Explore the vast range of titles available.

The Acheulean technological tradition, characterized by a large (>10 cm) flake-based component, represents a significant technological advance over the Oldowan. Although stone tool assemblages attributed to the Acheulean have been reported from as early as circa 1.6–1.75 Ma, the characteristics of these earliest occurrences and comparisons with later assemblages have not been reported in detail. Here, we provide a newly established chronometric calibration for the Acheulean assemblages of the Konso Formation, southern Ethiopia, which span the time period ∼1.75 to <1.0 Ma. The earliest Konso Acheulean is chronologically indistinguishable from the assemblage recently published as the world’s earliest with an age of ∼1.75 Ma at Kokiselei, west of Lake Turkana, Kenya. This Konso assemblage is characterized by a combination of large picks and crude bifaces/unifaces made predominantly on large flake blanks. An increase in the number of flake scars was observed within the Konso Formation handaxe assemblages through time, but this was less so with picks. The Konso evidence suggests that both picks and handaxes were essential components of the Acheulean from its initial stages and that the two probably differed in function. The temporal refinement seen, especially in the handaxe forms at Konso, implies enhanced function through time, perhaps in processing carcasses with long and stable cutting edges. The documentation of the earliest Acheulean at ∼1.75 Ma in both northern Kenya and southern Ethiopia suggests that behavioral novelties were being established in a regional scale at that time, paralleling the emergence of Homo erectus- like hominid morphology.

The archaeological karstic infill site of Galería Complex, located within the Atapuerca system (Spain), has produced a large faunal and archaeological record (Homo sp. aff. heidelbergensis fossils and Mode II lithic artefacts) belonging to the Middle Pleistocene. Extended-range luminescence dating techniques, namely post-infrared infrared stimulated luminescence (pIR-IR) dating of K-feldspars and thermally transferred optically stimulated luminescence (TT-OSL) dating of individual quartz grains, were applied to fossil-bearing sediments at Galería. The luminescence dating results are in good agreement with published chronologies derived using alternative radiometric dating methods (i.e., ESR and U-series dating of bracketing speleothems and combined ESR/U-series dating of herbivore teeth), as well as biochronology and palaeoenvironmental reconstructions inferred from proxy records (e.g., pollen data). For the majority of samples dated, however, the new luminescence ages are significantly (∼50%) younger than previously published polymineral thermoluminescence (TL) chronologies, suggesting that the latter may have overestimated the true burial age of the Galería deposits. The luminescence ages obtained indicate that the top of the basal sterile sands (GIb) at Galería have an age of up to ∼370 thousand years (ka), while the lowermost sub-unit containing Mode II Acheulean lithics (base of unit GIIa) was deposited during MIS 9 (mean age = 313±14 ka; n = 4). The overlying units GIIb-GIV, which contain the richest archaeopalaeontological remains, were deposited during late MIS 8 or early MIS 7 (∼240 ka). Galería Complex may be correlative with other Middle Pleistocene sites from Atapuerca, such as Gran Dolina level TD10 and unit TE19 from Sima del Elefante, but the lowermost archaeological horizons are ∼100 ka younger than the hominin-bearing clay breccias at the Sima de los Huesos site. Our results suggest that both pIR-IR and single-grain TT-OSL dating are suitable for resolving Middle Pleistocene chronologies for the Sierra de Atapuerca karstic infill sequences.

Radiocarbon dating Pacific archaeological sites is fraught with difficulties. Often situated in coastal beach ridges or sand dunes, these sites exhibit horizontal and vertical disturbances, datable materials such as wood charcoal are typically highly degraded, may be derived from old trees or driftwood unless specifically identified to short-lived material, while bone collagen rarely survives in tropical conditions. Shell, therefore, is the most logical material for dating Pacific sites since it is resistant to alteration, can be sampled to ensure only the last few seasons of growth are represented and is often closely tied to human economic activities. However, shell radiocarbon (14C) dating has been plagued by interpretive problems largely due to our limited knowledge of the 14C cycle in nearshore marine and estuarine environments. Consequently, shell dates are typically ignored in regional chronometric evaluations and in recent years shell is often avoided for dating altogether. Recent advances in our understanding of the source of shell 14C as well as the development of the first South Pacific Gyre model of changing marine 14C over time, combined with Bayesian statistical modelling, now provide us with insight into the value of these shell radiocarbon dates. Here we present a revision of the age of the To'aga site on Ofu Island-an early occupation site associated with the initial Polynesian Plainware period in Sāmoa, the earliest use of which we date to between 2785 and 2607 cal BP (68% probability).

