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Can we Use Calcined Bones for 14C Dating the Paleolithic?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 February 2016

Antoine Zazzo ,
Matthieu Lebon ,
Laurent Chiotti ,
Clothilde Comby ,
Emmanuelle Delqué-Količ ,
Roland Nespoulet  and
Ina Reiche
Antoine Zazzo*
Affiliation:
CNRS MNHN UMR 7209 “Archéozoologie, Archéobotanique: Sociétés, Pratiques et Environnements,” Dept Ecologie et Gestion de la Biodiversité, 55, rue Buffon, 75231 Paris Cedex 05, France
Matthieu Lebon
Affiliation:
CNRS UMR 171, Laboratoire du Centre de Recherche et de Restauration des Musées de France (LC2RMF), Palais du Louvre, 14, quai François Mitterrand, 75001 Paris, France Present address: CNRS UMR 8220 UPMC “Laboratoire dArchéologie Moléculaire et Structurale,” 3, rue Galilée, 94200 Ivry-sur-Seine, France
Laurent Chiotti
Affiliation:
MNHN CNRS UMR 7194 “Histoire Naturelle de l'Homme Préhistorique,” Dept de Préhistoire, Musée de l'Abri Pataud, 20 rue du Moyen-Age, 24620 Les Eyzies-de-Tayac, France
Clothilde Comby
Affiliation:
LMC14 (UMS2572), CEA Saclay, CNRS, IRD, IRSN, Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
Emmanuelle Delqué-Količ
Affiliation:
LMC14 (UMS2572), CEA Saclay, CNRS, IRD, IRSN, Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
Roland Nespoulet
Affiliation:
MNHN CNRS UMR 7194 “Histoire Naturelle de l'Homme Préhistorique,” Dept de Préhistoire, Musée de l'Abri Pataud, 20 rue du Moyen-Age, 24620 Les Eyzies-de-Tayac, France
Ina Reiche
Affiliation:
CNRS UMR 171, Laboratoire du Centre de Recherche et de Restauration des Musées de France (LC2RMF), Palais du Louvre, 14, quai François Mitterrand, 75001 Paris, France Present address: CNRS UMR 8220 UPMC “Laboratoire dArchéologie Moléculaire et Structurale,” 3, rue Galilée, 94200 Ivry-sur-Seine, France
*
Corresponding author. Email: [email protected].
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Abstract

This work aims to test the reliability of calcined bones for radiocarbon dating of the Paleolithic. Fifty-five calcined bone samples coming from Aurignacian and Gravettian layers at Abri Pataud (Dordogne, France) were selected based on their macroscopic features. For each sample, the heating state was estimated on the basis of bone crystallinity (splitting factor [SF] using FTIR) and δ13C value. Twenty-seven bone samples (3 unburnt and 24 calcined) from 5 different levels were prepared for 14C dating. The majority (15/24) of the calcined samples had to undergo a sulfix treatment prior to graphitization, probably due to the presence of cyanamide ion in these samples. The comparison between our results and recently published dates on bone collagen for the same levels shows that unburned bone apatite is systematically too young, while a third of the calcined bones fall within or very near the range of expected age. No clear correlation was found between 14C age offset and δ13C value or SF. Most of the sulfixed samples (14/16) yielded ages that were too young, while almost all of the non-sulfixed samples (8/9) gave ages similar or <0.2 pMC from the expected minimum age. Although preliminary, these results suggest that sulfix should be avoided if possible and that clean CO2 gas from well-calcined Paleolithic bones can provide reliable 14C ages.

Type
Radiocarbon Dating and the Paleolithic
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 55 , Issue 3: Proceedings of the 21st International Radiocarbon Conference (Part 2 of 2) , 2013 , pp. 1409 - 1421
Copyright
Copyright © 2013 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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