Thermoluminescence date for the Mousterian burial site of Es-Skhül, Mt. Carmel.

Norbert Mercier (1, 2) , Hélène Valladas (1, 2) , Ofer Bar-Yosef (3) , Bernard Vandermeersch (4) , Jean Louis Joron (5)

1 CEA - Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives
2 Centre des Faibles Radioactivités
3 Department of Anthropology [Havard University]
4 Laboratoire d'anthropologie des populations du passé
5 LPS - Laboratoire Pierre Süe

In the 1930s, the skeletal remains of at least 10 hominids were uncovered in the cave of es-Skhul (Mt. Carmel, Israel). Thermoluminescence (TL) dates have been obtained on six burnt flints from level B in which these so-called "proto-Cro-Magnons' " remains were found. The TL average date, 119 ± 18 ky BP, is consistent with the previous ESR estimates (81 ± 15-101 ± 12 ky BP) and confirms the great antiquity of early modern humans in the Levant.

Domaines: Archéologie et Préhistoire

Norbert Mercier, Hélène Valladas, Ofer Bar-Yosef, Bernard Vandermeersch, Jean Louis Joron. Thermoluminescence date for the Mousterian burial site of Es-Skhül, Mt. Carmel.. Journal of Archaeological Science, 1993, 20 (2), pp.169-174. ⟨10.1006/jasc.1993.1012⟩. ⟨hal-01961063⟩