The process by which Palaeolithic Europe was transformed from a Neanderthal-dominated region to one occupied exclusively by Homo sapiens has proven challenging to diagnose. A blurred chronology has made it difficult to determine when Neanderthals disappeared and whether modern humans overlapped with them. Italy is a crucial region because here we can identify not only Late Mousterian industries, assumed to be associated with Neanderthals, but also early Upper Palaeolithic industries linked with the appearance of early H. sapiens , such as the Uluzzian and the Aurignacian. Here, we present a chronometric dataset of 105 new determinations (74 radiocarbon and 31 luminescence ages) from four key southern Italian sites: Cavallo, Castelcivita, Cala, and Oscurusciuto. We built Bayesian-based chronometric models incorporating these results alongside the relative stratigraphic sequences at each site. The results suggest; 1) that the disappearance of Neanderthals probably pre-dated the appearance of early modern humans in the region and; 2) that there was a partial overlap in the chronology of the Uluzzian and Protoaurignacian, suggesting that these industries may have been produced by different human groups in Europe. Here, the authors present 74 radiocarbon and 31 luminescence age determinations from four sites in southern Italy. They use these data to suggest that Neanderthal disappearance in the region predated the appearance of early modern humans, a previously unclear chronology

In archaeological research, changes in material culture and the evolution of styles are taken as major indicators for socio-cultural transformation. They form the basis for typo-chronological classification and the establishment of phases and periods. Central European Bronze Age material culture from burials reveals changes during the Bronze Age and represents a perfect case study for analyzing phenomena of cultural change and the adoption of innovation in the societies of prehistoric Europe. Our study focuses on the large-scale change in material culture which took place in the second millennium BC and the emergence at the same period of new burial rites: the shift from inhumation burials in flat graves to complex mounds and simple cremation burials. Paul Reinecke was the first to divide the European Bronze Age (EBA) into two phases, Bz A1 and A2. The shift from the first to the second phase has so far been ascribed to technical advances. Our study adopted an innovative approach to quantifying this phenomenon. Through regressive reciprocal averaging and Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon-dated grave contexts located in Switzerland and southern Germany, we modelled chronological changes in the material culture and changes in burial rites in these regions in a probabilistic way. We used kernel density models to summarize radiocarbon dates, with the aim of visualizing cultural changes in the third and second millennium BC. In 2015, Stockhammer et al. cast doubt on the chronological sequence of the Reinecke phases of the EBA on the basis of newly collected radiocarbon dates from southern Germany. Our intervention is a direct response to the results of that study. We fully agree with Stockhammer’s et al. dating of the start of EBA, but propose a markedly different dating of the EBA/MBA transition. Our modelling of radiocarbon data demonstrates a statistically significant typological sequence of phases Bz A1, Bz A2 and Bz B and disproves their postulated chronological overlap. The linking of the archaeological relative-chronological system with absolute dates is of major importance to understanding the temporal dimension of the EBA phases.

The article presents the radiocarbon investigation of the baobab of Jhunsi, Allahabad and the Parijaat tree at Kintoor, two old African baobabs from northern India. Several wood samples extracted from these baobabs were analysed by using AMS radiocarbon dating. The radiocarbon date of the oldest samples were 779 ± 41 BP for the baobab of Jhunsi and 793 ± 37 BP for the baobab of Kintoor. The corresponding calibrated ages are 770 ± 25 and 775 ± 25 calendar years. These values indicate that both trees are around 800 years old and become the oldest dated African baobabs outside Africa.

