Further Radiocarbon Dates for the Upper Paleolithic of El Mirón Cave (Ramales De La Victoria, Cantabria, Spain)

This article expands the date list from the Stone Age cave site of El Mirón in the Cantabrian Cordillera of northern Spain to a total of 62 radiocarbon determinations, one of the longest series from a single prehistoric site in Iberia. All the assays (accelerator mass spectrometry [AMS] and conventional, run on charcoal and bone collagen) were done by a single laboratory (Geochron, GX). The 11 new dates confirm 1) the late spread of Neolithic economy and technology into the Atlantic environment of Cantabrian Spain by about 4500 cal BC; 2) the horizontally extensive, but not intensive, use of the whole cave vestibule by Upper Magdalenian foragers about 12,000–14,000 cal BC; 3) extensive and very intensive, repeated occupations of the cave during the Middle and Lower Cantabrian Magdalenian about 14,200–17,000 cal BC; and 4) a long, gradual technological transition from the Solutrean to the Archaic Magdalenian between about 20,000–17,000 cal BC. El Mirón joins a list of culturally very rich, frequently occupied, Lower Magdalenian residential hub sites—most of the rest of which (including Altamira) are located in the coastal lowlands of Cantabria—which have yielded distinctive red deer scapulae that are decorated with striated engraved images of game animals (mainly red deer hinds), now most precisely dated at El Mirón between 16,200–17,200 cal BC.

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Direct dating of Neanderthal remains from the site of Vindija Cave and implications for the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.1709235114 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 114 (40) ◽

pp. 10606-10611 ◽

Cited By ~ 48

Author(s):

Thibaut Devièse ◽

Ivor Karavanić ◽

Daniel Comeskey ◽

Cara Kubiak ◽

Petra Korlević ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mass Spectrometry ◽

High Performance Liquid Chromatography ◽

High Performance ◽

Upper Paleolithic ◽

Bone Collagen ◽

Applied Zooarchaeology ◽

Animal Bone ◽

Early Upper Paleolithic ◽

Anatomically Modern Humans ◽

Early Upper

Previous dating of the Vi-207 and Vi-208 Neanderthal remains from Vindija Cave (Croatia) led to the suggestion that Neanderthals survived there as recently as 28,000–29,000 B.P. Subsequent dating yielded older dates, interpreted as ages of at least ∼32,500 B.P. We have redated these same specimens using an approach based on the extraction of the amino acid hydroxyproline, using preparative high-performance liquid chromatography (Prep-HPLC). This method is more efficient in eliminating modern contamination in the bone collagen. The revised dates are older than 40,000 B.P., suggesting the Vindija Neanderthals did not live more recently than others across Europe, and probably predate the arrival of anatomically modern humans in Eastern Europe. We applied zooarchaeology by mass spectrometry (ZooMS) to find additional hominin remains. We identified one bone that is Neanderthal, based on its mitochondrial DNA, and dated it directly to 46,200 ± 1,500 B.P. We also attempted to date six early Upper Paleolithic bone points from stratigraphic units G1, Fd/d+G1 and Fd/d, Fd. One bone artifact gave a date of 29,500 ± 400 B.P., while the remainder yielded no collagen. We additionally dated animal bone samples from units G1 and G1–G3. These dates suggest a co-occurrence of early Upper Paleolithic osseous artifacts, particularly split-based points, alongside the remains of Neanderthals is a result of postdepositional mixing, rather than an association between the two groups, although more work is required to show this definitively.

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Freshwater reservoir offsets on radiocarbon-dated dog bone from the headwaters of the St. Lawrence River, USA

PeerJ ◽

10.7717/peerj.7174 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 7 ◽

pp. e7174

Author(s):

John P. Hart ◽

Robert S. Feranec ◽

Timothy J. Abel ◽

Jessica L. Vavrasek

Keyword(s):

