Cadre chronologique des grottes du Lazaret et du Vallonnet, deux sites majeurs du Paléolithique dans le Sud-Est de la France
Journal
L'Anthropologie
Journal Volume
129
Journal Issue
5
Start Page
103415
ISSN
0003-5521
Date Issued
2025-11
Author(s)
Michel, Véronique
Shen, Guanjun
Duval, Mathieu
Woodhead, Jon
Chou, Yu-Min
Hu, Hsun-Ming
Wu, Chung-Che
Kan, Yu-Chun
Yang, Huihui
Yu, Tsai-Luen
Gallet, Sylvain
de Lumley, Henry
Abstract
At Lazaret Cave, new MC-ICP-MS U-Th dating results constrain the formation of the uppermost stalagmitic floor E to between ∼120 ka and ∼8 ka, indicating that the underlying archaeological levels of stratigraphic Unit C are older than 120 ka. Additionally, two short magnetic excursions of reversed polarity identified within the carbonates may be correlated to Blake (∼120 ka) and post-Blake (∼100 ka) events. Importantly, these chronological constraints are supported by updated combined U-series/ESR ages of 17 deer teeth ranging from around 110 to 200 ka. Stratigraphic Unit C at Lazaret is therefore attributed to Marine Isotope Stage 6 (MIS 6). At Vallonnet Cave, U-Pb dating, supplemented with U-Th data, returns ages of 1.22 ± 0.09 and 1.19 ± 0.07 Ma for the lower stalagmitic floor (Complex I), while the upper stalagmitic floor (Complex IV) shows an age ranging from 1.13 ± 0.15 and 1.18 ± 0.09 Ma. These carbonate formations stratigraphically bracket the archaeological levels of Complex III, which are consequently constrained to around 1.2 Ma. These levels may be correlated to Marine Isotope Stages 36 and 35 (MIS 36–35) and coincide with the Cobb Mountain geomagnetic subchron according to paleomagnetic results. At both sites, the radiometric data are consistent with biostratigraphic inferences.
Subjects
Dating
ESR
Palaeomagnetism
U-Pb
U-Th
Alpes Maritimes
France
Lazaret Cave
Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur
Vallonnet Cave
archaeology
chronostratigraphy
marine isotope stage
Paleolithic
paleomagnetism
uranium series dating
uranium-lead dating
SDGs
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Type
journal article