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Radiocarbon dating of interstratified Neanderthal and early modern human occupations at the Chatelperronian type-site

Nature volume 438, pages 51–56 (2005)Cite this article

Abstract

The question of the coexistence and potential interaction between the last Neanderthal and the earliest intrusive populations of anatomically modern humans in Europe has recently emerged as a topic of lively debate in the archaeological and anthropological literature. Here we report the results of radiocarbon accelerator dating for what has been reported as an interstratified sequence of late Neanderthal and early anatomically modern occupations at the French type-site of the Chatelperronian, the Grotte des Fées de Châtelperron, in east-central France. The radiocarbon measurements seem to provide the earliest secure dates for the presence of Aurignacian technology—and from this, we infer the presence of anatomically modern human populations—in France.

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Figure 1: Stratigraphy of the Grotte des Fées at Châtelperron.
Figure 2: Aurignacian artefacts from the Grotte des Fées at Châtelperron.
Figure 3: Perforated animal teeth from level B4 of Delporte's excavation.
Figure 4: Radiocarbon dates for Châtelperron and other Chatelperronian sites.
Figure 5: Comparison of Châtelperron data to the radiocarbon record from the Cariaco basin33.

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Acknowledgements

We are indebted to the Musée des Antiquités Nationales, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, for providing the samples for the radiocarbon dating, to the NERC for their support for the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Dating Service (ORADS) at Oxford, to D. Kemp for assistance with the illustrations, to J.-P. and D. Steenhuyse, M. C. Dawson, C. Schwab, R. White and N. Ashton for other assistance, and to K. Boyle, R. Hedges, T. Higham and N. Shackleton for discussions. B.G. is indebted to Magdalene College, Cambridge, for a Leslie Wilson Research Studentship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Archaeology, Cambridge University, Downing Street, CB2 3DZ, Cambridge, UK

    Brad Gravina & Paul Mellars

  2. Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, Oxford University, Keble Road, OX1 3QJ, Oxford, UK

    Christopher Bronk Ramsey

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Correspondence to Paul Mellars.

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Gravina, B., Mellars, P. & Ramsey, C. Radiocarbon dating of interstratified Neanderthal and early modern human occupations at the Chatelperronian type-site. Nature 438, 51–56 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature04006

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