Archaeological excavations at “Doorn Noord” (Ninove, East Flanders, Belgium) revealed a complex of traces of human activity and occupation, spanning several millennia. The youngest finds consist of a ...vast number of surficial hearths and hearth pits, that are interpreted as the remnants of military camps. Based on direct and indirect historical information, as well as a few diagnostic finds, these traces were originally assigned to possible phases of encampment in 1692 CE, 1693 CE, 1745 CE and/or 1831–1838 CE. Although widely used in archaeological research, it is well-known that radiocarbon (14C) dating lacks precision for post-1650 CE features and therefore does not allow allocating a particular trace to a distinct phase of military presence.
In this study, we report on the potential of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) signals of quartz for directly dating the heated sedimentary remains of the hearths. We consider it a test of both accuracy and precision given the availability of independent age information (historical sources and archaeomagnetic dating). Six samples from three features yielded indistinguishable optical ages, with an average age of 1748 ± 39 CE (95% probability). This OSL date coincides with historical and archaeological evidence for the presence of a large army in this area in 1745 CE. As sources of systematic uncertainty are (largely) shared, it is possible to distinguish between comparable features with a relative time-resolution of ∼2%. For hearths from the last few centuries (post-1650 CE), this implies that numerical and relative chronologies can be established on decadal and multi-annual timescales with 95% confidence.
•Quartz-based OSL dating of hearth remains from (early) Modern times.•Average OSL age (1748 ± 39 CE; 95% probability) matches independent age (1745 CE).•A relative time-resolution of 10 years with 95% probability can be achieved.•The level of accuracy and precision are unprecedented.•Wide relevance and potential of OSL-chronometry of sediments heated during (early) Modern times.
Using a set of modern/young (0 to about 200 years old) dust samples collected from the Chinese Loess Plateau the bleachability of IRSL measured at 50°C (IR
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) and post-IR
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elevated temperature ...IRSL (measured at 225°C and at 290°C) is investigated by measuring the apparent (residual) doses recorded by these signals. Doses recorded by quartz OSL are used as a reference. Allowing for differences in dose rates it seems that both IRSL and post-IR IRSL signals yield residual doses that are significantly larger than the doses measured in quartz. These residual doses can be largely explained by thermal transfer caused by preheating. Nevertheless, we advise against the use of a low temperature preheat (<200°C) with IR
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to date loess samples because, as has been reported before, the signal appears to be thermally unstable. In general, we conclude that it may not be advisable to apply post-IR IRSL dating to Chinese loess samples where residuals of up to ∼20 Gy are a significant fraction of the total dose. However, these residuals quickly become unimportant when dating older samples, and this is the age range in which post-IR IRSL dating is likely to be most useful.
The Belotinac loess section is one of the southernmost loess-paleosol environmental archives for the Late Quaternary in Serbia. The climate at this site is intermediate between the continental and ...the Mediterranean realms, which makes this loess archive potentially highly sensitive to past climatic changes. This paper presents new insights into the paleoenvironmental history during the last glacial period in southern Serbia using grain size and isotope proxy data. The grain size parameters from the Belotinac section reveal variations in the paleowind dynamics and weathering intensity, and suggest the nearby valley of the Juzna Morava River as an important source of aeolian sediments in this area. Based on a multiproxy dataset, alternating phases of weak interstadials and phases of enhanced loess deposition at this site were identified. Nitrogen isotope data suggest that during Marine Isotope Stage 3, ecosystems of high biomass productivity and rather open N-cycles prevailed. During Marine Isotope Stage 2, productivity was reduced and the N cycle was more strongly closed, probably due to a shorter growing season and more pronounced temperature decline. Carbon isotope data indicate a possible contribution of C sub(4) plants to the Holocene vegetation, but not to the glacial and interstadial ecosystems of the Late Pleistocene. Changes in atmospheric CO sub(2) level are not reflected in the carbon isotope record. These findings are discussed in the light of paleoclimate proxy datasets from the Morava River valley and Carpathian Basin, as well as through comparison of carbon isotope records from loess sections in SE - Central Europe and in the Rhine Valley. Two different loess provinces exist in terms of glacial-interglacial humidity changes: a province of "glacial drying" and a province of "glacial humidification". The first includes loess sites under more oceanic influence, where loess delta super(13)C records indicate humid interglacials and interstadials and relatively drier glacial periods. The second includes the loess sites of the Carpathian Basin and especially the southern Serbian loess area of Belotinac, where loess delta super(13)C records indicate more intensive aridity during interglacials, but a reduced soil moisture deficit and a more humid climate due to lower evapotranspiration in interstadials, and even more in glacial periods.
