Esr Dating Teeth From Golema Pešt: Absolute Dates for Macedonia's Only Middle Paleolithic Site

ESR (electron spin resonance) can date sites that span the whole Paleolithic, but requires accurate sedimentary dose rates, especially in caves where the internal and cosmic dose rates can approach 0 mGy/yr. This study examines the sedimentary radioactivity in the upper layers at Golema Pešt, North Macedonia. Reaching > 5.5 m deep, > 21 flatly lying, silty-sandy matrix-supported gravel layers with éboulis clasts fill the cave. In Sondage 2, Layers 0–5 contained many hearths and yielded thousands of bones and teeth, many from ungulates. In Layers 2-5a sat thousands of lithics and small tools, many made on tiny quartz crystals. Layers 2c-6 have Mousterian assemblages with denticulates, notched tools, Levallois cores and flakes. To measure the volumetrically averaged sedimentary dose rates for ungulate teeth dated by ESR from Sondage 2, 66 sediment samples were analyzed by NAA. Adding éboulis, calcined bone, and charcoal associated with the hearths lowered the sedimentary dose rates or left them unchanged. In Layer 2 at 198 cm below the cave datum, the Campanian Ignimbrite (CI) cryptotephra occurred, where it caused abnormally high sedimentary U, Th, and K concentrations and dose rates. Since the CI tephra lay 28–30 cm above AT77, a tooth dated from Layer 3, using time- and volumetrically averaging increased AT77’s sedimentary dose rate by 32%, and dropped its calculated age by 25%. Analyzing the sedimentary compositions at every 2 cm in Layers 0–2 yielded a highly detailed stratigraphy that reduced the uncertainty in the sedimentary dose rates and the ESR ages, but more detailed geochemical analyses must be completed within the lower layers in Sondage 2.

show abstract

SEDIMENTARY RADIOACTIVITY IN AN UPPER PALEOLITHIC-MIDDLE PALEOLITHIC (MP-UP) TRANSITION SITE: INCREASING ESR TOOTH DATING ACCURACY AT GOLEMA PEšT, NORTH MACEDONIA

Blackwell

Šalamanov-Korobar²,

Huang³

et al. 2019

Radiation Protection Dosimetry

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.

Contact Info

hi@scite.ai

10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614

Henderson, NV 89052, USA

Blog Terms and Conditions API Terms Privacy Policy Contact Cookie Preferences Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

Made with 💙 for researchers

Part of the Research Solutions Family.

Esr Dating Teeth From Golema Pešt: Absolute Dates for Macedonia's Only Middle Paleolithic Site

Cited by 1 publication

References 0 publications

SEDIMENTARY RADIOACTIVITY IN AN UPPER PALEOLITHIC-MIDDLE PALEOLITHIC (MP-UP) TRANSITION SITE: INCREASING ESR TOOTH DATING ACCURACY AT GOLEMA PEšT, NORTH MACEDONIA

SEDIMENTARY RADIOACTIVITY IN AN UPPER PALEOLITHIC-MIDDLE PALEOLITHIC (MP-UP) TRANSITION SITE: INCREASING ESR TOOTH DATING ACCURACY AT GOLEMA PEšT, NORTH MACEDONIA

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About