Problems with radiocarbon dating the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition in Italy
Problems with radiocarbon dating the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition in Italy
复制标题
DOI：
10.1016/j.quascirev.2008.12.018
复制
发表时间：
2009-06-01
影响因子：
4
通讯作者：
Douka, Katerina
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Higham, Thomas;Brock, Fiona;Douka, Katerina
对晚更新世考古遗址的物质进行放射性碳测年是一项挑战。少量的现代C-14标记的污染会严重影响这一时期日期的可靠性，产生错误的结果。样品预处理化学的最新发展表明，在此期间可靠的年龄测定的问题是可以克服的。在本文中，我们提供了一个这样的情况下，从中到上旧石器时代的过渡网站的格罗塔迪富马内，在北方意大利的一个例子。我们AMS日期来自一系列叠加Mousterian，Aurignacian和Gravettian在现场挖掘的水平相同的木炭样品的两个部分。一个馏分使用常规的酸-碱-酸（阿坝）方法处理，另一个馏分使用更严格的酸-碱-氧化/分级燃烧（ABOx-SC）方法处理。后一种方法产生的结果总是更古老，而且几乎肯定更可靠。已知年龄的Campanian火山灰岩从Phlegrean领域的今天那不勒斯附近的39.3万年BP密封Ulluzzian和Prow Aurignacian水平在南部的意大利。在富马内也存在相同的文化水平，使用ABOx-SC方法获得的结果与根据坎帕尼亚期灰岩的存在推断出的意大利南部遗址的年龄一致。新的结果，从一个样品下发现的Campanian火山灰岩在俄罗斯的Kostenki网站，使用阿坝和ABOX-SC，方法获得的。他们支持富马内得出的结论，证明在许多情况下，ABOX-SC处理有效地去除了阿坝处理不能去除的污染。这项工作的结果对当前放射性碳数据库中与该时期有关的固有问题进行了清醒的检查，并强调了不加批判地使用过去几十年来获得的C-14结果的危险。根据我们的结果，我们预测，超过70%的53个先前可用的测定富马内是错误的年轻。提出了一种前进的方式，使用这些改进的化学制备方法，应用分析方法来确定材料的日期，并测试现有的网站年表，以确定以前的确定容易是不准确的。(C)2008爱思唯尔有限公司保留所有权利。
Radiocarbon dating of material from Late Pleistocene archaeological sites is challenging. Small amounts of modern C-14-labelled contamination will significantly affect the reliability of dates from the period, producing erroneous results. Recent developments in sample pre-treatment chemistry have shown that problems in reliable age determination during this period are surmountable. In this paper we provide an example of one such case, from the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transitional site of the Grotta di Fumane, in northern Italy. We AMS dated two fractions of the same charcoal samples derived from a series of superimposed Mousterian, Aurignacian and Gravettian levels excavated at the site. One fraction was treated using the routine acid-base-acid (ABA) method, the other with the more rigorous acid-base-oxidation/stepped combustion (ABOx-SC) method. The latter method produced consistently older, and almost certainly more reliable, results. The eruption of the known-age Campanian Ignimbrite from the Phlegrean Fields near present-day Naples at 39.3 ka yr BP seals Ulluzzian and Prow Aurignacian levels in the south of Italy. Equivalent cultural levels are present at Fumane and the results obtained with the ABOx-SC methods are consistent with the ages inferred for sites in the south of Italy based on the presence of the Campanian Ignimbrite. New results from a sample found beneath the Campanian Ignimbrite at the Russian site of Kostenki, obtained using both the ABA and ABOx-SC, methods are also presented. They Support the conclusion reached at Fumane by demonstrating that, in many cases, the ABOX-SC treatment effectively removes contamination where the ABA treatment does not. The results of the work offer a sobering examination of the problems inherent in the current radiocarbon database relating to the period, and highlight the dangers of an uncritical use of the corpus of C-14 results obtained over the last few decades. Based on our results, we predict that more than 70% of the 53 previously available determinations from Fumane are erroneously young. A way forward is suggested, using these improved chemical preparation methods, applying analytical methods to characterise the material dated, and testing existing site chronologies to establish which previous determinations are liable to be inaccurate. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.