AMS dating of rock art in the Laura Region, Cape York Peninsula, Australia--protocols and results of recent research

The authors describe rock art dating research in Australia using the oxalate method. While the array of dates obtained (which range from c. 1200 to c. 25 000 BP) show a satisfactory correlation with other archaeological data, there are mismatches which suggest that some motif were often imitated by later artists, and/or that the mineral accretions continued to form periodically, perhaps continuously, as a regional phenomenon over a long period of time. Keywords: Pleistocene, Holocene, Australia, rock art, Quinkan
Introduction More than a decade ago, a programme of rock art dating was initiated by the authors in the Laura (Quinkan) region of Cape York Peninsula, in collaboration with other [...]