[Paper Review] Dating of two Paleolithic human fossil bones from Romania by accelerator mass spectrometry

Agata Olariu, Göran Skog+5 more|ArXiv.org|Sep 26, 2003

Archaeology and ancient environmental studies1 references11 citations

TL;DR

This study uses accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating to determine the age of two Paleolithic human fossil bones from Romania—found in Baia de Fier and Cioclovina caves—yielding dates of 30,150 ± 800 years BP and 29,000 ± 700 years BP, respectively, confirming their attribution to the Upper Paleolithic Aurignacian period and resolving long-standing uncertainties about their chronology and cultural context.

ABSTRACT

In this study we have dated two human fossil remains found in Romania, by the method of radiocarbon using the technique of the accelerator mass spectrometry. The human fossil remains from Woman's cave, Baia deFier, have been dated to the age 30150 $\pm$ 800 years BP, and the skull from the Cioclovina cave has been dated to the age 29000 $\pm$ 700 years BP. These are the most ancient dated till now human fossil remains from Romania, possibly belonging to the upper Paleolithic, the Aurignacian period.

Motivation & Objective

• To resolve the uncertain cultural and chronological attribution of two ancient human fossil remains from Romania, previously questioned due to poor stratigraphic context.
• To apply high-precision radiocarbon dating using accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) to establish reliable age estimates for the fossils.
• To confirm whether the fossils belong to the Upper Paleolithic Aurignacian period, as some archaeologists had hypothesized.
• To provide physical evidence that would support or challenge the Paleolithic classification of these remains, given the lack of clear stratigraphic associations.
• To enable future cultural and anthropological identification by anchoring the fossils in a secure chronological framework.

Proposed method

• Radiocarbon dating was performed using the AMS technique at the Pelletron tandem accelerator facility at Lund University, Sweden.
• Bone samples were collected from the scapulum and tibia at Baia de Fier and from the skull at Cioclovina cave, with minimal collagen extraction due to limited sample mass.
• The Longin method was applied to isolate collagen from the bone, even in cases of partial diagenetic alteration.
• Purified collagen was converted into carbon for AMS analysis, with samples loaded into a copper wheel alongside oxalic acid standards and an anthracite background sample.
• The accelerator operated at 2.4 MV terminal voltage, and 14C/13C ratios were measured via a 25 mm silicon surface barrier detector, with each sample measured seven times.
• Data were processed using a computer system that alternately analyzed 13C current and 14C counts, achieving a precision of approximately 1% for samples near modern.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 Can accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating provide reliable age estimates for two Paleolithic human fossil bones from Romania with uncertain stratigraphic contexts?
• RQ2 Do the radiocarbon dates support the hypothesis that the fossils belong to the Upper Paleolithic Aurignacian period?
• RQ3 Can physical dating resolve the long-standing debate about the Paleolithic character of these fossil remains, given the lack of clear stratigraphic associations?
• RQ4 What is the chronological reliability of the human remains from Baia de Fier and Cioclovina caves, given their limited and degraded bone material?
• RQ5 How do the radiocarbon dates compare with existing archaeological interpretations of the cultural affiliation of these fossils?

Key findings

• The human fossil remains from Woman’s Cave, Baia de Fier, were dated to 30,150 ± 800 years BP, placing them in the Upper Paleolithic Aurignacian period.
• The skull from Cioclovina cave was dated to 29,000 ± 700 years BP, further supporting an Aurignacian attribution.
• These are the most ancient radiocarbon-dated human fossil remains from Romania to date, confirming their prehistoric antiquity.
• The dating results resolve previous uncertainties about the cultural and chronological context of the fossils, especially given the ambiguous stratigraphy at both sites.
• The results support the hypothesis that the fossils belong to Homo sapiens fossilis with possible Neanderthal-like features, as previously suggested by Rainer and Simionescu.
• The study provides a secure chronological framework that enables future cultural and anthropological correlations with other Upper Paleolithic sites in Central and Eastern Europe.