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U-Th dating of carbonate crusts reveals Neandertal origin of Iberian cave art

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Science  23 Feb 2018:
Vol. 359, Issue 6378, pp. 912-915
DOI: 10.1126/science.aap7778

Figures

  • Fig. 1 Red scalariform sign, panel 78 in hall XI of La Pasiega gallery C.

    This panel features the La Trampa pictorial group (21). (Inset) Crust sampled and analyzed for a minimum age (64.8 ka), which constrains the age of the red line. See (20) for details.

  • Fig. 2 Hand stencil GS3b in Maltravieso cave (minimum age 66.7 ka).

    (Left) Original photo. The inset shows where the overlying carbonate was sampled for MAL 13. (Right) Same picture after application of the DStretch software (25) (correlation LRE 15%, auto contrast) to enhance color contrast. See (20) for details.

  • Fig. 3 Speleothem curtain 8 in section II-A-3 in Ardales cave with red pigment, painted before at least 65.5 ka ago.

    (Left) Series of curtains with red paint on top, partially covered with later speleothem growth. The white rectangle outlines the area shown at right. (Right) Detail of curtain 8. The black square indicates where carbonate, overlying the red paint, was sampled for ARD 13. See (20) for details.

Tables

  • Table 1 U-Th results of samples discussed in the text.

    More details and additional results can be found in table S4 (20). All ratios are activity ratios. Analytical errors are at the 95% confidence level. Spl ID, sample identifier.

    Spl IDSite and description238U
    (ng/g)    		230Th/232Th230Th/238U
    uncorrected    		234U/238U
    uncorrected    		Age
    uncorrected
    (ka)    		Age
    corrected
    (ka)
    PAS 34aPasiega C, no. 78, cauliflower-type
    carbonate on top of red line of
    scalariform motif, minimum age    		289.29 ± 9.0632.82 ± 0.211.5149 ± 0.01063.7694 ± 0.008252.52 ± 0.4751.56 ± 1.09
    PAS 34bAs above215.56 ± 7.4328.28 ± 0.191.5453 ± 0.01213.6744 ± 0.009455.53 ± 0.5654.36 ± 1.39
    PAS 34cAs above178.31 ± 8.317.25 ± 0.072.0348 ± 0.02133.4591 ± 0.009285.79 ± 1.2879.66 ± 14.90
    MAL 13
    surface
    cleaning
    fraction    		Maltravieso, cauliflower-type
    carbonate layer overlying hand
    stencil GS3b, minimum age    		117.2 ± 1.9912.47 ± 0.160.4639 ± 0.00681.1872 ± 0.032853.32 + 2.30
    or − 2.13    		41.68 + 2.44
    or − 2.29
    MAL 13AAs above142.69 ± 3.3937.50 ± 0.570.6067 ± 0.01231.2024 ± 0.030574.86 + 3.78
    or − 3.41    		70.08 + 3.82
    or − 3.37
    ARD 6Ardales, red paint on curtain formation,
    II-C-8, carbonate from underlying
    curtain, maximum age    		511.42 ± 6.3834.95 ± 0.140.4661 ± 0.00211.0459 ± 0.002164.09 ± 0.4462.97 ± 0.69
    ARD 8Ardales, red paint on curtain formation,
    II-C-8, carbonate from overlying
    curtain, minimum age    		297.21 ± 2.89145.58 ± 1.060.2703 ± 0.00181.0477 ± 0.002432.51 ± 0.2632.35 ± 0.27
    ARD 13AArdales, red paint on curtain formation,
    II-A-3 curtain 8, minimum age    		1229.61 ± 25.84152.83 ± 1.140.3661 ± 0.00331.0385 ± 0.003347.33 + 0.57
    or − 0.56    		47.13 + 0.56
    or − 0.57
    ARD 13BAs above331.54 ± 13.5342.59 ± 0.580.4878 ± 0.00731.0369 ± 0.023469.09 + 2.93
    or − 2.62    		68.13 + 2.96
    or − 2.62
    ARD 14AArdales, red paint on curtain formation,
    II-A-3 curtain 6, carbonate from
    underlying curtain, maximum age    		684.76 ± 13.29395.03 ± 4.910.3683 ± 0.00631.0379 ± 0.002947.72 + 1.05
    or − 1.02    		47.64 + 1.07
    or − 1.03
    ARD 15AArdales, red paint on curtain formation,
    II-A-3 curtain 6, carbonate from
    overlying curtain, minimum age    		1696.03 ± 53.88337.14 ± 3.630.3584 ± 0.00501.0374 ± 0.002546.15 + 0.81
    or − 0.82    		46.06 + 0.81
    or − 0.77
    ARD 15BAs above667.98 ± 37.85152.07 ± 3.270.3467 ± 0.01101.0347 ± 0.006144.45 + 1.79
    or − 1.82    		44.25 + 1.78
    or − 1.77
    ARD 16AArdales, red paint on curtain formation,
    II-A-3 curtain 5, carbonate from
    overlying curtain, minimum age    		313.84 ± 5.8858.92 ± 0.740.3317 ± 0.00441.0323 ± 0.005142.23 + 0.74
    or − 0.72    		41.75 ± 0.77
    ARD 16BAs above250.2 ± 4.2984.25 ± 0.840.3628 ± 0.00501.0314 ± 0.005147.23 + 0.85
    or − 0.83    		46.86 + 0.85
    or − 0.92
    ARD 16CAs above227.59 ± 28.5556.70 ± 2.840.3690 ± 0.02131.0227 ± 0.034248.79 + 4.26
    or − 4.00    		48.23 + 4.43
    or − 4.10
    ARD 26AArdales, red paint visible as a line on
    cross section of a broken curtain,
    between III-C-3 and III-C-2,
    carbonate from overlying curtain,
    minimum age    		564.64 ± 13.561004.53 ± 20.810.3243 ± 0.00991.0502 ± 0.020340.20 + 1.84
    or − 1.69    		40.17 + 1.73
    or − 1.77
    ARD 26BAs above532.37 ± 14.02985.93 ± 24.330.3258 ± 0.01121.0496 ± 0.011340.45 + 1.82
    or − 1.70    		40.42 + 1.79
    or − 1.78
    ARD 28AArdales, red paint visible as a line
    on cross section of a broken
    curtain, between III-C-3 and III-C-2,
    carbonate from underlying curtain,
    maximum age    		520.54 ± 8.114626.61 ± 188.570.3379 ± 0.01921.0458 ± 0.012442.48 + 3.09
    or − 2.91    		42.47 + 3.07
    or − 2.97

Supplementary Materials

Additional Files

  • U-Th dating of carbonate crusts reveals Neandertal origin of Iberian cave art

    D. L. Hoffmann, C. D. Standish, M. García-Diez, P. B. Pettitt, J. A. Milton, J. Zilhão, J. J. Alcolea-González, P. Cantalejo-Duarte, H. Collado, R. de Balbín, M. Lorblanchet, J. Ramos-Muñoz, G.-Ch. Weniger, A. W. G. Pike

    Materials/Methods, Supplementary Text, Tables, Figures, and/or References

    Download Supplement
    • Materials and Methods
    • Supplementary Text
    • Figs. S1 to S42
    • Tables S1 to S4
    • References 

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