Authors: Turney C.S.M.1; Bird M.I.1; Fifield L.K.2; Roberts R.G.3; Smith M.4; Dortch C.E.5; Grün R.1; Lawson E.6; Ayliffe L.K.7; Miller G.H.8; Dortch J.9; Cresswell R.G.2
Source: Quaternary Research, Volume 55, Number 1, January 2001 , pp. 3-13(11)
Publisher: Academic Press
Abstract:
New dating confirms that people occupied the Australian continent before the earliest time inferred from conventional radiocarbon analysis. Many of the new ages were obtained by accelerator mass spectrometry 14C dating after an acid–base–acid pretreatment with bulk combustion (ABA-BC) or after a newly developed acid–base–wet oxidation pretreatment with stepped combustion (ABOX-SC). The samples (charcoal) came from the earliest occupation levels of the Devil's Lair site in southwestern Western Australia. Initial occupation of this site was previously dated 35,000 14C yr B.P. Whereas the ABA-BC ages are indistinguishable from background beyond 42,000 14C yr B.P., the ABOX-SC ages are in stratigraphic order to 
55,000 14C yr B.P. The ABOX-SC chronology suggests that people were in the area by 48,000 cal yr B.P. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), electron spin resonance (ESR) ages, U-series dating of flowstones, and 14C dating of emu eggshell carbonate are in agreement with the ABOX-SC 14C chronology. These results, based on four independent techniques, reinforce arguments for early colonization of the Australian continent. Copyright 2001 University of Washington.
Language: English
Document Type: Research article
Affiliations: 1: Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 0200, Australia 2: Department of Nuclear Physics, Research School of Physical Sciences and Engineering, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 0200, Australia 3: School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, 3010, Australia 4: People and Environment Section, National Museum of Australia, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia 5: Anthropology Department, Western Australian Museum, Francis Street, Perth, Western Australia, 6000, Australia 6: Physics Division, Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, Menai, New South Wales, 2234, Australia 7: Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, Gif-sur-Yvette Cedex, 91198, France 8: Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research and Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, 80309-0450 9: Centre for Archaeology, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, Western Australia, 6907, Australia
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