230 Th dating of flowstone from Ignatievskaya Cave, Russia: Age constraints of rock art and paleoclimate inferences.

Paleolithic antiquity of parietal art in Ignatievskaya cave, Southern Ural, is supported by its subject (Late Pleistocene animals) as well as by paleontological and palynological data, and ¹⁴ C dates from cultural layers associated with artistic activity (17.8-16.3 cal ka BP; association is established by finds of ochre in these layers). However, three ¹⁴ C dates of charcoal motifs yielded younger, Holocene ages (7.4-6.0 cal ka BP). In this study, we constrain the age of parietal art in the cave by ²³⁰ Th dating of flowstone that brackets the paintings. Flowstone did not form in the cave between c. 78 and 10 ka BP, due to widespread permafrost in northern Eurasia at that time. Our ²³⁰ Th dates do not support the middle Holocene age of art in Ignatievskaya cave and are consistent with its Upper Paleolithic antiquity instead.
Competing Interests: The authors declare that there are no conflict of interests.
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