The earliest directly dated rock paintings from southern Africa: new AMS radiocarbon dates
Rock art worldwide has proved extremely difficult to date directly. Here, the first radiocarbon dates for rock paintings in Botswana and Lesotho are presented, along with additional dates for Later Stone Age rock art in South Africa. The samples selected for dating were identified as carbon-blacks f...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Cambridge University Press
2017
|
| _version_ | 1797099048350515200 |
|---|---|
| author | Bonneau, A Pearce, D Mitchell, P Staff, R Arthur, C Mallen, L Brock, F Higham, T |
| author_facet | Bonneau, A Pearce, D Mitchell, P Staff, R Arthur, C Mallen, L Brock, F Higham, T |
| author_sort | Bonneau, A |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | Rock art worldwide has proved extremely difficult to date directly. Here, the first radiocarbon dates for rock paintings in Botswana and Lesotho are presented, along with additional dates for Later Stone Age rock art in South Africa. The samples selected for dating were identified as carbon-blacks from short-lived organic materials, meaning that the sampled pigments and the paintings that they were used to produce must be of similar age. The results reveal that southern African hunter-gatherers were creating paintings on rockshelter walls as long ago as 5723–4420 cal BP in south-eastern Botswana: the oldest such evidence yet found in southern Africa. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T05:18:03Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:ddecd3d5-817c-4b9d-9487-218b15f50f4e |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T05:18:03Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:ddecd3d5-817c-4b9d-9487-218b15f50f4e2022-03-27T09:28:25ZThe earliest directly dated rock paintings from southern Africa: new AMS radiocarbon datesJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:ddecd3d5-817c-4b9d-9487-218b15f50f4eEnglishSymplectic Elements at OxfordCambridge University Press2017Bonneau, APearce, DMitchell, PStaff, RArthur, CMallen, LBrock, FHigham, TRock art worldwide has proved extremely difficult to date directly. Here, the first radiocarbon dates for rock paintings in Botswana and Lesotho are presented, along with additional dates for Later Stone Age rock art in South Africa. The samples selected for dating were identified as carbon-blacks from short-lived organic materials, meaning that the sampled pigments and the paintings that they were used to produce must be of similar age. The results reveal that southern African hunter-gatherers were creating paintings on rockshelter walls as long ago as 5723–4420 cal BP in south-eastern Botswana: the oldest such evidence yet found in southern Africa. |
| spellingShingle | Bonneau, A Pearce, D Mitchell, P Staff, R Arthur, C Mallen, L Brock, F Higham, T The earliest directly dated rock paintings from southern Africa: new AMS radiocarbon dates |
| title | The earliest directly dated rock paintings from southern Africa: new AMS radiocarbon dates |
| title_full | The earliest directly dated rock paintings from southern Africa: new AMS radiocarbon dates |
| title_fullStr | The earliest directly dated rock paintings from southern Africa: new AMS radiocarbon dates |
| title_full_unstemmed | The earliest directly dated rock paintings from southern Africa: new AMS radiocarbon dates |
| title_short | The earliest directly dated rock paintings from southern Africa: new AMS radiocarbon dates |
| title_sort | earliest directly dated rock paintings from southern africa new ams radiocarbon dates |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT bonneaua theearliestdirectlydatedrockpaintingsfromsouthernafricanewamsradiocarbondates AT pearced theearliestdirectlydatedrockpaintingsfromsouthernafricanewamsradiocarbondates AT mitchellp theearliestdirectlydatedrockpaintingsfromsouthernafricanewamsradiocarbondates AT staffr theearliestdirectlydatedrockpaintingsfromsouthernafricanewamsradiocarbondates AT arthurc theearliestdirectlydatedrockpaintingsfromsouthernafricanewamsradiocarbondates AT mallenl theearliestdirectlydatedrockpaintingsfromsouthernafricanewamsradiocarbondates AT brockf theearliestdirectlydatedrockpaintingsfromsouthernafricanewamsradiocarbondates AT highamt theearliestdirectlydatedrockpaintingsfromsouthernafricanewamsradiocarbondates AT bonneaua earliestdirectlydatedrockpaintingsfromsouthernafricanewamsradiocarbondates AT pearced earliestdirectlydatedrockpaintingsfromsouthernafricanewamsradiocarbondates AT mitchellp earliestdirectlydatedrockpaintingsfromsouthernafricanewamsradiocarbondates AT staffr earliestdirectlydatedrockpaintingsfromsouthernafricanewamsradiocarbondates AT arthurc earliestdirectlydatedrockpaintingsfromsouthernafricanewamsradiocarbondates AT mallenl earliestdirectlydatedrockpaintingsfromsouthernafricanewamsradiocarbondates AT brockf earliestdirectlydatedrockpaintingsfromsouthernafricanewamsradiocarbondates AT highamt earliestdirectlydatedrockpaintingsfromsouthernafricanewamsradiocarbondates |