Institut de Recherche sur les ArchéoMATériaux-Centre de Recherche en Physique Appliquée à l'Archéologie, Université Bordeaux-Montaigne, UMR 5060, Maison de l'Archéologie, 33607, Pessac, France; Département « Homme et Environnement », Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, UMR 7194, 1 rue René Panhard, 75013, Paris, France.
Département « Homme et Environnement », Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, UMR 7194, 1 rue René Panhard, 75013, Paris, France.
J Hum Evol. 2019 Aug;133:133-145. doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.05.014. Epub 2019 Jul 1.
Geißenklösterle Cave (Germany) is one of the most important Paleolithic sites in Europe, as it is characterized by human occupation during the Middle and early Upper Paleolithic. Aurignacian layers prior to 37-38 ka cal BP feature both musical and figurative art objects that are linked to the early arrival in Europe of Homo sapiens. Middle Paleolithic layers yielded lithic artifacts attributed to Homo neanderthalensis. Since human occupation at the site is attributed to both Neanderthals and modern humans, chronology is essential to clarify the issues of Neanderthal disappearance, modern human expansion in Europe, and the origin of the Aurignacian in Western Europe. Electron spin resonance (ESR) dating was performed on fossil tooth enamel collected from the Middle Paleolithic layers, which are beyond the radiocarbon dating range, and from the nearly sterile 'transitional' geological horizon (GH) 17 and the lower Aurignacian deposits, to cross-check ESR ages with previous radiocarbon, thermoluminescence and ESR age results. The Middle Paleolithic layers were dated between 94 ± 10 ka (GH 21) and 55 ± 6 ka (GH 18) by ESR on tooth enamel. Mean ages for GH 17, at 46 ± 3 ka, and for the lower Aurignacian layers, at 37 ± 3 ka, are in agreement with previous dating results, thus supporting the reliability of ESR chronology for the base of the sequence where dating comparisons are not possible. These results suggest that Neanderthals occupied the site from Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5 to the second half of MIS 3 and confirm the antiquity of early Aurignacian deposits. The presence of an almost sterile layer that separates Middle and Upper Paleolithic occupations could be related to the abandonment of the site by Neanderthals, possibly during Heinrich Stadial 5 (ca. 49-47 ka), thus before the arrival of H. sapiens in the area around 42 ka cal BP. These dates for the Middle Paleolithic of the Swabian Jura represent an important contribution to the prehistory of the region, where nearly all of the excavations were conducted decades ago and prior to the development of reliable radiometric dating beyond the range of radiocarbon.
德国的盖森克洛斯特勒洞穴是欧洲最重要的旧石器时代遗址之一，因为它的特点是在中石器时代和早更新世期间有人居住。在公元前 37-38 万年之前的奥瑞纳文化层既有音乐又有具象艺术物品，这与智人在欧洲的早期到来有关。中石器时代的层产生了归因于尼安德特人的石器制品。由于该遗址的人类居住归因于尼安德特人和现代人类，因此年代学对于澄清尼安德特人消失、现代人类在欧洲的扩张以及西欧奥瑞纳文化的起源等问题至关重要。对从中石器时代层收集的化石牙釉质进行了电子自旋共振 (ESR) 测年，这些层超出了放射性碳测年范围，并且还包括几乎无菌的“过渡”地质层 (GH) 17 和下奥瑞纳文化层，以与以前的放射性碳、热释光和 ESR 年龄结果交叉检查 ESR 年龄。中石器时代层的 ESR 牙釉质测年结果为 94±10ka（GH21）至 55±6ka（GH18）。GH17 的平均年龄为 46±3ka，下奥瑞纳文化层的平均年龄为 37±3ka，与以前的测年结果一致，从而支持 ESR 年代学的可靠性，因为在该序列的底部无法进行测年比较。这些结果表明，尼安德特人从海洋同位素阶段 (MIS) 5 到 MIS3 的后半段占据了该遗址，并确认了早期奥瑞纳文化层的古老性。将中石器时代和更新世上部隔开的几乎无菌层的存在可能与尼安德特人放弃该遗址有关，可能发生在海因里希冰期 5（约公元前 49-47 年）期间，因此在公元前 42 万年左右智人到达该地区之前。这些斯瓦比亚侏罗纪中石器时代的日期是该地区史前史的重要贡献，因为几乎所有的挖掘工作都是几十年前进行的，并且在放射性碳测年范围之外开发出可靠的放射性测年方法之前进行的。
