Twenty years on, a new date with Lascaux. Reassessing the chronology of the cave’s Paleolithic occupations through new 14C AMS dating
Level 4 - case-series / case-control
Level 4 by design analogy (archaeological chronometric case series), not clinical CEBM.
OpenAlex W3037446321 · doi:10.4000/paleo.4558
What was done
Researchers selected five reindeer bone remains (some showing human modification) from four main sectors of Lascaux Cave (Axial Gallery, Passageway, Nave, and Shaft) to reassess human occupation chronology. The samples underwent ultrafiltration pretreatment and were dated via accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) on a MICADAS system at the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit to evaluate chronological homogeneity and test alignment with the Badegoulian-to-Magdalenian transition.
What was found
One sample from the Passageway failed due to insufficient collagen yield. The four remaining samples produced consistent radiocarbon determinations centered on approximately 17,600 uncalibrated BP (21.5–21 cal ka BP). These results support a single homogeneous occupational phase during the Badegoulian-to-Magdalenian transition and contradict the broader diachronic dates established between 1948 and 2002.
Why it matters
This study provides updated, high-precision radiometric dates for Lascaux Cave, reconciling the chronometric evidence with the technological coherence observed in its lithic and bone tool assemblages.
Limits
The analysis relies on an extremely small sample set (five bones sampled, four successfully dated). Direct cultural attribution and the definitive chronological relationship between these dated stratified occupation remains and the cave's parietal art were not determined.
Cited by
- supports The cave paintings of Lascaux date to approximately 20,000 years ago.