Late Middle Paleolithic of Southern Poland: Radiocarbon dates from Ciemna and Obłazowa Caves

Bridget Alex; Paweł Valde-Nowak; Lior Regev; Elisabetta Boaretto

doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.12.012

Late Middle Paleolithic of Southern Poland: Radiocarbon dates from Ciemna and Obłazowa Caves

Bridget Alex, Paweł Valde-Nowak, Lior Regev, Elisabetta Boaretto

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

New radiocarbon dates are reported for Late Middle Paleolithic (MP) layers of Ciemna and Obłazowa Caves in Southern Poland. The sites present methodological challenges for radiocarbon dating related to post-depositional mixing, materials preservation, and radiocarbon measurements near the detection limit. We describe strategies to address these issues, which allowed for estimation of the timing of lithostratigraphic layers. At Ciemna, bones associated with Late MP artifacts are older than 50 ka. At Obłazowa, bones associated with Late MP artifacts produced dates 50‐45 ka cal BP and a possible Szeletian phase occurred sometime 45‐39 ka cal BP. These new dates add to the regional chronology and strengthen the case that a number of distinct archaeological industries appeared in Southern Poland and Moravia during Marine Isotope Stage 3.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	370-380
Number of pages	11
Journal	Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports
Volume	11
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.12.012
State	Published - 1 Feb 2017
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Elsevier Ltd

Funding

We thank Eugenia Mintz for assistance in radiocarbon sample preparation and measurement; M. Moskal-del Hoyo for paleobotanical identifications of Ciemna material; Valentina Caracuta for paleobotanical identifications of Obłazowa material; Damian Stefański for assistance with Ciemna material; and Magda Cieśla for assistance with Obłazowa material. Analytical work was funded by National Science Foundation [Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant #1334615 and Graduate Research Fellowship Program Award #DGE-1144152] and the US-Israel Education Foundation [Fulbright Student Scholarship]. AMS dates were supported by the Exilarch's Foundation, the DANGOOR Research Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Laboratory (D-REAMS), and the Max Planck-Weizmann Center for Integrative Archaeology and Anthropology. Excavations were supported by Polish National Center of Science [“Palaeolithic ritual place in Obłazowa Cave” Grant #2015/17/B/HS3/00181 and “The last Neanderthals in the Ciemna Cave” Grant #UMO-2014/15/BHS3/02219].

Funders	Funder number
DANGOOR Research Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Laboratory
Eugenia Mintz
Exilarch's Foundation
Max Planck-Weizmann Center
US-Israel Education Foundation
National Science Foundation	-1144152
Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences	1334615
Narodowe Centrum Nauki	-2014/15/BHS3/02219, 2015/17/B/HS3/00181

Keywords

Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition
Neanderthals
Radiocarbon dating
Southern Poland

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10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.12.012

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abstract = "New radiocarbon dates are reported for Late Middle Paleolithic (MP) layers of Ciemna and Ob{\l}azowa Caves in Southern Poland. The sites present methodological challenges for radiocarbon dating related to post-depositional mixing, materials preservation, and radiocarbon measurements near the detection limit. We describe strategies to address these issues, which allowed for estimation of the timing of lithostratigraphic layers. At Ciemna, bones associated with Late MP artifacts are older than 50 ka. At Ob{\l}azowa, bones associated with Late MP artifacts produced dates 50‐45 ka cal BP and a possible Szeletian phase occurred sometime 45‐39 ka cal BP. These new dates add to the regional chronology and strengthen the case that a number of distinct archaeological industries appeared in Southern Poland and Moravia during Marine Isotope Stage 3.",

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Late Middle Paleolithic of Southern Poland: Radiocarbon dates from Ciemna and Obłazowa Caves

Abstract

Bibliographical note

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Keywords

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