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Contrebandiers (Grotte des Contrebandiers), Morocco
Abstract
Grotte des Contrebandiers (Smugglers’ Cave) is one of several archaeology-bearing coastal caves in the Rabat-Temara region of Morocco. It lies c. 17 km south of Rabat and 250 m from the current Atlantic coastline. Archaeological work along the Atlantic littoral of Morocco began in the late 1930s. In 1956, J. Roche discovered Contrebandiers Cave where he excavated until 1976. In 2005, within the framework of a collaboration between the Institut National des Sciences de l’Archéologie et du Patrimoine (INSAP) and the University of Pennsylvania, M. A. El Hajraoui and the late H. L. Dibble directed new excavations of the cave. Contrebandiers contains Middle (upper layers with tanged pieces and lower layers without tanged pieces) and Later (Iberomaursian) Stone Age deposits, with lithic artifacts, vertebrate fauna (including bone tools), mollusks (including shell ornaments), and evidence for fire use. Extensive dating programs consisting of optically stimulated luminescence, electron spin resonance, thermoluminescence, and accelerator mass spectrometry 14C produced a series of absolute dates for the occupations. A hominin fossil was recovered from the Middle Stone Age deposits and will be reported elsewhere.
... In the Mediterranean regions -North Africa, Near East and Southern Europe -there are references to the use of marine resources prior to MIS 8, but most are from post-MIS 5, concentrated mainly between MIS 2 and 1 (Cleyet-Merle and Madelaine, 1995;Erlandson, 2001;Jordá Pardo et al., 2010;Álvarez-Fernández and Carvajal Contreras, 2010;Colonese et al., 2011;Álvarez-Fernández, 2010 and2015;Ramos Fernández and Castillo, 2009;Cortés Sanchez et al., 2011;Brown et al. 2011;Steele and Álvarez-Fernández, 2012;Marean, 2014). ...
... In the Mediterranean regions -North Africa, Near East and Southern Europe -there are references to the use of marine resources prior to MIS 8, but most are from post-MIS 5, concentrated mainly between MIS 2 and 1 (Cleyet-Merle and Madelaine, 1995;Erlandson, 2001;Jordá Pardo et al., 2010;Álvarez-Fernández and Carvajal Contreras, 2010;Colonese et al., 2011;Álvarez-Fernández, 2010 and2015;Ramos Fernández and Castillo, 2009;Cortés Sanchez et al., 2011;Brown et al. 2011;Steele and Álvarez-Fernández, 2012;Marean, 2014). ...
The significance of coastal areas to human survival and expansion on the planet is undeniable. Their ecological diversity and their use as communication routes are some of their most distinctive qualities. However, the evidence of exploitation of these resources has had an uneven preservation, which is limited to certain regions and more recent events, mainly sites with deposits from the Upper Pleistocene and Holocene. This paper analyses the data available on the use of marine resources between MIS 6 and MIS 1 (c. 150 – 9 ka BP) in Southern Iberia, one of the first regions in Europe where marine faunal remains were discovered, in archaeological deposits from Middle and Upper Palaeolithic. Therefore their presence here has not been a criterion of separation between Neanderthals and Modern humans, but it may be relevant to analyze changes in the use of small preys or assess the economic diversification in regions where this came at an early date. One of the aims of this study was to evaluate the diachronic trends of the different palaeobiological marine remains recovered from coastal and inland archaeological sites. This preliminary extract indicates that the analysis of marine resource exploitation cannot be classed as a mere listing of palaeobiological remains. This information may be relevant in the initial stages, but it is insufficient in the evaluation of techno-economic and sociocultural transformations that can be linked to the use of marine resources. The distribution of palaeobiological marine remains differs over time and also according to the location of the sites with respect to the changing coastline throughout the period analysed. The known sites that preserve evidence of the use of marine resources as a food source are located mainly on the present coastline, or in a range of less than 10 km. Invertebrate remains have been identified in most, whereas fish, bird and mammal bones only in certain sites. Molluscs used as ornaments or pendants and containers are more widely distributed than other species used for food. Because these data must be contextualized, bone and stone tools linked to the exploitation of the marine environment have been added to the palaeobiological information, drawing inferences based