Native Americans ◽

Radiocarbon Dating ◽

Aquatic Organisms ◽

Human Bone ◽

Bone Collagen ◽

Canis Lupus Familiaris ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

Dog Bone ◽

Freshwater Reservoir ◽

St Lawrence River

Isotopic analysis of dog (Canis lupus familiaris) bone recovered from archaeological sites as proxies for human bone is becoming common in North America. Chronological placement of the dogs is often determined through radiocarbon dating of dog bone. The Great Lakes, their tributaries, and nearby lakes and streams were important fisheries for Native Americans prior to and after sustained European presence in the region. Carbon entering the food web in freshwater systems is often not in full isotopic equilibrium with the atmosphere, giving rise to spuriously old radiocarbon ages in fish, other aquatic organisms, and their consumers. These freshwater reservoir offsets (FROs) have been noted on human and dog bone in several areas of the world. Here we report the results of multi-tracer Bayesian dietary modeling using δ15N and δ13C values on dog bone collagen from mid-fifteenth to mid-sixteenth-century Iroquoian village sites at the headwaters of the St. Lawrence River, New York, USA. Results indicate that fish was an important component of dog diets. A comparison of radiocarbon dates on dog bone with dates on deer bone or maize from the same sites indicate FROs ranging from 97 ± 24 to 220 ± 39 14Cyr with a weighted mean of 132 ± 8 14Cyr. These results suggest that dog bone should not be used for radiocarbon dating in the absence of modeling to determine fish consumption and that previously reported radiocarbon dates on human bone from the larger region are likely to have FROs given the known importance of fish in regional human diets.

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Dietary Inferences for the Sunghir Humans

The People of Sunghir ◽

10.1093/oso/9780199381050.003.0021 ◽

2014 ◽

Author(s):

Erik Trinkaus ◽

Alexandra P. Buzhilova ◽

Maria B. Mednikova ◽

Maria V. Dobrovolskaya

Keyword(s):

Upper Paleolithic ◽

Raw Material ◽

Bone Collagen ◽

Human Consumption ◽

Eastern European ◽

Cultural Layer ◽

Carbon And Nitrogen ◽

Mineral Compositions ◽

Taphonomic Analysis ◽

And Behavior

In addition to the functional, anatomical, and paleopathological reflections of the biology and behavior of the Sunghir humans, it has been possible to make indirect inferences regarding their average dietary profiles. These considerations derive from the mineral compositions of bone samples from Sunghir 1 to 4 (Kozlovskaya 2000d), carbon and nitrogen stable isotope data from the bone collagen of Sunghir 1 to 3 (Richards et al. 2001; Dobrovolskaya et al. 2012), and postcanine buccal microwear for Sunghir 1 to 3 (Pinilla 2012; Pinilla and Trinkaus in press). As noted in chapter 2, the site contained an abundance of large mammal remains, of which the bison, horse, saiga, and especially reindeer remains were undoubtedly brought to the site for human consumption. There was also an abundance of mammoth remains. There has been an ongoing debate as to the extent to which the mammoth remains, found at a number of central and eastern European and Siberian Mid Upper Paleolithic (MUP) sites, reflect human consumption, are largely incidental to the human presence having accumulating along the banks of gullies and streams, and/or were gathered from the landscape for use as raw material and even fuel (e.g., Soffer 1985; Derevianko et al. 2000; Svoboda et al. 2005; Wojtal and Wilczyński 2013). Systematic taphonomic analysis of the Sunghir faunal assemblage has not been undertaken, but Bader (1978) did notice the differential presence of mammoth skeletal elements at Sunghir, suggesting differential transport of body portions presumably for human consumption. Moreover, the mammoth bones were distributed through the cultural layer and apparently did not exist as a bone accumulation on the periphery of the site. At the same time, the faunal profile of the cultural layer contained a diversity of carnivores, of which the cave lions, wolves, and possibly brown bears could have been partially responsible for some of the herbivore remains at the site. It is possible that humans were hunting and eating the bears, given occasional cutmarks on bear bones at other MUP sites (Wojtal 2000; Münzel and Conard 2004).

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Radiocarbon Evidence for Initial Early Formative Period Occupation in Coastal Oaxaca, Mexico

Latin American Antiquity ◽

10.1017/laq.2019.25 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 30 (2) ◽

pp. 437-444 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Guy David Hepp

Keyword(s):

Formative Period ◽

Human Bone ◽

Bone Collagen ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

Middle Formative ◽

Early Formative

Seven AMS radiocarbon dates (1950–1525 cal BC) from controlled contexts demonstrate Early Formative period occupation in coastal Oaxaca, Mexico. These dated elements from the site of La Consentida include hearths, occupational surfaces, carbon adhering to pottery from a midden, and human bone collagen processed with XAD purification. They were excavated from primary contexts and do not represent redeposited materials. An eighth sample, dated to the Middle Formative period, is considered postoccupational. The diversity of dated deposits and features, their distribution, and their overlapping calibrated ranges indicate settlement by an initial Early Formative period village.

