Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Luminescence dating of rock art and past environments using mud-wasp nests in northern Australia

Abstract

Mud-nesting wasps are found in all of the main biogeographical regions of the world1,2,3, and construct nests that become petrified after abandonment. Nests built by mud-dauber and potter wasps in rock shelters in northern Australia1,4 often overlie, and occasionally underlie, prehistoric rock paintings. Mud nests contain pollen, spores and phytoliths from which information about local palaeovegetation can be gleaned. Here we report a new application of optical dating5,6,7, using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C dating of pollen8 to determine the ages of mud-wasp nests associated with rock paintings in the Kimberley region of Western Australia9,10. Optical dating of quartz sand (including the analysis of individual grains) embedded in the mud of fossilized nests shows that some anthropomorphic paintings are more than 17,000 years old. Reconstructions of past local environments are also possible from the range of pollen and phytolith types identified. This approach should have widespread application to studies of rock-art dating and late Quaternary environmental change on continents where mud-wasps once lived and other sources of palaeoecological information are absent.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Optical dates obtained from each portion of S.laetum nest DR6 (40 mm from core to surface).

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Naumann, I. D. in The Rock Art Sites of Kakadu National Park – Some Preliminary Research Findings for their Conservation and Management (ed. Gillespie, D.) 127–189 (Special Publication 10, Australian National Parks and Wildlife Service, Canberra, 1983).

    Google Scholar 

  2. Gauld, I. D. & Bolton, B. (ed.) The Hymenoptera (Oxford Univ. Press, 1988).

    Google Scholar 

  3. LaSalle, J. & Gauld, I. D. (ed.) Hymenoptera and Biodiversity (C.A.B. International, Wallingford, 1993).

    Google Scholar 

  4. Naumann, I. D. in The Insects of Australia: A Textbook for Students and Research Workers2nd edn, 916–1,000 (Melbourne Univ. Press, 1991).

    Google Scholar 

  5. Huntley, D. J., Godfrey-Smith, D. I. & Thewalt, M. L. W. Optical dating of sediments. Nature 313, 105–107 (1985).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  6. Aitken, M. J. Optical dating: a non-specialist review. Quat. Sci. Rev. 13, 503–508 (1994).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. Duller, G. A. T. Recent developments in luminescence dating of Quaternary sediments. Prog. Phys. Geogr. 20, 127–145 (1996).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Brown, T. A., Nelson, D. E., Mathewes, R. W., Vogel, J. S. & Southon, J. R. Radiocarbon dating of pollen by accelerator mass spectrometry. Quat. Res. 32, 205–212 (1989).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Walsh, G. L. Bradshaws: Ancient Rock Paintings of North-West Australia (The Bradshaw Foundation, Geneva, 1994).

    Google Scholar 

  10. Morwood, M. J., Walsh, G. L. & Watchman, A. The dating potential of rock art in the Kimberley, N.W. Australia. Rock Art Res. 11, 79–87 (1994).

    Google Scholar 

  11. Smith, F. in Catalogue of Hymenopterous Insects in the Collection of the British MuseumPart IV 207–497 (British Museum, London, 1856).

    Google Scholar 

  12. Aitken, M. J. Thermoluminescence Dating (Academic, London, 1985).

    Google Scholar 

  13. Duller, G. A. T. Luminescence dating using single aliquots: methods and applications. Radiat. Meas. 24, 217–226 (1995).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  14. Murray, A. S., Roberts, R. G. & Wintle, A. G. Equivalent dose measurement using a single aliquot of quartz. Radiat. Meas. 27, 171–184 (1997).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Murray, A. S. & Roberts, R. G. Determining the burial time of single grains of quartz using optically stimulated luminescence. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett.(submitted).

  16. Lamothe, M., Balescu, S. & Auclair, M. Natural IRSL intensities and apparent luminescence ages of single feldspar grains extracted from partially bleached sediments. Radiat. Meas. 23, 555–561 (1994).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Waterhouse, D. F. in The Insects of Australia: A Textbook for Students and Research Workers2nd edn, 221–235 (Melbourne Univ. Press, 1991).