on the analogy between both ethnologically and archaeologically documented tools. Symbolic expressions have also been studied, given the significant number of painted and engraved marine fauna depictions, specifically pisciforms and mammals, found in southern Iberia. Lastly, available molecular data has also been evaluated, from the results of isotope analysis on human remains. This combination of palaeobiological, techno economic, graphic-symbolic and molecular data, allows a first assessment of the use of marine resources in the region. Throughout this temporal trajectory there are several gaps in the documented evidence that favor an episodic change rather than a cumulative and continuous process. It might be possible that these gaps are hidden aspects related to dietary processes of resource diversification. Either way, two different situations have been recognized: First, a complementary, perhaps seasonal use of marine resources in Neanderthal occupations. Molluscs, mainly gastropods, and beached marine mammals are the most common types of marine resources. The anthropic contribution of birds is mainly concentrated in crows and pigeons, not in marine birds. The fish remains are unreliable and no technical equipment has been identified linked to the extraction and consumption of the mentioned resources. Second, the identification of obvious maritime-orientated societies at the end of the Upper Palaeolithic. The exploitation of a large variety of invertebrates (gastropods, bivalves, crustaceans, and echinoderms) with a significant increase in bivalves, fish, birds and marine mammals is associated with equipment linked to their extraction and processing. The identification of marine fauna depictions in the Palaeolithic art and the concentration of sites along the coast of the Alboran Sea that accumulate deposits of marine fauna, add regional traits, which have not been described in the rest of the Mediterranean Iberian region or in much of southern Europe.
The Middle Stone Age (MSA) of sub-Saharan Africa currently provides the earliest and longest record of marine resource exploitation by modern humans. Here we present data on coastal settlement systems from our excavations at the shellfishbearing MSA locality of Hoedjiespunt 1 (HDP1), Western Cape, South Africa. We also review recent advances in research on MSA coastal adaptations, with a focus on mobility patterns and land-use. The archaeological assemblages of HDP1 indicate that the inhabitants executed scheduled movements to the coastline for exploiting shellfish during three sequential phases of occupation. HDP1 documents a consistent pattern of land-use that suggests stable adaptations of modern humans to coastal
landscapes as early as MIS 5e. Results from other coastal MSA sites on the Cape and Horn of Africa support these findings, suggesting the occasional use of marine resources as far back as the late Middle Pleistocene. Recent studies from the western and southern coasts of South Africa, and as far north as the Red Sea, demonstrate that coastlines provided important resources for occupations between MIS 6 and 4. However, these coastlines are not the same. Each represents a region of variable marine productivity with differing oceanographic parameters and exhibits a wide array of geographic and environmental attributes. Yet despite these dissimilarities, the available data document that early modern humans exploited marine resources in a consistent manner. Mobile hunter-gatherers systematically integrated variable coastal landscapes and their resources into their settlement strategies throughout much of the MSA over a widespread area.
The emergence of Homo sapiens in Pleistocene Africa is associated with a profound reconfiguration of technology. Symbolic expression and personal ornamentation, new tool forms, and regional technological traditions are widely recognized as the earliest indicators of complex culture and cognition in humans. Here we describe a bone tool tradition from Contrebandiers Cave on the Atlantic coast of Morocco, dated between 120,000–90,000 years ago. The bone tools were produced for different activities, including likely leather and fur working, and were found in association with carnivore remains that were possibly skinned for fur. A cetacean tooth tip bears what is likely a combination of anthropogenic and non-anthropogenic modification and shows the use of a marine mammal tooth by early humans. The evidence from Contrebandiers Cave demonstrates that the pan-African emergence of complex culture included the use of multiple and diverse materials for specialized tool manufacture.
