Radiocarbon dating and chemical imaging of carbon black–based Paleolithic cave art in the Dordogne region (France)
Abstract
Paleolithic parietal art in the Dordogne, Southwestern France, was known to present representations solely made with mineral coloring matters. We found a significant number of carbon black-based figures in the galleries of the Font-de-Gaume cave in Les Eyzies, Dordogne, Southern France [I. Reiche, Y. Coquinot, A. Trosseau, A. Maigret, Sci. Rep. 13 , 22235 (2023)]. Further reflectance imaging spectroscopy allowed a precise noninvasive discrimination between manganese- and carbon-based blacks. Consequently, in the Dordogne region, direct dating of drawn or painted lines was unlocked. Dating parietal representations can prove challenging because of the small amount of matter and the possible contaminations by other carbon sources. The sampling was conducted for radiocarbon dating on two selected figures identified as being made with carbon black: the Bison figure HB15 (named by Breuil, today GPCarG-006), located on the left at the level of the Carrefour in the public area of the cave, as well as on the Mask (human or animal face, GL3D-009) on the right of the remote sector 3 of the lateral gallery. Slightly more recent than expected, the obtained dates are of 13461–13162 calBP for the Bison , and of 8993–8590 calBP (left eye), 15981–15121 calBP (upper lip), and 15297–14246 calBP (lower lip) for the Mask . Except for one date, these results represent the experimental confirmation of the Paleolithic age of cave art in the Font-de-Gaume cave. This study opens numerous perspectives for a more systematic dating of the parietal representations of the cavern and motivates further research of carbon black–based Paleolithic parietal art in the Dordogne region.
Article Details
Journal Info
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
National Academy of Sciences
Authors (10)
Ina Reiche
Laboratoire de développement instrumental et de méthodologies innovantes pour les Biens Culturels (Lab-BC) Unité d’Appui et de Recherche (UAR) 3506 CNRS-C2RMF-Chimie Paristech/Paris Sciences et Lettres University–Centre de recherche et de restauration des musées de France (C2RMF)
Lucile Beck
Laboratoire de Mesure du Carbone 14 (LMC14), Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement (LSCE), French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), CNRS, Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD), Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection (ASNR), Ministère de la Culture, Université Paris-Saclay
Ingrid Caffy
Laboratoire de Mesure du Carbone 14 (LMC14), Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement (LSCE), French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), CNRS, Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD), Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection (ASNR), Ministère de la Culture, Université Paris-Saclay
Yvan Coquinot
Research department, Centre de recherche et de restauration des musées de France (C2RMF), Louvre Palace
Matthias Alfeld
Department of Material Science and Engineering, Delft University of Technology
Anne Maigret
Research department, Centre de recherche et de restauration des musées de France (C2RMF), Louvre Palace
José Tapia
Laboratoire de développement instrumental et de méthodologies innovantes pour les Biens Culturels (Lab-BC) Unité d’Appui et de Recherche (UAR) 3506 CNRS-C2RMF-Chimie Paristech/Paris Sciences et Lettres University–Centre de recherche et de restauration des musées de France (C2RMF)
Marc Martinez
Centre des monuments nationaux (CMN), Sites préhistoriques de la Vallée de la Vézère
Anthony Lescale
Centre des monuments nationaux (CMN), Sites préhistoriques de la Vallée de la Vézère
Patrick Paillet
Comportements humains et dynamiques culturelles au Pléistocène en Eurasie et en Afrique du Nord (ComE) team, Histoire naturelle des Humanités préhistoriques (HNHP) - Unité mixte de recherche (UMR) 7194 CNRS - Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (MNHN)