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Back into the North: the Radiocarbon Evidence for the Human Recolonisation of the North-Western Ardennes after the Last Glacial Maximum

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 February 2014

Ruth Charles
Ruth Charles
Affiliation:
The Queen's College, Oxford OX1 4AW
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Abstract

This paper critically examines the known radiocarbon evidence for the human recolonisation of a part of north-western Europe, the north-western Ardennes. Two sites in this region, the Trou de Blaireaux at Vaucelles and the Grotte de Sy Verlaine, have been suggested as two of the earliest human occupation sites after the Last Glacial Maximum in northern Europe. The dating evidence from these two sites, alongside other late Magdalenian sites in the immediate area, is reviewed and found to be highly problematic. More recent radiocarbon work using AMS is described and the results discussed. On this basis it is suggested that there is no direct evidence for human presence in this region prior to the start of the Böiling Interstadial phase of the Lateglacial, c. 13,000 BP.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society , Volume 62 , 1996 , pp. 1 - 17
Copyright
Copyright © The Prehistoric Society 1996

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References

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