Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T19:21:20.587Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

A TL/ESR Study of the Hearth Feature at the Calico Archaeological Site, California

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

James L. Bischoff ,
Motoji Ikeya  and
Fred E. Budinger Jr.
James L. Bischoff
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, CA 94025
Motoji Ikeya
Affiliation:
Technical College, Yamaguchi University, Ube 755, Japan
Fred E. Budinger Jr.
Affiliation:
Calico Early Man Site, P.O. Box 535, Yermo, CA 92398
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

TL/ESR measurements were made to test whether a semicircular arrangement of cobbles at the Calico site was a man-made hearth. Results of an earlier magnetic study of one of the cobbles suggested the inner portion had been heated to 360ºC. Such a temperature would destroy radiation-induced defects on the inner portions of the cobbles, which can then be measured by TL/ESR. TL/ESR signals of the inner and outer portions of four cobbles were measured and showed no significant differences. Moreover, all samples appeared to be at full TL and ESR saturation. Progressive heating of a control cobble taken from outside the hearth feature indicated that destruction of the TL/ESR signal occurs at 200ºC. Estimates of the dose rate at the site indicates that at least 400,000 years are required for an annealed rock to attain full TL/ESR saturation, a much longer time than the estimated 200,000-year age of the deposit.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 49 , Issue 4 , October 1984 , pp. 764 - 774
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1984

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References Cited

Aitken, M. J. 1968 Evaluation of Effective Radioactive Content by Means of Thermoluminescent Dosimetry. In Thermoluminescence of Geological Materials, edited by McDougall, D.. Academic Press, London.Google Scholar
Aitken, M. J. 1981 Thermoluminescence Dating. Introductory Review. In Datations Absolues et Analyses hotopiques en Prehistoire Methodes et Limites, Dotation du Remplissage de la Caune de L' Arago a Tautavel, edited by DeLumley, H. and Labeyrie, J., pp. 507–532. Colloque International du CNRS, Tautavel, 22-28 June 1981.Google Scholar
Aitken, M. J. 1972 An Isotopic and Magnetic Study of the Calico Site. In Pleistocene Man at Calico, edited by Schuiling, W. C.. San Bernardino, Calif, San Bernardino County Museum Association.Google Scholar
Bischoff, J. L., Shlemon, R. J., Ku, T. L., Simpson, R. D., Rosenbauer, R. J., and Budinger, F. E. 1981 Uranium-series and Soil-geomorphic Dating of the Calico Archeological Site, California. Geology 9: 576–582.Google Scholar
Bryan, A. L. 1978 An Overview of Paleo-American Antiquity from a Circum-Pacific Perspective. In Early Man in America, Bryan, A. L.. University of Alberta Department of Anthropology Occasional Papers No. 1.Google Scholar
Budinger, F. E. Jr. 1983 The Calico Early Man Site, San Bernardino County, California. California Geology 36: 75–82.Google Scholar
Debenham, N. C. 1983 Reliability of Thermoluminescence Dating of Stalagmitic Calcite. Nature 304: 154–156.Google Scholar
Haynes, V. 1973 The Calico Site: Artifacts or Geofacts? Science 181: 305–310.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ikeya, M. 1978 Electron Spin Resonance as a Method of Dating. Archeometry 20: 147–158.Google Scholar
Ikeya, M., and Ohmura, K. 1983 Comparison of ESR Ages of Corals from Marine Terraces with 14-C and 230-Th/234-U Ages. Earth and Plant. Sci. Lett. 65: 34–38.Google Scholar
Leakey, L. S. B., Simpson, R. D., and Clements, T. 1968 Archaeological Excavations in the Calico Mountains, California: Preliminary Report. Science 160: 1022-1023.Google Scholar
Leakey, L. S. B., Simpson, R. D., and Clements, T. 1970 Man in America: The Calico Mountains Excavation. In 1970 Britannica Yearbook of Science and the Future, Chicago, Encyclopedia Britannica, pp. 64–79.Google Scholar
May, R. J. 1979 Thermoluminescence Dating of Hawaiian Basalt. U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 1095, 46 p.Google Scholar
Simpson, R. D. 1979 An Overview of the Major Elements of the Calico Lithic Assemblage. In Pleistocene Man at Calico: A Report on the Calico Mountains Excavations, edited by Schuiling, W. C.. San Bernardino, Calif., San Bernardino County Museum Association.Google Scholar
Singer, C. A. 1979 A Preliminary Report on the Analysis of the Calico Lithics. In Pleistocene Man at Calico: A Report on the Calico Mountains Excavations, edited by Schuiling, W. C.. San Bernardino, Calif, San Bernardino County Museum Association.Google Scholar
Skinner, A. F. 1983 Overestimate of Stalagmitic ESR Dates Due to Laboratory Heating. Nature 304: 152-154. Google Scholar
Yokoyama, Y., Quaegebeur, J. P., Bibron, R., Leger, C., Nguyen, J. V., and Poupeau, G. 1981 Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) Dating of Stalagmites of the Caune de L' Arago at Tautavel. In Dotations Absolues et Analyses Isotopiques en Prehistoire Methodes et Limites, Dotation du Remplissage de la Caune de L' Arago a Tautavel, edited by DeLumley, H., and Labeyrie, J., pp. 507–532. Colloque International du CNRS, Tautavel, 22-28 June 1981.Google Scholar
Wintle, A. G. 1978 A Thermoluminescence Dating Study of Some Quaternary Calcite: Potential and Problem. Can. J. Earth Sci. 15: 1977-1986.Google Scholar