The assessment of soil elemental concentrations nowadays mainly occurs through conventional laboratory analyses. However, proximal soil sensing (PSS) techniques such as X-ray fluorescence (XRF) ...spectrometry are proving to reduce analysis time and costs, and thus offer a worthy alternative to laboratory analyses. Moreover, XRF scanners are non-destructive and can be directly employed in the field. Although the use of XRF for soil elemental analysis is becoming widely accepted, most previous studies were limited to one scanner, a few samples, a few elements, or a non-diverse sample database. Here, an extensive and diverse soil database was used to compare the performance of three different XRF scanners with results obtained through conventional laboratory analyses. Scanners were used in benchtop mode with built-in soil calibrations to measure the concentrations of 15 elements. Although in many samples Cu, S, P, and Mg concentrations were up to 6, 12, 13, and 5 times overestimated by XRF, and empirical recalibration is recommended, all scanners produced acceptable results, even for lighter elements. Unexpectedly, XRF performance did not seem to depend on soil characteristics such as CaCO3 content. While performances will be worse when expanding to the field, our results show that XRF can easily be applied by non-experts to measure soil elemental concentrations reliably in widely different environments.
In Belgian lithostratigraphy, the Gent Formation was previously introduced to encompass all Quaternary sandy aeolian sediments. It has been difficult to apply, however, as it was incomplete, ...regionally biased, and not based on sediment properties alone. To solve this problem the Gent Formation is revised both in terms of definition and subdivision. Morphological and chronological criteria were omitted to allow ranking strata on the basis of visible lithological properties. The Belgian sand belt is newly introduced to designate the area where these sediments were deposited. The Gent Formation is subdivided into five members based on distinct lithological properties, and as a consequence reflecting different palaeoenvironmental conditions during deposition. Whenever feasible, each member is put in a chronostratigraphical and geomorphical context. The new subdivision is discussed and compared with earlier Belgian lithostratigraphical frameworks, as well as to the most recent one for comparable deposits in the Netherlands.
Wood and charcoal were key sources of energy during early industrialization in Europe (18th century), preceding the large-scale exploitation of fossil coal. Past timber harvesting implied land ...transformation and woodland resources management. Therefore, relict charcoal kilns and historical documents of forest management are important sources of information about past woodland composition and structure. However, ancient charcoal kilns are poorly documented in temperate woodlands in the lowlands of western Europe, especially combined with historical written sources. In this study, charcoal production was investigated in an area in NE France, by combining charcoal and historical sources analysis, along with innovative dating methodologies. Thus, by using both radiocarbon and optically-stimulated luminescence dating, we showed that the activity lasted until recent times (19th–early 20th centuries) and Carpinus was the dominant taxon in charcoal assemblage. Moreover, kiln attributes seemed to be independent of topographical variables. Woodlands in this area were subject to a coppice-with-standards management, where small diameter wood was preferred to produce charcoal and large diameter stems, mainly Quercus and Fagus, were traded as timber. The dominance of Carpinus is rather uncommon in charcoal studies but supports the importance of Carpinus as fuelwood since the Middle Ages, as confirmed by many written sources.
We report on quartz Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating of the infill of 14 relict sand wedges and composite‐wedge pseudomorphs at 5 different sites in Flanders, Belgium. A laboratory dose ...recovery test indicates that the single‐aliquot regenerative‐dose (SAR) procedure is suitable for our samples (measured to a given dose ratio 0.980 ± 0.005; n=139). Completeness of resetting of the wedge infill of two samples was confirmed by single‐grain analyses. The suite of optical ages indicates that repeated thermal contraction cracking, degradation and infilling with wind‐blown sediment appear to have been commonplace in Flanders during the Late Pleniglacial (Oxygen Isotope Stage 2; OIS2); more specifically, around the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM, ∼21 kyr ago) and the transition period between the LGM and the start of the Lateglacial (∼15 kyr ago). Optical dating at one site has revealed two significantly older wedge levels, the younger inset into the older; the younger wedge has an age of 36 ± 4 kyr (Middle Pleniglacial; OIS3), the older wedge 129 ± 11 kyr, which points to formation during the Late Saalian (OIS6). Our OSL ages of the wedges and host sediments bracket formation of the BGB (Beuningen Gravel Bed: a widespread deflation horizon in northwestern Europe) at between ∼15 and 18 kyr; this is in good agreement with previous OSL dating studies. We conclude that optical dating using quartz SAR OSL establishes an absolute chronology for these periglacial phenomena and allows secure palaeoenvironmental reconstructions to be made.
The existence of pre-Holocene rock art in North Africa has been a subject of debate for several decades. Thus far, the oldest petroglyphs identified in North Africa with some degree of certainty, the ...so-called “fish trap” motifs and associated figurative and geometric scenery of el‑Hosh in Upper Egypt, have been ascribed to the Early Holocene and are tentatively dated to ~9 000 cal BP. It has now become clear that even older art, of fully Pleistocene age, exists in the same geographic area: t...
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