Dating Palaeolithic cave art: Why U-Th is the way to go
Dating Palaeolithic cave art: Why U-Th is the way to go
The chronology of European Upper Palaeolithic cave art is poorly known. Three chronometric techniques are commonly applicable: AMS 14C, TL and U–Th, and in recent years the efficacy of each has been the subject of considerable debate. We review here the use of the U–Th technique to date the formation of calcites that can be shown to have stratigraphic relationships to cave art. We focus particularly on two recent critiques of the method. By using specific examples from our own work using this method in Spain, we demonstrate how these critiques are highly flawed and hence misleading, and we argue that the U–Th dating of calcites is currently the most reliable of available chronometric techniques for dating cave art
41-49
Pike, A.W.G.
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Hoffmann, D.L.
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Pettitt, P.B.
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Garcia-Diez, M.
67bbc6e6-c49f-4e35-aea3-a1d5d30702ea
Zilhao, J.
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8 March 2017
Pike, A.W.G.
e8603e20-0a89-4d57-a294-247b983fc857
Hoffmann, D.L.
a907ccc5-1e0b-4db1-a1d8-c79ab6778510
Pettitt, P.B.
8bdb0d4f-34ff-4314-b396-86d51908a9aa
Garcia-Diez, M.
67bbc6e6-c49f-4e35-aea3-a1d5d30702ea
Zilhao, J.
b8b1c80f-62b9-465a-8aee-8b71e786e7aa
Pike, A.W.G., Hoffmann, D.L., Pettitt, P.B., Garcia-Diez, M. and Zilhao, J.
(2017)
Dating Palaeolithic cave art: Why U-Th is the way to go.
Quaternary International, 432 (Part B), .
(doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2015.12.013).
Abstract
The chronology of European Upper Palaeolithic cave art is poorly known. Three chronometric techniques are commonly applicable: AMS 14C, TL and U–Th, and in recent years the efficacy of each has been the subject of considerable debate. We review here the use of the U–Th technique to date the formation of calcites that can be shown to have stratigraphic relationships to cave art. We focus particularly on two recent critiques of the method. By using specific examples from our own work using this method in Spain, we demonstrate how these critiques are highly flawed and hence misleading, and we argue that the U–Th dating of calcites is currently the most reliable of available chronometric techniques for dating cave art
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Accepted/In Press date: 12 January 2016
e-pub ahead of print date: 9 February 2016
Published date: 8 March 2017
Organisations:
Archaeology
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Local EPrints ID: 387132
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/387132
ISSN: 1040-6182
PURE UUID: 807a5531-64f5-4b85-a204-dca5ba01c29f
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Date deposited: 12 Feb 2016 14:10
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 03:44
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Author:
D.L. Hoffmann
Author:
P.B. Pettitt
Author:
M. Garcia-Diez
Author:
J. Zilhao
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