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Successfully Dating Rock Art in Southern Africa Using Improved Sampling Methods and New Characterization and Pretreatment Protocols

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 September 2016

A Bonneau ,
R A Staff ,
T Higham ,
F Brock ,
D G Pearce  and
P J Mitchell
A Bonneau*
Affiliation:
Laboratoire Lux /Geotop, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Department, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal, Canada Rock Art Research Institute, GAES, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa Centre interuniversitaire d'études sur les lettres, les arts et les traditions, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal, Canada
R A Staff
Affiliation:
Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
T Higham
Affiliation:
Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
F Brock
Affiliation:
Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom Cranfield Forensic Institute, Cranfield University, Defence Academy of the United Kingdom, Shrivenham, United Kingdom
D G Pearce
Affiliation:
Rock Art Research Institute, GAES, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa
P J Mitchell
Affiliation:
Rock Art Research Institute, GAES, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa School of Archaeology, University of Oxford, St Hugh’s College, Oxford, United Kingdom and GAES, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
*
Corresponding author: adelphine.bonneau@gmail.com.
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Abstract

Worldwide, dating rock art is difficult to achieve because of the frequent lack of datable material and the difficulty of removing contamination from samples. Our research aimed to select the paints that would be the most likely to be successfully radiocarbon dated and to estimate the quantity of paint needed depending on the nature of the paint and the weathering and alteration products associated with it. To achieve this aim, a two-step sampling strategy, coupled with a multi-instrument characterization (including SEM-EDS, Raman spectroscopy, and FTIR spectroscopy analysis) and a modified acid-base-acid (ABA) pretreatment, was created. In total, 41 samples were dated from 14 sites in three separate regions of southern Africa. These novel protocols ensure that the 14C chronology produced was robust and could also be subsequently applied to different regions with possible variations in paint preparation, geology, weathering conditions, and contaminants.

Keywords

rock art dating14C AMS datingpretreatmentpaint characterizationsample selection
Type
Chemical Pretreatment Approaches
Information
Radiocarbon , Volume 59 , Special Issue 3: Proceedings of the 22nd International Radiocarbon Conference (Part 2 of 2) , June 2017 , pp. 659 - 677
Copyright
© 2016 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona 

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Footnotes

*

Current address: Laboratoire d’archéologie historique, Laval University, 3 rue de la Vieille-Université (Pavillon Camille-Roy), Quebec City, Canada, and Centre interuniversitaire d'études sur les lettres, les arts et les traditions, Laval University, Quebec City, Canada.

Selected Papers from the 2015 Radiocarbon Conference, Dakar, Senegal, 16–20 November 2015

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