Radiocarbon (C) ages cannot provide absolutely dated chronologies for archaeological or paleoenvironmental studies directly but must be converted to calendar age equivalents using a calibration curve compensating for fluctuations in atmospheric C concentration. Although calibration curves are constructed from independently dated archives, they invariably require revision as new data become available and our understanding of the Earth system improves. In this volume the international C calibration curves for both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, as well as for the ocean surface layer, have been updated to include a wealth of new data and extended to 55,000 cal BP. Based on tree rings, IntCal20 now extends as a fully atmospheric record to ca. 13,900 cal BP. For the older part of the timescale, IntCal20 comprises statistically integrated evidence from floating tree-ring chronologies, lacustrine and marine sediments, speleothems, and corals. We utilized improved evaluation of the timescales and location variable C offsets from the atmosphere (reservoir age, dead carbon fraction) for each dataset. New statistical methods have refined the structure of the calibration curves while maintaining a robust treatment of uncertainties in the C ages, the calendar ages and other corrections. The inclusion of modeled marine reservoir ages derived from a three-dimensional ocean circulation model has allowed us to apply more appropriate reservoir corrections to the marine C data rather than the previous use of constant regional offsets from the atmosphere. Here we provide an overview of the new and revised datasets and the associated methods used for the construction of the IntCal20 curve and explore potential regional offsets for tree-ring data. We discuss the main differences with respect to the previous calibration curve, IntCal13, and some of the implications for archaeology and geosciences ranging from the recent past to the time of the extinction of the Neanderthals.
Bone is a commonly used material for radiocarbon dating, yet at ages close to the limit of the method (>30,000 BP), it is a substantial challenge to remove contamination and produce accurate ages. We report here on the preliminary results of a dating study of 2 bones older than 30,000 yr, which were each treated with a suite of pretreatment procedures, including ultrafiltration (Brown et al. 1988). Substantial differences in the 14C ages were observed, which is most likely linked to crucial steps in the removal of contamination both in the bone and in the laboratory. Using a comprehensive sequence of pretreatment procedures, including ultrafiltration, we obtain generally older ages. © 2011 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona.
The wide availability of precise radiocarbon dates has allowed researchers in a number of disciplines to address chronological questions at a resolution which was not possible 10 or 20 years ago. The use of Bayesian statistics for the analysis of groups of dates is becoming a common way to integrate all of the 14C evidence together. However, the models most often used make a number of assumptions that may not always be appropriate. In particular, there is an assumption that all of the 14C measurements are correct in their context and that the original 14C concentration of the sample is properly represented by the calibration curve. © 2009 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona.
New excavations at Contrebandiers Cave, Morocco, began in 2007 and continued through 2010. This site, originally excavated by Roche in the 1950s, contained deposits with Aterian, Iberomaurusian, and Neolithic materials, although the latter were completely removed during Roche's excavations. This report presents an overview of the recent excavations, the stratigraphic sequence of the site, absolute dates based on OSL, TL, and ESR, and detailed data on the lithic (Iberomaurusian, Aterian, and Mousterian) and faunal assemblages, the latter of which includes large mammals, microvertebrates, and marine shells.
