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The dating and interpretation of a Mode 1 site in the Luangwa Valley, Zambia

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The dating and interpretation of a Mode 1 site in the Luangwa Valley, Zambia. / Barham, Larry; Phillips, William; Maher, Barbara et al.
In: Journal of Human Evolution, Vol. 60, No. 5, 05.2011, p. 549-570.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

Harvard

Barham, L, Phillips, W, Maher, B, Karloukovski, V, Duller, G, Jain, M & Wintle, A 2011, 'The dating and interpretation of a Mode 1 site in the Luangwa Valley, Zambia', Journal of Human Evolution, vol. 60, no. 5, pp. 549-570. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.12.003

APA

Barham, L., Phillips, W., Maher, B., Karloukovski, V., Duller, G., Jain, M., & Wintle, A. (2011). The dating and interpretation of a Mode 1 site in the Luangwa Valley, Zambia. Journal of Human Evolution, 60(5), 549-570. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.12.003

Vancouver

Barham L, Phillips W, Maher B, Karloukovski V, Duller G, Jain M et al. The dating and interpretation of a Mode 1 site in the Luangwa Valley, Zambia. Journal of Human Evolution. 2011 May;60(5):549-570. doi: 10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.12.003

Author

Barham, Larry ; Phillips, William ; Maher, Barbara et al. / The dating and interpretation of a Mode 1 site in the Luangwa Valley, Zambia. In: Journal of Human Evolution. 2011 ; Vol. 60, No. 5. pp. 549-570.

Bibtex

@article{7e21f95b85284baa9ba976440b609192,
title = "The dating and interpretation of a Mode 1 site in the Luangwa Valley, Zambia",
abstract = "Flake based assemblages (Mode 1) comprise the earliest stone technologies known, with well-dated Oldowan sites occurring in eastern Africa between w 2.6-1.7 Ma, and in less securely dated contexts in central, southern and northern Africa. Our understanding of the spread and local development of this technology outside East Africa remains hampered by the lack of reliable numerical dating techniques applicable to non-volcanic deposits. This study applied the still relatively new technique of cosmogenic nuclide burial dating (10Be/26Al) to calculate burial ages for fluvial gravels containing Mode 1 artefacts in the Luangwa Valley, Zambia. The Manzi River, a tributary of the Luangwa River, has exposed a 4.7 m deep section of fluvial sands with discontinuous but stratified gravel layers bearing Mode 1, possibly Oldowan, artefacts in the basal layers. An unconformity divides the Manzi section, separating Mode 1 deposits from overlying gravels containing Mode 3 (Middle Stone Age) artefacts. No diagnostic Mode 2 (Acheulean) artefacts were found.Cosmogenic nuclide burial dating was attempted for the basal gravels as well as exposure ages for the upper Mode 3 gravels, but was unsuccessful. The complex depositional history of the site prevented the calculation of reliable age models. A relative chronology for the full Manzi sequence was constructed, however, from the magnetostratigraphy of the deposit (N>R>N sequence). Isothermal thermoluminescence (ITL) dating of the upper Mode 3 layers also provided consistent results (w78 ka). A coarse but chronologically coherent sequence now exists for the Manzi section with the unconformity separating probable mid- or early Pleistocene deposits below from late Pleistocene deposits above. The results suggest Mode 1 technology in the Luangwa Valley may post-date the Oldowan in eastern and southern Africa. The dating programme has contributed to a clearer understanding of thegeomorphological processes that have shaped the valley and structured its archaeological record.",
keywords = "South-central Africa, Cosmogenic nuclide dating , Palaeomagnetism , Isothermal thermoluminescence",
author = "Larry Barham and William Phillips and Barbara Maher and Vassil Karloukovski and Geoff Duller and Mayank Jain and Ann Wintle",
year = "2011",
month = may,
doi = "10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.12.003",
language = "English",
volume = "60",
pages = "549--570",
journal = "Journal of Human Evolution",
issn = "1095-8606",
publisher = "Academic Press Inc.",
number = "5",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - The dating and interpretation of a Mode 1 site in the Luangwa Valley, Zambia