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Referential Instability in the Historical Designations of Domestic and Game Animals in Britain: The Examples of Teg “Yearling Sheep” and Stag “Male of the Red Deer”

ANQ A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles Notes and Reviews ◽

10.1080/0895769x.2018.1548961 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 32 (4) ◽

pp. 214-216

Author(s):

William Sayers

Keyword(s):

Red Deer ◽

Game Animals

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New Dental Finds Associated with the Paleolithic Selenga Culture, Western Trans-Baikal Region

Archaeology Ethnology and Anthropology of Eurasia ◽

10.17746/1563-0110.2019.47.3.003-011 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 47 (3) ◽

pp. 3-11 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

G. D. Pavlenok ◽

A. V. Zubova

Keyword(s):

Baikal Region ◽

Upper Paleolithic ◽

Morphological Comparison ◽

Human Teeth ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

Considerable Similarity ◽

Second Molar ◽

Permanent Molar

We describe human teeth discovered in 2012 during the re-examination of the collection from Ust-Kyakhta-3 in the western Trans-Baikal region, excavated by A.P. Okladnikov. This is one of the key Final Paleolithic sites in this area, having a distinct twolayer stratigraphy, a non-contradictory series of radiocarbon dates, and the largest (and the most representative) collection of artifacts. Human teeth come from layer 1, whose dates range from 11,505 ± 100 to 12,151 ± 58 BP. Finds include fragments of a deciduous left upper second molar of a child aged 11–13 and an incompletely erupted upper permanent molar, possibly of the same child. Morphological comparison of these teeth with those from Malta in the Cis-Baikal region demonstrates considerable similarity. The fi nding suggests that the populations of Malta and Ust-Kyakhta-3 represent one and the same southern Siberian Upper Paleolithic dental complex.

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Stones, Bones, and Hillfort: Radiocarbon Dating of ķivutkalns Bronze-Working Center

Radiocarbon ◽

10.1017/s0033822200048165 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 55 (3) ◽

pp. 1252-1264 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

M Oinonen ◽

A Vasks ◽

G Zarina ◽

M Lavento

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Dietary Habits ◽

Nuclear Family ◽

Bone Collagen ◽

Modeling Framework ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

Bone Material ◽

Carbon And Nitrogen ◽

Animal Bone ◽

Archaeological Artifacts

The Bronze Age site of ķivutkalns with its massive amount of archaeological artifacts and human remains is considered the largest bronze-working center in Latvia. The site is a unique combination of cemetery and hillfort believed to be built on top of each other. This work presents new radiocarbon dates on human and animal bone collagen that somewhat challenge this interpretation. Based on analyses using a Bayesian modeling framework, the present data suggest overlapping calendar year distributions for the contexts within the 1st millennium BC. The carbon and nitrogen isotopic ratios indicate mainly terrestrial dietary habits of studied individuals and nuclear family remains buried in one of the graves. The older charcoal data may be subject to the old-wood effect and the results are partly limited by the limited amount of data and the 14C calibration curve plateau of the 1st millennium BC. Therefore, the ultimate conclusions on contemporaneity of the cemetery and hillfort need to wait for further analyses on the massive amounts of bone material.

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Chronology of Prehistoric Cultural Complexes of Sakhalin Island (Russian Far East)

Radiocarbon ◽

10.1017/s0033822200039655 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 46 (1) ◽

pp. 353-362 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

Yaroslav V Kuzmin ◽

Alexander A Vasilevski ◽

Sergei V Gorbunov ◽

G S Burr ◽

A J Timothy Jull ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Middle Ages ◽

Iron Age ◽

Russian Far East ◽

Far East ◽

Sakhalin Island ◽

Upper Paleolithic ◽

Early Iron Age ◽

Radiocarbon Dates ◽

Continuous Sequence ◽

The Middle Ages

A chronological framework for the prehistoric cultural complexes of Sakhalin Island is presented based on 160 radiocarbon dates from 74 sites. The earliest 14C-dated site, Ogonki 5, corresponds to the Upper Paleolithic, about 19,500–17,800 BP. According to the 14C data, since about 8800 BP, there is a continuous sequence of Neolithic, Early Iron Age, and Medieval complexes. The Neolithic existed during approximately 8800–2800 BP. Transitional Neolithic-Early Iron Age complexes are dated to about 2800–2300 BP. The Early Iron Age may be dated to about 2500–1300 BP. The Middle Ages period is dated to approximately 1300–300 BP (VII–XVII centuries AD).

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