Determining by means of palaeography the chronology of ancient handwritten manuscripts such as the Dead Sea Scrolls is essential for reconstructing the evolution of ideas, but there is an almost complete lack of date-bearing manuscripts. To overcome this problem, we present Enoch, an AI-based date-prediction model, trained on the basis of 24 14 C-dated scroll samples. By applying Bayesian ridge regression on angular and allographic writing style feature vectors, Enoch could predict 14 C-based dates with varied mean absolute errors (MAEs) of 27.9 to 30.7 years. In order to explore the viability of the character-shape based dating approach, the trained Enoch model then computed date predictions for 135 non-dated scrolls, aligning with 79% in palaeographic post-hoc evaluation. The 14 C ranges and Enoch’s style-based predictions are often older than traditionally assumed palaeographic estimates, leading to a new chronology of the scrolls and the re-dating of ancient Jewish key texts that contribute to current debates on Jewish and Christian origins.

Pastoral nomadism is of great cultural and economic importance in several regions of the world today. However, documenting ancient patterns of mobility in societies where pastoralism was central is challenging and requires tailored approaches and methodologies. Here we use strontium, oxygen and carbon isotopic analyses of dental enamel, together with a local strontium isoscape, to reconstruct the mobility patterns of seven domestic horses deposited in a Late Bronze Age grave from western Mongolia. Radiocarbon indicates that the animals were deposited within a short period of time, 3000 years ago. The isotope time series obtained from tooth enamel shows that four of the seven horses exhibited a common pattern characterized by a high frequency of mobility, suggesting that in this area (1) cyclical pastoral mobility dates back at least to the Late Bronze Age and (2) the animals belonged to the same herding family, implying that only a small community was involved in the funerary rite of this structure. The data show that the other three horse individuals had a distinct mobility pattern and that one was not from the local area, pointing to flexibility in mobility patterns over time or circulation of animals between herding groups. These results illustrate the power of the isotopic approach to reconstruct animal biographies and effectively address the archaeology of pastoral nomadism and mobility.

The site of San Valentino in San Vito al Tagliamento is one of the main urnfield cemeteries in northeastern Italy. Archaeological excavations carried out in the seventies brought to light a cremation cemetery consisting of mainly urn graves with pottery and metal artefacts as grave goods. These materials suggest that the individuals buried in San Valentino were not an isolated local community but had intense contacts with other north-Adriatic communities, in particular with the neighbouring Veneto area, as suggested by the close similarity of the biconical vessels with those recovered in the graves of Este. This paper provides the first osteological study of a preserved sample of individuals buried at San Valentino and uses an innovative multi-proxy approach to refine the chronology of the site through radiocarbon dating of bone apatite, investigate human mobility using strontium isotopes on calcined human remains, and reconstruct the funerary practices by combining FTIR-ATR data with carbon and oxygen isotope ratios on cremated bones. The results date the cemetery to the end of the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age, with a sporadic occupation in the fourth century BC. Strontium isotopes and concentrations show the analysed individuals buried at San Valentino were a local community that exploited nearby food resources. Interestingly, variations in cremation conditions were detected between San Valentino and the contemporary sites of Velzeke, Blicquy, Grand Bois, and Herstal, located in Belgium, by using FTIR-ATR and carbon and oxygen isotope data. This multi-proxy approach applied to the study of cremated human remains can open new research possibilities, being potentially extendable to the study of many pre- and proto-historic and historic communities that practised cremation.

Radiocarbon (¹⁴C) provides a way to date material that contains carbon with an age up to ~50,000 years and is also an important tracer of the global carbon cycle. However, the lack of a comprehensive record reflecting atmospheric ¹⁴C prior to 12.5 thousand years before the present (kyr B.P.) has limited the application of radiocarbon dating of samples from the Last Glacial period. Here, we report ¹⁴C results from Lake Suigetsu, Japan (35°35'N, 135°53'E), which provide a comprehensive record of terrestrial radiocarbon to the present limit of the ¹⁴C method. The time scale we present in this work allows direct comparison of Lake Suigetsu paleoclimatic data with other terrestrial climatic records and gives information on the connection between global atmospheric and regional marine radiocarbon levels.