This paper highlights the results of a technological analysis carried out for the first time on nine lithic assemblages belonging to three Iberomaurusian sites in Algeria (Tamar Hat rockshelter, Rassel cave and Columnata open-air site). The purpose of this paper is to identify the technical system adopted for the production of lithic artifacts in each of the studied assemblages in order to search for similarities and discrepancies in the technical behaviours between coastal and inland Iberomaurusian populations. This requires recognition of the reduction core strategies and transformation of the produced blanks, as well as research into debitage methods and techniques employed. In all three sites, local raw materials were preferred and the lithic production was primarily geared towards obtaining relatively standardized lamellar blanks with different debitage schemes. In lower occupations at Tamar Hat, the bladelets were mainly produced by implementing a single and complex chaîne opératoire of lamellar production which integrated variable blanks according to numerous and different schemes. The dominant scheme was an elaborate debitage oriented to the production of short and narrow bladelet blanks from reduced prismatic
and sub-pyramidal cores, while by-products were exploited as bladelet cores to produce microbladelets
and burin spalls. A change in the core reduction strategies appeared in the upper occupations
of Tamar Hat where elongated bladelets were produced according to a common simple debitage
widespread in the latest occupations. The implementation of a single chaîne opératoire is preserved in the lower layer of Rassel, although with a less elaborate roughing out processing, as for the upper occupations of Tamar Hat. In contrast, at Columnata three independent chaînes opératoires were implemented to produce robust blanks, which represents a stark contrast with previous methods known in the other sites. The technological analysis has provided strong arguments for a different know-how in technical behaviours between Iberomaurusian populations living in coastal rockshelters and those in hinterlands open-air sites. Thus, the different geographical areas seem to cover variable economic entities which would suggest a new adaptation of the same populations to different ecological niches.
Before ESR/U-series models were applied to ungulate teeth, it is generally assumed that calculated ages are close to the “real” ages when they range between the values obtained with the EU and LU models. When the samples show signs of uranium-leaching, a realistic mathematical modelling of the age is not possible. On the other hand, some samples have undergone a very late U-uptake “affecting” directly the U-series ages and rendering the calculated ages younger.We present results obtained on two open-air sites, which show the limits of such combined models in the case of late uranium incorporation. For the Middle Pleistocene site of Isernia la Pineta (Italy), the ESR dates are expected to fall within the limits imposed by the Ar–Ar results. The other site, the Lower Palaeolithic deposits of Ambrona (Spain), yielded two sets of samples: some at the top of the sequence with uranium uptake ranging between EU and LU limits and thus giving a good idea of the “real” age of the site; others at the base displaying a very late U-uptake, which render an age determination difficult.
First identified 100years ago, the Iberomaurusian is an Epipaleolithic industry that was described from a number of sites
across western North Africa. One of these is Grotte des Contrebandiers (Smugglers’ Cave) in Morocco, where Abbé Jean Roche
recovered Iberomaurusian materials in excavations in the late 1950s. Although the lithics were published in the early 1960s,
subsequent changes in methods and in assessing the interpretive potential of lithic assemblages necessitated a restudy of
these collections from Contrebandiers. This study led to a better understanding of the lithic types present and of the use
of particular stone raw materials. Iberomaurusians emphasized lithic strategies that maximized use of fine-grained stone to
the extent that pièces esquillées should be, among others, a defining criterion for this lithic industry.
Identifié pour la première fois il y a une centaine d’années, l’Ibéromaurusien est une industrie épipaléolithique définie
dans plusieurs sites situés dans la partie ouest de l’Afrique du Nord. Au Maroc, la Grotte des Contrebandiers fait partie
de ces sites où l’Abbé Jean Roche a mis au jour du matériel appartenant à cette civilisation dans les années 1950. Bien que
le matériel lithique ait été publié dans les années 1960, nous avons entrepris une nouvelle analyse de ce dernier à partir
de nouvelles approches méthodologiques et une évaluation de son potentiel documentaire. Cette analyse nous a amené à non seulement
identifier les types d’outils présents dans la collection mais aussi à déterminer les matières premières lithiques. Les ibéromaurusiens
ont poursuivi un effort de maximisation des matières premières de grain fin à tel point que les pièces esquillées sont devenues
un critère essentiel de leur industrie.
KeywordsEpipaleolithic–Iberomaurusian–North Africa–Contrebandiers–Lithics–Collections
Chronological evidence for the Iberomaurusian is currently very limited and there are problems with some of the published
radiocarbon dates. In this paper we present new AMS dating results from well-stratified cave sequences at Ghar Cahal, Kehf
el Hammar and Taforalt in northern and eastern Morocco. The longest of these sequences, from Taforalt, shows an intermittent
occupation history spanning the period ca. 18,000–11,000bp (radiocarbon determinations presented in this paper are expressed
as ka bp or bp, whilst approximate calendar ages are expressed as Cal bp) with a marked intensification of cave use soon after
ca. 13,000bp. Using calibrated AMS ages in comparison to sea surface temperature evidence from the Alboran Sea core MD95-2043
and more generally to Greenland ice δ18O core records, we suggest that there may have been a relationship, albeit a complex one, between climatic events and cave
activity on the part of Iberomaurusian populations.
La chronologie de l’Ibéromaurusien est actuellement très limitée et certaines dates de radiocarbone publiées sont problématiques.
Dans cet article, nous présentons de nouvelles datations AMS (spectrométrie de masse par accélérateur) provenant de séquences
bien stratifiées des grottes du nord et de l’oriental est du Maroc: Ghar Cahal, Kehf el Hammar et Taforalt. La plus longue
de ces séquences, celle de Taforalt, montre une occupation intermittente couvrant la période ca. 18,000bp (dates de radiocarbone
non corrigées1) avec une utilisation intensive de la grotte peu après ca. 13,000bp (non corrigée). Ensuite, nous avons comparé les datations
AMS corrigées aux indications de températures de surface marine calculées à partir du carottage MD95-2043 de la Mer d’Alboran
et plus généralement, aux données de δ18O des carottages de glace du Groenland. Nous en déduisons qu’il pourrait y avoir des rapports, quoique complexes, entre les
événements climatiques et l’intensité des activités ibéromaurusiennes dans ces grottes.
The geomorphology and morphostratigraphy of numerous worldwide sites reveal the relative movements of sea level during the peak of the Last Interglaciation (Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5e, assumed average duration between 130±2 and 119±2 ka). Because sea level was higher than present, deposits are emergent, exposed, and widespread on many stable coastlines. Correlation with MIS 5e is facilitated by similar morphostratigraphic relationships, a low degree of diagenesis, uranium–thorium (U/Th) ages, and a global set of amino-acid racemization (AAR) data. This study integrates information from a large number of sites from tectonically stable areas including Bermuda, Bahamas, and Western Australia, and some that have experienced minor uplift (∼2.5 m/100 ka), including selected sites from the Mediterranean and Hawaii. Significant fluctuations during the highstand are evident at many MIS 5e sites, revealed from morphological, stratigraphic, and sedimentological evidence. Rounded and flat-topped curves derived only from reef tracts are incomplete and not representative of the entire interglacial story. Despite predictions of much different sea-level histories in Bermuda, the Bahamas, and Western Australia due to glacio- and hydro-isostatic effects, the rocks from these sites reveal a nearly identical record during the Last Interglaciation.
Initially application was to ancient pottery and other baked clay, detection of forgeries in art ceramics having a particularly powerful impact. In recent years there has been a growing extension of TL into non-pottery materials. Heated flints from paleolithic fire-places is one application. Another is in the dating of igneous rocks from recent volcanic events; formerly this had been impossible on account of the malign phenomenon of non-thermal ('anomalous') fading exhibited by volcanic minerals but this is now being circumvented by utilising TL in the 600 oC region of the glow curve. TL dating has also been extended to unburnt calcite, one application being stalagmitic floors in paleolithic caves. Another recent development is the use of TL for dating aeolian sediment and some types of waterborne sediment. These developments give prospect of establishing a TL-based chronology, both for archaeology and quaternary research, extending back well beyond the range of radiocarbon, perhaps reaching a million years ago.
