In situ -produced 10 Be and 26 Al indirect dating of Elarmékora Earlier Stone Age artefacts: first attempt in a savannah forest mosaic in the middle Ogooué valley, Gabon

Autor: Braucher, Regis, Oslisly, R, Mesfin, I, Ntoutoume Mba, P, ASTER, Team
Přispěvatelé: Centre européen de recherche et d'enseignement des géosciences de l'environnement (CEREGE), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Collège de France (CdF (institution))-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement (INRAE), Patrimoines Locaux et Gouvernance (PALOC), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN), Histoire naturelle de l'Homme préhistorique (HNHP), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Perpignan Via Domitia (UPVD), Agence Nationale des Parcs Nationaux, This work is a contribution of the CAWHFI component (Central African World Heritage Forest Initiative) of Unesco funded by the European Commission., Patrimoines locaux, Environnement et Globalisation (PALOC), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Sorbonne Université (SU), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Université de Perpignan Via Domitia (UPVD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, Royal Society, The, In press, ⟨10.1098/rstb.2020.0482⟩
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, In press, ⟨10.1098/rstb.2020.0482⟩
ISSN: 1471-2970
0962-8436
DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0482
Popis: Discovered in 1988 by R. Oslisly and B. Peyrot, Elarmékora is a high terrace that, today, is situated 175 m above the Ogooué River in the historical complex of Elarmékora, attached to the Lopé National Park in Gabon, a World Heritage site since 2007. The site yielded a small lithic assemblage, including mainly cobble artefacts embedded within the 1 m thick alluvial material. Based on geomorphological and palaeoclimatological criteria, the preliminary dating suggested an age of 400 ka. However, Elarmékora could be a key site for Atlantic Central Africa if this lithic industry can be dated absolutely. In 2018 and 2019, two field trips were organized to collect surface samples as well as samples in vertical depth profiles with the aim of measuring their in situ -produced cosmogenic nuclide ( 10 Be and 26 Al) content. Results suggest a surface abandonment between 730 and 620 ka ago representing a minimum age for the cobble artefacts. Concurrently, technological reappraisal of the artefacts suggests an atypical lithic industry that should, for the moment, be considered as ‘undiagnostic’ Earlier Stone Age. This age bracketing may be compared with a similar age range obtained for prehistoric occupations in Angola using the same approach. This age will place Elarmékora among the oldest evidence for the presence of hominins in western Central Africa and raises the question of a ‘West Side Story’ to early human dispersals in Africa. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Tropical forests in the deep human past’.
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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