Search

International audience; Ghar-e Boof is a Paleolithic cave site in Iran well known for its rich early Upper Paleolithic Rostamian assemblages. The site is located on the edge of the Dasht-e Rostam plain in the southern Zagros. Recent excavations by the members of the Tfibingen-Iranian Stone Age Research Project at Ghar-e Boof also recovered well-stratified Middle Paleolithic assemblages. Here, we provide the first detailed luminescence chronology for the Middle and Upper Paleolithic of the site. More generally, our work is the first luminescence chronology for a Middle and Upper Paleolithic site in the Zagros Mountains region in Iran. The luminescence ages for the Upper Paleolithic of Ghar-e Boof agree with published C-14 dates. We applied Bayesian models specifically designed for luminescence dating using the R package 'BayLum' to incorporate the well-established stratigraphic constraints, as well as the published C-14 ages with our optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages to improve the precision of the chronological framework. The Bayesian chronology shows a significantly improved precision of the OSL ages in particular for the upper part of the sequence where C-14 ages were available. The Bayesian OSL ages for the Rostamian horizons, archaeologicalhorizon (AH) III (a-b-c), and AH IV, fall in the range of 37-42 ka (68% credible interval [CI]). Moreover, we determined a series of dates between 45 and 81 ka (68% CI) for the Middle Paleolithic strata from AH IVd to AH VI. Our results point to a demographic shift in the populations responsible for the Middle Paleolithic and the Rostamian within three millennia. This major technological change accompanied by the rise of symbolic artifacts such as personal ornaments, may or may not reflect a replacement of Neanderthals by modern humans. While we are confident that the Rostamian was made by modern humans, available information does not allow us to be sure who made the local Middle Paleolithic.

The colours used in Pre-Hispanic Mesoamerica to decorate walls, codices or artefacts have been the subject of numerous studies, with particular attention to Maya blue, red and white pigments. However, most of these studies have been focused on emblematic cultures of the Classic period (ca. 300–1000 CE), such as Teotihuacan and Maya cultures. This work proposes a new chronology of the preparation and use of these pigments, particularly Maya blue, by analysing samples of the Pre-Classic period (ca. 1800 BCE–300 CE). The samples belong to ceremonial artefacts decorated with blue, red and white pigments, in a funerary context from the Chupicuaro culture, which was developed between 600 and 100 BCE in Western Mexico. The analytical results obtained in this research by spectroscopic and chromatographic techniques (EDXRF, SEM-EDX, Raman and LC-MS/MS-TOF/MS) confirm the presence of indigo (Indigofera suffruticosa L., Indigofera mucrolata or Indigofera jamaicensis, among other local species), iron oxide (α-Fe2O3), cinnabar (HgS) and calcium carbonate (CaCO3) as compounds of these colours. Our findings support the first evidence of the use of the indigo to elaborate a Maya blue pigment outside the Maya region at least four centuries before it was recognized in this region. Moreover, we found an ancient use of cinnabar mixed together with iron-based red pigments to cover bodies in the burial rites in Pre-Columbian societies, showing a connection between these red pigments and the funerary world in ancient America. These results have a great impact on the history of colour in ancient Mesoamerica from the economic, social, cultural and historical point of view. This study implies a geographical and chronological leap of high impact on the archaeology and history of ancient Mesoamerica.

International audience; The emergence and evolution of social complexity remains a major topic in African later prehistory. This paper aims to examine this question in the Dogon Country in Mali by reassessing the chronocultural sequence of Toloy-Tellem-Dogon that was defined 40 years ago. Our discovery of two new sites on the Bandiagara Escarpment with coiled clay tombs (Dourou-Boro and Yawa-vaches), the systematic dating of these structures, the re-analysis of similar buildings in Pégué, as well as the establishment of a typology of architectural techniques, led us to propose a continuous chronocultural evolution for these structures, now considered to be primary burials and not granaries, over about 1800 years. Detailed study of the ceramics also indicates the evolution of local traditions, progressively integrating new elements following many contacts with neighboring regions during the 1st millennium AD. Finally, the chemical analysis of the glass beads discovered in Dourou-Boro shows that these societies were using beads made in the Middle East at least from the last quarter of the 1st millennium AD on. The new data presented in this article highlight, on one hand, the originality, antiquity, and longevity of burial practices indicating a strong local cultural identity, and, on the other hand, the participation of pre-Dogon populations (long reputed for being isolated from the outside world) in broader African socioeconomic dynamics.

Grotte Vaufrey, located in the Dordogne region of southwestern France, is well known for its substantial archaeological sequence containing a succession of Acheulean and Mousterian occupations. While over the last thirty years numerous studies have attempted to outline a detailed chronostratigraphy for this important sequence, the failure to employ a common chronological framework has complicated its interpretation. Here, we aim to resolve these inconsistencies by providing a new chronology for the site based on luminescence dating. To this end, thermally-transferred optically stimulated luminescence (TT-OSL) dates were obtained from eight sediment samples distributed throughout the sequence, which, when combined with already available chronological information, produce a new chronostratigraphic model for the site. Our results demonstrate that the Typical Mousterian extends from MIS 7 to MIS 5, while the earliest Acheulean occupation could be associated with MIS 8 and may date to as early as MIS 10. When compared with other regional sequences, the Acheulean levels from the Grotte Vaufrey provide evidence for one of the earliest hominin occupations in southwestern France.

Due to its high accumulation rate, the loess sequence of Nu{loch (Rhine Valley, Germany) is well suited to a high-resolution study of continental paleoenvironmental changes over the last climatic cycle for northwestern Europe. As carbon isotope ratios of plants depend on environmental variations, C of loess-derived organic matter constitute reliable paleoclimatic proxies. We present here a new chronology of Nu{loch loess sequence based on several C and TL-dates. Our data show high correlations with global climate e!ects (Vostok-[CO ]) or semi-global (GISP2-O) and thus o!er, in this way, a new approach to establish accurate chronologies in continental sequences. Furthermore, using a deconvolution of the C signal would provide a quantitative proxy of moisture supply and permit paleoprecipitation reconstructions. 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.