    Google Scholar 

  18. Bowdery, D. E. thesis, Australian National Univ.(1996).

    Google Scholar 

  19. Kelly, E. F., Amundson, R. G., Marino, B. D. & Deniro, M. J. Stable isotope ratios of carbon in phytoliths as a quantitative method of monitoring vegetation and climate change. Quat. Res. 35, 222–233 (1991).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Roberts, R. G.et al. The human colonisation of Australia: optical dates of 53,000 and 60,000 years bracket human arrival at Deaf Adder Gorge, Northern Territory. Quat. Sci. Rev. 13, 575–583 (1994).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  21. David, B., Roberts, R., Tuniz, C., Jones, R. & Head, J. New optical and radiocarbon dates from Ngarrabullgan Cave, a Pleistocene archaeological site in Australia: implications for the comparability of time clocks and for the human colonization of Australia. Antiquity 71, 183–188 (1997).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Mejdahl, V. Thermoluminescence dating: beta-dose attenuation in quartz grains. Archaeometry 21, 61–72 (1979).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  23. Martin, P. & Hancock, G. Routine analysis of naturally occurring radionuclides in environmental samples by alpha-particle spectrometry. Supervising Scientist for the Alligator Rivers Region, Research Report 7(Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1992).

  24. Nambi, K. S. V. & Aitken, M. J. Annual dose conversion factors for TL and ESR dating. Archaeometry 28, 202–205 (1986).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  25. Olley, J. M., Murray, A. & Roberts, R. G. The effects of disequilibria in the uranium and thorium decay chains on burial dose rates in fluvial sediments. Quat. Sci. Rev. 15, 751–760 (1996).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  26. Murray, A. S., Marten, R., Johnston, A. & Martin, P. Analysis for naturally occurring radionuclides at environmental concentrations by gamma spectrometry. J. Radioanal. Nuclear Chem. Articles 115, 263–288 (1987).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  27. Prescott, J. R. & Hutton, J. T. Cosmic ray contributions to dose rates for luminescence and ESR dating: large depths and long-term time variations. Radiat. Meas. 23, 497–500 (1994).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  28. Tuniz, C.et al. The ANTARES AMS Centre: a status report. Radiocarbon 37, 663–673 (1995).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  29. Brown, T. A., Farwell, G. W., Grootes, P. M. & Schmidt, F. H. Radiocarbon AMS dating of pollen extracted from peat samples. Radiocarbon 34, 550–556 (1992).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  30. Long, A., Davis, O. K. & De Lanois, J. Separation and 14C dating of pure pollen from lake sediments: nanofossil AMS dating. Radiocarbon 34, 557–560 (1992).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

We thank the traditional Aboriginal custodians (M. Pandilow, T. H. Unghango and family members, L. Utemara and D. Utemara, L. Karedada, J. Karedada and S. Mangolamara), Kalumburu Community Council and A. Koeyers for permission to undertake this study. Samples were collected under permits 166 and NE001023 from the Western Australian Aboriginal Affairs Department and Department of Conservation and Land Management, respectively. We thank D. Questiaux for preparing and E. Haskell for analysing the thermoluminescence dosimetry capsules; M. Shelley for preparing and L. Kinsley for measuring the laser-ablation ICP-MS samples; K. Weiss and G. Atkin for pollen extraction; G. Jacobsen for 14C sample preparation; M. J. Olley for X-ray fluorescence analyses; and A. Bell and M. Aitken for comments. R.R. acknowledges the support of a Queen Elizabeth II fellowship from the Australian Research Council and a J. G. Russell Award from the Australian Academy of Science, which funded some of the research costs. The Bradshaw Foundation, Australian National University and Australian Research Council funded the fieldwork, and the Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering funded the AMS 14C determinations.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Richard Roberts.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Roberts, R., Walsh, G., Murray, A. et al. Luminescence dating of rock art and past environments using mud-wasp nests in northern Australia. Nature 387, 696–699 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/42690

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/42690

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing