TY - JOUR
T1 - Chronometric investigations of the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition in the Zagros Mountains using AMS radiocarbon dating and Bayesian age modelling
AU - Becerra-Valdivia, Lorena
AU - Douka, Katerina
AU - Comeskey, Daniel
AU - Bazgir, Behrouz
AU - Conard, Nicholas J.
AU - Marean, Curtis
AU - Ollé, Andreu
AU - Otte, Marcel
AU - Tumung, Laxmi
AU - Zeidi, Mohsen
AU - Higham, Thomas F.G.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2017/8
Y1 - 2017/8
N2 - The Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition is often linked with a bio-cultural shift involving the dispersal of modern humans outside of Africa, the concomitant replacement of Neanderthals across Eurasia, and the emergence of new technological traditions. The Zagros Mountains region assumes importance in discussions concerning this period as its geographic location is central to all pertinent hominin migration areas, pointing to both east and west. As such, establishing a reliable chronology in the Zagros Mountains is crucial to our understanding of these biological and cultural developments. Political circumstance, coupled with the poor preservation of organic material, has meant that a clear chronological definition of the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition for the Zagros Mountains region has not yet been achieved. To improve this situation, we have obtained new archaeological samples for AMS radiocarbon dating from three sites: Kobeh Cave, Kaldar Cave, and Ghār-e Boof (Iran). In addition, we have statistically modelled previously published radiocarbon determinations for Yafteh Cave (Iran) and Shanidar Cave (Iraqi Kurdistan), to improve their chronological resolution and enable us to compare the results with the new dataset. Bayesian modelling results suggest that the onset of the Upper Paleolithic in the Zagros Mountains dates to 45,000–40,250 cal BP (68.2% probability). Further chronometric data are required to improve the precision of this age range.
AB - The Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition is often linked with a bio-cultural shift involving the dispersal of modern humans outside of Africa, the concomitant replacement of Neanderthals across Eurasia, and the emergence of new technological traditions. The Zagros Mountains region assumes importance in discussions concerning this period as its geographic location is central to all pertinent hominin migration areas, pointing to both east and west. As such, establishing a reliable chronology in the Zagros Mountains is crucial to our understanding of these biological and cultural developments. Political circumstance, coupled with the poor preservation of organic material, has meant that a clear chronological definition of the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition for the Zagros Mountains region has not yet been achieved. To improve this situation, we have obtained new archaeological samples for AMS radiocarbon dating from three sites: Kobeh Cave, Kaldar Cave, and Ghār-e Boof (Iran). In addition, we have statistically modelled previously published radiocarbon determinations for Yafteh Cave (Iran) and Shanidar Cave (Iraqi Kurdistan), to improve their chronological resolution and enable us to compare the results with the new dataset. Bayesian modelling results suggest that the onset of the Upper Paleolithic in the Zagros Mountains dates to 45,000–40,250 cal BP (68.2% probability). Further chronometric data are required to improve the precision of this age range.
KW - AMS radiocarbon dating
KW - Bayesian age modelling
KW - Middle Paleolithic
KW - Upper Paleolithic
KW - Zagros Mountains
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.05.011
DO - 10.1016/j.jhevol.2017.05.011
M3 - Article
C2 - 28688460
AN - SCOPUS:85021046226
SN - 0047-2484
VL - 109
SP - 57
EP - 69
JO - Journal of human evolution
JF - Journal of human evolution
ER -