Dating of the Middle-Upper Palaeolithic transition in western Europe using ultrafiltration AMS radiocarbon

放射性碳测年（14C）对研究过去5万年人类文化和生物发展具有重要意义。这是最早的解剖学现代人类（AMH）分散到欧洲的时期，在类似的时间里，尼安德特人人口收缩并最终灭绝。欧洲的考古记录是记录一种人类消失并被另一种人类取代的最广泛的记录。然而，在确定这些过程的可靠年代方面出现了问题。放射性碳测年法的有效应用在许多情况下都存在问题。有一个大型的放射性碳数据库（1500+），但确定哪些是准确的，哪些不是，是非常困难的。AMS骨放射性碳测年的最新进展预示着这一情况的重大突破。在过去的四年里，牛津大学进行的工作，涉及一种叫做“超滤”的技术的应用，已经产生了非常有希望的结果，这些结果将彻底改变该领域。该方法显着提高了使用加速器质谱法（AMS）放射性碳测年之前的考古骨骼的预处理。迄今为止，从英国旧石器时代中期和晚期的样品中获得的结果表明，在许多情况下，以前使用不太严格的预清洁方法对相同材料测量的14 C年龄是不准确的。误差在几百年到几千年之间。大量的分析数据支持这些新年龄的可靠性。此外，这些结果似乎比以前更有考古意义：模式正在出现。这项工作对不列颠群岛旧石器时代的研究产生了巨大的影响。现在迫切需要将这一发展应用于欧洲旧石器时代更广泛的领域，在那里，许多关键的考古学辩论都取决于可靠的年表。尼安德特人灭绝的日期、解剖学上的现代人（AMH）取代他们的过程，以及包含奥里尼亚克工业证据的最早遗址的年龄，许多人认为是由现代人创造的，是三个这样的问题。我们的目标是通过对欧洲大陆27个旧石器时代关键遗址的骨骼样本进行测年，为解决与旧石器时代中期到晚期过渡的文化转型的正确分析相关的许多问题做出贡献。我们将对300块经过精心挑选的骨骼进行年代测定，包括人骨、切割标记的骨骼、诊断工具和装饰品。这些遗址来自德国、西班牙、法国和英国，其中包括许多处于旧石器时代考古学争论中心的最关键遗址。可靠的考古年表的发展将有助于解决欧洲旧石器时代的许多棘手问题。

Radiocarbon dating (14C) is of fundamental importance to the study of human cultural and biological developments during the last 50000 years. This is the period during which the earliest anatomically modern humans (AMH) dispersed into Europe and, over a similar time, Neanderthal populations contracted and finally became extinct. The European archaeological record is the most extensive record for documenting the disappearance of one species of human and its replacement by another. Problems arise, however, in the reliable dating of these processes. The effective application of radiocarbon dating has been problematic in many instances. There is a large database of radiocarbon data (1500+), but determining which are accurate, and which not, is extremely difficult. Recent developments in AMS radiocarbon dating of bone have heralded a significant breakthrough in this situation. Work undertaken in Oxford over the past four years, involving the application of a technique called 'ultrafiltration' has yielded extremely promising results which are set to revolutionise the field. The method significantly improves the pre-treatment of archaeological bones prior to radiocarbon dating using accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS). Results obtained thus far from samples derived from the British Middle and Upper Palaeolithic demonstrate that, in many cases, 14C ages previously measured on the same material using less rigorous pre-cleaning methods, are inaccurate. This varies between a few hundred, to several thousands of years in error. A wide range of analytical data supports the reliability of these new ages. In addition, the results seem to make much better archaeological sense than previously: patterns are emerging. This work has had a dramatic impact upon the study of the Palaeolithic in the British Isles. There is an urgent need to apply this development to the wider sphere of the European Palaeolithic, where so many crucial archaeological debates hinge upon a reliable chronology. The question of the dates of Neanderthal extinction, the process by which anatomically modern humans (AMH) replaced them, and the age of the earliest sites containing evidence for Aurignacian industries, thought by many to be made by incoming modern humans, are three such problems. We aim to contribute to the resolution of many problems associated with the proper analysis of the cultural transformations of the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition, by dating samples of bone from 27 key Palaeolithic sites in continental Europe. We will date 300 well-contexted and carefully selected bones, including human bone, cutmarked bone and diagnostic tools and ornaments. The sites come from Germany, Spain, France and Britain, and include many of the most crucial sites at the centre of debates in Palaeolithic archaeology. The development of reliable archaeological chronologies will contribute to the resolution of many intractable problems plaguing the Palaeolithic of Europe.