Radiocarbon dating results for the Early Upper Paleolithic of Klissoura Cave 1

Steven L. Kuhn, Jeff Pigati, Panagiotis Karkanas, Margarita Koumouzelis, Janusz K. Kozlowski, Maria Ntinou & Mary C. Stiner Eurasian Prehistory 7:2 (2010): 37-46.

Abstract

This chapter reports on 29 radiocarbon dates from Middle and Upper Paleolithic layers at Klissoura 1 Cave. All but two of the dates were obtained from material identified as wood charcoal. Both standard ABA and more stringent ABOX pre-treatment protocols were used for charcoal samples. The radiocarbon dates from the Aurignacian of layers Ille-g and IV show general stratigraphic consistency, and fit with published ages from other Aurignacian assemblages in the Balkans. Age estimates for layer V, associated with the early Upper Paleolithic Uluzzian assemblage, are ambiguous. Several samples derived from this layer provide anomalously recent ages. One radiocarbon determination, along the presence of (as yet uncharacterized) volcanic tephras in layer IV suggest that it could date to 40 kyrs BP or earlier. Dates on ABOX pretreated samples from Mousterian layers indicate that layers XVIII and XX date to 60-62 kyrs BP, although these should be considered minimum ages.