The wide availability of precise radiocarbon dates has allowed researchers in a number of disciplines to address chronological questions at a resolution which was not possible 10 or 20 years ago. The use of Bayesian statistics for the analysis of groups of dates is becoming a common way to integrate all of the ¹⁴ C evidence together. However, the models most often used make a number of assumptions that may not always be appropriate. In particular, there is an assumption that all of the ¹⁴ C measurements are correct in their context and that the original ¹⁴ C concentration of the sample is properly represented by the calibration curve.
In practice, in any analysis of dates some are usually rejected as obvious outliers. However, there are Bayesian statistical methods which can be used to perform this rejection in a more objective way (Christen 1994b), but these are not often used. This paper discusses the underlying statistics and application of these methods, and extensions of them, as they are implemented in OxCal v 4.1. New methods are presented for the treatment of outliers, where the problems lie principally with the context rather than the ¹⁴ C measurement. There is also a full treatment of outlier analysis for samples that are all of the same age, which takes account of the uncertainty in the calibration curve. All of these Bayesian approaches can be used either for outlier detection and rejection or in a model averaging approach where dates most likely to be outliers are downweighted.
Another important subject is the consistent treatment of correlated uncertainties between a set of measurements and the calibration curve. This has already been discussed by Jones and Nicholls (2001) in the case of marine reservoir offsets. In this paper, the use of a similar approach for other kinds of correlated offset (such as overall measurement bias or regional offsets in the calibration curve) is discussed and the implementation of these methods in OxCal v 4.0 is presented.
Electron spin resonance (ESR) dating can date many materials, including hydroxyapatite in enamel and some fish scales, aragonite and calcite in corals, molluscs, some travertine and calcrete, and quartz from ash, fluvial deposits, and some flint. Dating studies using these materials have numerous potential applications in many varied Quaternary settings. ESR dating uses signals resulting from trapped charges created by radiation in crystalline solids. Ages are calculated by comparing the accumulated radiation dose in the dating sample with the internal and external radiation dose rates produced by natural radiation in and around the sample and produced by cosmic radiation. When compared to other dating techniques, age agreement has been excellent for teeth, corals, molluscs, and quartz. Recent improvements have included using a more complex modelling technique to calculate the cosmic dose rates and more detailed modelling techniques for dealing with variable external dose rates. Methods in development include using quartz from buried fluvial valleys to date geomorphic surfaces and using the signals in barnacles and benthic foraminifera for dating fossils or their associated sediment. New chronometer applications recently developed include using coral and mollusc dates to build sealevel curves and to monitor volcanic activity and tectonic uplift, using tooth and mollusc dates to assess water availability in deserts, and using isochron data to assess U uptake processes into teeth. When coupled with other geochemical and geomorphological techniques, ESR can provide the chronometric control to build paleoclimatic and other paleoenvironmental records. Many other applications are possible, from heating studies for artefacts to dating sulphates and other minerals on distant planets.
A number of recent genetic studies have suggested competing hypotheses relating to the emergence and spread of populations in Northwest Africa during the Late Pleistocene. Until now is has been difficult to test models derived from genetic work against the archaeological record mainly due to the paucity of reliable dating evidence in the region. A major question relates to timing and nature of the emergence of microlithic LSA assemblages and whether these new technologies developed independently within the area or were related to movement of populations from adjacent regions. Here, we present a series of new AMS radiocarbon dates on bone from the LSA sequence at Tamar Hat (Algeria) and discuss these ages in relation to the existing radiocarbon chronology for the terminal Pleistocene microlithic LSA assemblages of the Maghreb. The radiocarbon ages date from ∼25 ka cal BP and show an earlier appearance of this technology than previously thought. We examine the implications of these early dates for understanding the first appearance and spread of microlithic technology in the Maghreb and discuss further ramifications for understanding emergence of similar industries elsewhere in North Africa.
