NB: greater than 20%), as the latter are poor analogues for a wellbleached sample" (see Supplementary Material, p. 17).…”

Section: Results: Compared Single-grain Agesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Testing the accuracy of a Bayesian central-dose model for single-grain OSL, using known-age samples

Guérin

Combès

Lahaye

et al. 2015

Radiation Measurements

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While reviews of comparisons between multi-grain OSL ages and independent chronological information are available in the literature, there is hardly any such performance test for single-grain OSL ages. And yet, this is all the more needed as the interpretation of single-grain dose distributions remains a difficult task, given the typically considerable dispersion in equivalent dose values measured by OSL -and the numerous sources of such dispersion in measurements. In this study, we present the OSL study of 19 samples for which independent age control is available, and whose ages range from 2 to 46 ka. Based on multi-grain OSL age estimates, these samples are presumed to have been both well-bleached at burial, and unaffected by mixing after deposition. Two ways of estimating single-grain ages are then compared: the standard approach on the one hand, consisting of applying the Central Age Model to D e values determined with the Analyst software; on the other hand, the central dose model recently proposed by Combès et al. (Combès, B., Philippe, A., Lanos, P., Mercier, N., Tribolo, C., Guerin, G., Guibert, P., Lahaye, C., in press. Quaternary Geochronology). The median of the relative discrepancy between single-grain OSL and reference ages is about twice as large for the standard approach (12%) than with the Bayesian model (7%). Statistical tests show that, based on our (limited) data set, the difference between the two models seems to be significant for samples in the age range 4-46 ka. Finally, the influence of various factors on the (in-)accuracy of single grain OSL ages is discussed; it appears that the accuracy of ages estimated in a standard way decreases when age is increased, while the Bayesian model seems more robust. This study also shows that (i) there is no 20 % limit on the CAM overdispersion parameter for well-bleached samples; (ii) dose recovery experiments do not seem to be a very reliable tool to estimate the accuracy of a SAR measurement protocol for age determination. Highlights-Samples with independent age control are dated by OSL -Their ages range from 2 to 46 ka -Multi-grain OSL ages indicate no bleaching/mixing problem -Single-grain OSL is analysed using two different models -A Bayesian approach is expected to lead to improved accuracy

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“…However, equivalent studies of OSL signals of single quartz grains (Jacobs et al, 2008) have indicated that single grain measurements provide a way to reject grains with aberrant behaviour, thus increasing the precision of ages. A similar approach, i.e.…”

Section: E Determination Using Single Kf Grainsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Infrared stimulated luminescence measurements of single grains of K-rich feldspar for isochron dating

Duller

et al. 2011

Quaternary Geochronology

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Bo Li, Sheng-Hua Li, Geoffrey A.T. Duller, Ann G. Wintle (2011). Infrared stimulated luminescence measurements of single grains of K-rich feldspar for isochron dating. Quaternary Geochronology, 6(1), 71-81 Sponsorship: Research Grant Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, ChinaThis paper explores the use of single grain luminescence measurements in isochron dating of K-rich feldspars. The thermal stability of individual feldspar grains was investigated using pulse annealing methods, which appears to distinguish between K-rich and Na-rich feldspars. A good isochron fit was obtained using synthetic aliquots produced from the single grain data set and the age obtained based on an assumed K content of 13 ? 1% was in good agreement with that obtained using single aliquot measurements (and with other age control).Peer reviewe

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Ages for the Middle Stone Age of Southern Africa: Implications for Human Behavior and Dispersal

Cited by 460 publications

References 28 publications

The complementarity of luminescence dating methods illustrated on the Mousterian sequence of the Roc de Marsal: A series of reindeer-dominated, Quina Mousterian layers dated to MIS 3

The complementarity of luminescence dating methods illustrated on the Mousterian sequence of the Roc de Marsal: A series of reindeer-dominated, Quina Mousterian layers dated to MIS 3

Testing the accuracy of a Bayesian central-dose model for single-grain OSL, using known-age samples

Infrared stimulated luminescence measurements of single grains of K-rich feldspar for isochron dating

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