title: U-series and ESR analyses of bones and teeth relating to the human burials from Skhul.
abstract: In order to resolve long-standing issues surrounding the age of the Skhul early modern humans, new analyses have been conducted, including the dating of four well-provenanced fossils by ESR and U-series. If the Skhul burials took place within a relatively short time span, then the best age estimate lies between 100 and 135 ka. This result agrees very well with TL ages obtained from burnt flint of 119+/-18 ka (Mercier et al., 1993). However, we cannot exclude the possibility that the material associated with the Skhul IX burial is older than those of Skhul II and Skhul V. These and other recent age estimates suggest that the three burial sites, Skhul, Qafzeh and Tabun are broadly contemporaneous, falling within the time range of 100 to 130 ka. The presence of early representatives of both early modern humans and Neanderthals in the Levant during Marine Isotope Stage 5 inevitably complicates attempts at segregating these populations by date or archaeological association. Nevertheless, it does appear that the oldest known symbolic burials are those of early modern humans at Skhul and Qafzeh. This supports the view that, despite the associated Middle Palaeolithic technology, elements of modern human behaviour were represented at Skhul and Qafzeh prior to 100 ka.
authors.affiliation: Research School of Earth Sciences, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia; Research Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia. rainer.grun@anu.edu.au
authors.forename: Rainer
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Grün
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Stringer
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: McDermott
authors.forename: Roger
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Nathan
authors.forename: Naomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Porat
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Robertson
authors.forename: Lois
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: Graham
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mortimer
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Eggins
authors.forename: Malcolm
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: McCulloch
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000737:chemistry*; D002048:Burial; D002417:Cattle; D004578:Electron Spin Resonance Spectroscopy / Q000379:methods*; D005580:Fossils; D006801:Humans; D007557:Israel; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods; D010163:Paleontology; D013552:Swine; D013997:Time Factors; D014070:Tooth / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000737:chemistry*