Contrebandiers Cave preserves a Late Pleistocene sequence containing Middle Stone Age (MSA) so-called Maghrebian Mousterian and Aterian occupations, spanning from ∼126 to 95 ka (thousands of years ago), followed by spatially restricted Iberomaurusian industries. Micromorphological analyses, complemented by instrumental mineralogical identification and fabric orientation, allowed for the reconstruction of the main site formation processes at the site. Initial deposition is characterized by local reworking of marine shelly sands dating to Marine Isotopic Stage 5e (MIS5e). The subsequent stratification reveals sedimentary dynamics predominantly associated with gravity-driven inputs and contributions from weathering of the encasing bedrock, at the same time that anthropogenic sediments were being accumulated. The allochthonous components reflect soil degradation and vegetation changes around the cave during the last interglacial. Human occupations seems to be somewhat ephemeral in nature, with some stratigraphic units apparently lacking archaeological components, while in others the human-associated deposits (e.g., burned bones, charcoal, and ashes) can be substantial. Ephemeral breaks in sedimentation and/or erosion followed by stabilization are mainly discernible microscopically by the presence of phosphatic-rich laminae interpreted as short-lived surfaces, peaks of increased humidity and colonization by plants. More substantial erosion affects the uppermost Aterian layers, presumably due to localized reconfigurations of the cave's roof. The subsequent Iberomaurusian deposits are not in their primary position and are associated with well-sorted silts of aeolian origin. While the effects of chemical diagenesis are limited throughout the whole stratigraphic sequence, physical bioturbation (e.g., by wasps, rodents, and earthworms) is more pervasive and leads to localized movement of the original sedimentary particles.
A new AMS lab has been established at the Curt-Engelhom-Centre for Achaeometry, Mannheim, Germany, based on the compact MICADAS (Mini Carbon Dating System). After 1 year of operation we can demonstrate the high stability and ease of operation of the MICADAS concept. We are confident that we can obtain a precision of modern samples, e.g. for carbon cycle studies, at the 2 permille level. The 200 kV design results in a comparatively low initial budget and economic operational costs. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
A brief review of the thermoluminescence technique as it applies to palaeolithic sites is presented and the thermoluminescence age for Unit 4 at Maastricht-Belvedere based on measurement of 7 burned flints is reported: 270 ka (+ or -11, + or -22, Ox TL 712k).- Authors
The quality of bone collagen extracts is central to the14C dating and isotope palaeodietary analysis of bone. The intactness and purity of the extracted gelatin (“collagen”) is strongly dependent on the extent of diagenetic degradation, contamination and the type of extraction method. Possible chemical, elemental and isotopic parameters for the assessment of “collagen” quality are discussed. The most important distinction that can be made is the one between contaminated bone (mostly from temperate zones), and bone low in collagen content (mostly from arid and tropical zones). The latter shows more variability in all quality parameters than the former. The natural level of contamination is mostly so low that stable isotopic measurements are not impaired, although14C measurements can be. It is concluded that there is no unequivocal way to detect natural levels of contamination with the discussed parameters, although their use can identify many cases. In low “collagen” bone, the parameters can identify the great majority of problematic samples: although deviations in these parameters do not necessarily mean isotopic alterations, the increased background found in these samples makes most samples unusable.
If an independent method (e.g., TL or γ dosimetry) can be used to calculate the external dose rate, Dext(t), and if Dext(t) can be shown to have been constant throughout time at the site by geo- logical investigation, or by an independent date, the isochron method can determine the U uptake history. Since the isochron calculation gives the accumulated dose from the external radiation sources, Aext, which must equal the product of the age, t1, with the time-averaged external dose rate, Dext(t), the isochron's slope that matches this age represents the uptake model for the tooth. Using this technique at sites has demonstrated that teeth older than ~ 80-100 ka do not follow EU, but instead usually LU, RU, or something between the two, i.e., the uptake parameter, p ≥ 1. For teeth from the same unit, p can vary significantly, possibly in response to different microen- vironmental conditions around each individual tooth. Teeth older than 1.0 Ma often have p > 5. Laboratory simulation experiments, however, indicate that fresh enamel does not uptake appre- ciable U, but dentine can uptake U very rapidly from groundwater, and even concentrate it more than the equilibrium concentration in the groundwater. These data suggest that several different mechanisms are probably responsible for U uptake in teeth as they fossilize.