AU - Barham, Larry

AU - Phillips, William

AU - Maher, Barbara

AU - Karloukovski, Vassil

AU - Duller, Geoff

AU - Jain, Mayank

AU - Wintle, Ann

PY - 2011/5

Y1 - 2011/5

N2 - Flake based assemblages (Mode 1) comprise the earliest stone technologies known, with well-dated Oldowan sites occurring in eastern Africa between w 2.6-1.7 Ma, and in less securely dated contexts in central, southern and northern Africa. Our understanding of the spread and local development of this technology outside East Africa remains hampered by the lack of reliable numerical dating techniques applicable to non-volcanic deposits. This study applied the still relatively new technique of cosmogenic nuclide burial dating (10Be/26Al) to calculate burial ages for fluvial gravels containing Mode 1 artefacts in the Luangwa Valley, Zambia. The Manzi River, a tributary of the Luangwa River, has exposed a 4.7 m deep section of fluvial sands with discontinuous but stratified gravel layers bearing Mode 1, possibly Oldowan, artefacts in the basal layers. An unconformity divides the Manzi section, separating Mode 1 deposits from overlying gravels containing Mode 3 (Middle Stone Age) artefacts. No diagnostic Mode 2 (Acheulean) artefacts were found.Cosmogenic nuclide burial dating was attempted for the basal gravels as well as exposure ages for the upper Mode 3 gravels, but was unsuccessful. The complex depositional history of the site prevented the calculation of reliable age models. A relative chronology for the full Manzi sequence was constructed, however, from the magnetostratigraphy of the deposit (N>R>N sequence). Isothermal thermoluminescence (ITL) dating of the upper Mode 3 layers also provided consistent results (w78 ka). A coarse but chronologically coherent sequence now exists for the Manzi section with the unconformity separating probable mid- or early Pleistocene deposits below from late Pleistocene deposits above. The results suggest Mode 1 technology in the Luangwa Valley may post-date the Oldowan in eastern and southern Africa. The dating programme has contributed to a clearer understanding of thegeomorphological processes that have shaped the valley and structured its archaeological record.

AB - Flake based assemblages (Mode 1) comprise the earliest stone technologies known, with well-dated Oldowan sites occurring in eastern Africa between w 2.6-1.7 Ma, and in less securely dated contexts in central, southern and northern Africa. Our understanding of the spread and local development of this technology outside East Africa remains hampered by the lack of reliable numerical dating techniques applicable to non-volcanic deposits. This study applied the still relatively new technique of cosmogenic nuclide burial dating (10Be/26Al) to calculate burial ages for fluvial gravels containing Mode 1 artefacts in the Luangwa Valley, Zambia. The Manzi River, a tributary of the Luangwa River, has exposed a 4.7 m deep section of fluvial sands with discontinuous but stratified gravel layers bearing Mode 1, possibly Oldowan, artefacts in the basal layers. An unconformity divides the Manzi section, separating Mode 1 deposits from overlying gravels containing Mode 3 (Middle Stone Age) artefacts. No diagnostic Mode 2 (Acheulean) artefacts were found.Cosmogenic nuclide burial dating was attempted for the basal gravels as well as exposure ages for the upper Mode 3 gravels, but was unsuccessful. The complex depositional history of the site prevented the calculation of reliable age models. A relative chronology for the full Manzi sequence was constructed, however, from the magnetostratigraphy of the deposit (N>R>N sequence). Isothermal thermoluminescence (ITL) dating of the upper Mode 3 layers also provided consistent results (w78 ka). A coarse but chronologically coherent sequence now exists for the Manzi section with the unconformity separating probable mid- or early Pleistocene deposits below from late Pleistocene deposits above. The results suggest Mode 1 technology in the Luangwa Valley may post-date the Oldowan in eastern and southern Africa. The dating programme has contributed to a clearer understanding of thegeomorphological processes that have shaped the valley and structured its archaeological record.

KW - South-central Africa

KW - Cosmogenic nuclide dating

KW - Palaeomagnetism

KW - Isothermal thermoluminescence

U2 - 10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.12.003

DO - 10.1016/j.jhevol.2010.12.003

M3 - Journal article

VL - 60

SP - 549

EP - 570

JO - Journal of Human Evolution

JF - Journal of Human Evolution

SN - 1095-8606

IS - 5

ER -