Publication Date:
2023-10-14
Description:
Two loess sections from the Upper Palaeolithic site of Kammern-Grubgraben (Lower Austria) were analysed to test geochemical proxies, as well as radiocarbon data of different components for their reliability and consistency in an archaeological context. Only a reliable basal age (28.9 27.8 ka cal BP) was obtained from charcoal fragments derived from a tundra gley underlying the archaeological horizons and assigned to Greenland Interstadials 3 or 4. Grain size, organic and inorganic geochemistry, and stable isotopes of the fine organic fraction (13Corg) and of rhizoconcretions (13C, 18O) were analysed to provide information on palaeoenvironmental conditions. Low-resolution geochemical and sedimentological analyses document a humidity-related variability, while 13Corg values indicate a predominant C3 vegetation. High-resolution elemental variations derived from X-ray fluorescence scanning exhibit increasing Ca and decreasing Fe and Ti values indicating drier conditions towards the top. Secondary pedogenic carbonate concretions provide post-sedimentary (Holocene) ages and are not suitable for assessing climate and environmental changes for the Palaeolithic.
Keywords:
14C dating; Last Glacial Maximum; secondary carbonates; Stable isotopes; Upper Palaeolithic; XRF-core scanning
Type:
Dataset
Format:
application/zip, 4 datasets
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