Criteria are presented for the identification of diagenetic alteration of carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of bone and tooth collagen prepared by a widely used method. Measurements of collagen concentrations in tooth and bone, atomic C:N ratios, and carbon and nitrogen concentrations in collagen of 359 historic and prehistoric African humans, and modern and prehistoric East African non-human mammals are described. Carbon isotope ratios of collagen lipids from four bones are also presented. Compared to bone, whole teeth have significantly lower collagen concentrations, lower carbon and nitrogen concentrations in collagen, and similar C:N ratios. Carbon and nitrogen concentrations and C:N ratios are relatively constant over a wide range of collagen concentrations. However, prehistoric specimens with very low collagen concentrations have highly variable C:N ratios, very low carbon and nitrogen concentrations in collagen, and stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios unlike collagen. At the transition from well-preserved to poorly preserved collagen the most reliable indicator of collagen preservation is the concentration of carbon and nitrogen in collagen. Concentrations of C and N drop abruptly by an order of magnitude at this transition point. These attributes provide simple criteria for assessing sample quality. Since collagen preservation can vary greatly within prehistoric sites, these attributes should be reported for each specimen. Use of purification procedures that remove acid- and base-soluble contaminants and particulate matter (carbonates, fulvic acids, lipids, humic acids, sediments and rootlets) are recommended. Wider adoption of these procedures would insure comparability of results between laboratories, and permit independent and objective evaluation of sample preservation, and more precise dietary, climatic, and habitat interpretations of collagen isotopic analyses.
Thermoluminescence (TL) dating is now widely used in the age determination of Paleolithic sites. Although the basic principle of TL-dating is simple, the underlying assumptions are not trivial. One major source of error is the external dose rate, which contributes to a varying degree to the denominator of the age formula and thus has a varying influence on the dating result. The intention of this paper is to enable the user to evaluate TL age determinations of heated flint. The parameters used for age determination and some of their relationships are discussed. It is shown that the reliability of TL results of heated flint depends on the proportion of the various dose-rate parameters and that these are important for the evaluation of ages. The limitations of the method as well as the advantages are discussed. TL-dating results for two Near Eastern Paleolithic sites (Rosh Ein Mor and Jerf al-Ajla) are discussed as examples. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Zooarchaeological and taphonomic analyses of Pleistocene vertebrate fauna from the Middle and Later Stone Age occupations at Contrebandiers Cave, Atlantic coast
- E Y Hallett
Hallett, E. Y. (2018). Zooarchaeological and taphonomic analyses of Pleistocene vertebrate fauna
from the Middle and Later Stone Age occupations at Contrebandiers Cave, Atlantic coast,
Morocco. PhD dissertation, Arizona State University.
Approache technologique des productions lithiques taillées de Tamar Hat
- L Sari
Sari, L. (2012). L'Ibéromaurusien, culture de Paléolithique supérieur tardif. Approache technologique des productions lithiques taillées de Tamar Hat, Tassel et Columnata (Algérie). PhD
dissertation, Université de Paris X-Nanterre.
Les premiers habitants de Rabat, à l'origine du comportement humain moderne. Edition Ministère de la culture marocain
- M A El Hajraoui
El Hajraoui, M. A. (2018). Les premiers habitants de Rabat, à l'origine du comportement humain
moderne. Edition Ministère de la culture marocain.
New excavations at the site of Contrebandiers Cave
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La faune du gisement à Hominidés du Djebel Irhoud, contribution de l'étude de la chronologie et de l'environnement du Quaternaire marocain
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la chronologie et de l'environnement du Quaternaire marocain. PhD dissertation, Université
Mohammed V.
General principles of electron spin resonance (ESR) dating
- A R Skinner
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