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Radiocarbon Intercomparison Program for Chauvet Cave

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2016

Marie-Thérèse Cuzange ,
Emmanuelle Delqué-Količ ,
Tomasz Goslar ,
Pieter Meiert Grootes ,
Tom Higham ,
Evelyne Kaltnecker ,
Marie-Josée Nadeau ,
Christine Oberlin ,
Martine Paterne  and
Johannes van der Plicht
...Show all authors
Marie-Thérèse Cuzange
Affiliation:
Centre de datation par le carbone 14, UMR 5138 CNRS, Univ. Claude Bernard Lyon 1, 43 Boulevard du 11 Novembre, 69622 Villeurbanne cedex, France
Emmanuelle Delqué-Količ
Affiliation:
Centre de datation par le carbone 14, UMR 5138 CNRS, Univ. Claude Bernard Lyon 1, 43 Boulevard du 11 Novembre, 69622 Villeurbanne cedex, France
Tomasz Goslar
Affiliation:
Adam Mickiewicz University, Faculty of Physics, Poznań Radiocarbon Laboratory, Ul. Rubiez 46, Poznań 61-612, Poland
Pieter Meiert Grootes
Affiliation:
Leibniz-Labor, Christian-Albrechts-Universität Kiel, Max-Eyth Str. 11-13, D-24118 Kiel, Germany
Tom Higham
Affiliation:
Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Road, Oxford OX13QY, United Kingdom
Evelyne Kaltnecker
Affiliation:
LSCE/IPSL, Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, CEA-CNRS-UVSQ, Avenue de la Terrasse, 91198 Gif-sur-Yvette cedex, France
Marie-Josée Nadeau
Affiliation:
Leibniz-Labor, Christian-Albrechts-Universität Kiel, Max-Eyth Str. 11-13, D-24118 Kiel, Germany
Christine Oberlin
Affiliation:
Centre de datation par le carbone 14, UMR 5138 CNRS, Univ. Claude Bernard Lyon 1, 43 Boulevard du 11 Novembre, 69622 Villeurbanne cedex, France
Martine Paterne
Affiliation:
LSCE/IPSL, Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, CEA-CNRS-UVSQ, Avenue de la Terrasse, 91198 Gif-sur-Yvette cedex, France
Johannes van der Plicht
Affiliation:
Center for Isotope Research, Groningen University, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, the Netherlands. Also: Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, PO Box 9515, 2300 RA Leiden, the Netherlands
Christopher Bronk Ramsey
Affiliation:
Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Road, Oxford OX13QY, United Kingdom
Hélène Valladas*
Affiliation:
LSCE/IPSL, Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement, CEA-CNRS-UVSQ, Avenue de la Terrasse, 91198 Gif-sur-Yvette cedex, France
Jean Clottes
Affiliation:
11 rue du Fourcat, 09000 Foix, France
Jean-Michel Geneste
Affiliation:
Centre National de Préhistoire, 36 rue du 24ème R.I., 24000 Périgueux, France
*
Corresponding author. Email: helene.valladas@lsce.cnrs-gif.fr
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Abstract

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We present the first results of an accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon intercomparison program on 3 different charcoal samples collected in one of the hearths of the Megaceros gallery of Chauvet Cave (Ardèche, France). This cave, rich in parietal decoration, is important for the study of the appearance and evolution of prehistoric art because certain drawings have been 14C dated to the Aurignacian period at the beginning of the Upper Paleolithic. The new dates indicate an age of about 32,000 BP, which is consistent with this attribution and in agreement with the results from the same sector of the cave measured previously at the Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l'Environnement (LSCE). Six laboratories were involved in the intercomparison. Samples were measured in 4 AMS facilities: Center for Isotope Research, Groningen University, the Netherlands; the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, UK; the Centre de datation par le carbone 14, Univ. Claude Bernard Lyon 1, France (measured by AMS facilities of Poznań University, Poland); and the LSCE, UMR CEA-CNRS-UVSQ, France (measured by the Leibniz-Labor of Christian-Albrechts-Universität Kiel, Germany).

Type
Articles
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 49 , Issue 2 , 2007 , pp. 339 - 347
Copyright
Copyright © 2007 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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