The Rhafas Cave (Morocco): Chronology of the mousterian and aterian archaeological occupations and their implications for Quaternary geochronology based on luminescence (TL/OSL) age determinations

The Middle Palaeolithic chronology of the Maghreb region of North Africa is poorly known because of the paucity of sites with a long stratigraphy and the limited number of available radiometric dates. In this paper, we report the age-estimates obtained by the TL and OSL methods on sediments and burn...

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Published inQuaternary geochronology Vol. 2; no. 1; pp. 309 - 313
Main Authors Mercier, N., Wengler, L., Valladas, H., Joron, J.-L., Froget, L., Reyss, J.-L.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier B.V 2007
Elsevier
Subjects
Aterian
Continental interfaces, environment
Luminescence
Mousterian
Ocean, Atmosphere
Rhafas cave
Sciences of the Universe
Rhafas cave
Mousterian
Aterian
Luminescence
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Summary:The Middle Palaeolithic chronology of the Maghreb region of North Africa is poorly known because of the paucity of sites with a long stratigraphy and the limited number of available radiometric dates. In this paper, we report the age-estimates obtained by the TL and OSL methods on sediments and burnt lithic samples from the Rhafas Cave in Eastern Morocco. Our results indicate that the Mousterian is largely earlier than 100 ka, that the latest Mousterian dates to OIS 5 between 90–80 ka and the Mousterian to Aterian transition occurred about 70–80 ka, at the end of OIS 5 or during OIS 4. These dates will be most useful in the construction of a chronological framework of this unique sequence and for the interpretation of paleoenvironmental information.
ISSN:1871-1014
1878-0350
DOI:10.1016/j.quageo.2006.03.010