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Wood R, Jacobs Z, Vannieuwenhuyse D, et al. Towards an Accurate and Precise Chronology for the Colonization of Australia: The Example of Riwi, Kimberley, Western Australia. PLoS One. 2016;11(9):e0160123doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0160123.
Wood, R., Jacobs, Z., Vannieuwenhuyse, D., Balme, J., O'Connor, S., & Whitau, R. (2016). Towards an Accurate and Precise Chronology for the Colonization of Australia: The Example of Riwi, Kimberley, Western Australia. PloS one, 11(9), e0160123. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0160123
Wood, Rachel, et al. "Towards an Accurate and Precise Chronology for the Colonization of Australia: The Example of Riwi, Kimberley, Western Australia." PloS one vol. 11,9 (2016): e0160123. doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0160123
Wood R, Jacobs Z, Vannieuwenhuyse D, Balme J, O'Connor S, Whitau R. Towards an Accurate and Precise Chronology for the Colonization of Australia: The Example of Riwi, Kimberley, Western Australia. PLoS One. 2016 Sep 21;11(9):e0160123. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0160123. eCollection 2016. PMID: 27655174; PMCID: PMC5031455.
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PLoS One. 2016 Sep 21;11(9):e0160123. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0160123. eCollection 2016.

Towards an Accurate and Precise Chronology for the Colonization of Australia: The Example of Riwi, Kimberley, Western Australia.

PloS one

Rachel Wood, Zenobia Jacobs, Dorcas Vannieuwenhuyse, Jane Balme, Sue O'Connor, Rose Whitau

Affiliations

  1. Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia.
  2. Centre for Archaeological Science, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, New South Wales, 2522, Australia.
  3. School of Social Sciences, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, 6009, Australia.
  4. Department of Archaeology and Natural History, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia.

PMID: 27655174 PMCID: PMC5031455 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0160123

Abstract

An extensive series of 44 radiocarbon (14C) and 37 optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages have been obtained from the site of Riwi, south central Kimberley (NW Australia). As one of the earliest known Pleistocene sites in Australia, with archaeologically sterile sediment beneath deposits containing occupation, the chronology of the site is important in renewed debates surrounding the colonization of Sahul. Charcoal is preserved throughout the sequence and within multiple discrete hearth features. Prior to 14C dating, charcoal has been pretreated with both acid-base-acid (ABA) and acid base oxidation-stepped combustion (ABOx-SC) methods at multiple laboratories. Ages are consistent between laboratories and also between the two pretreatment methods, suggesting that contamination is easily removed from charcoal at Riwi and the Pleistocene ages are likely to be accurate. Whilst some charcoal samples recovered from outside hearth features are identified as outliers within a Bayesian model, all ages on charcoal within hearth features are consistent with stratigraphy. OSL dating has been undertaken using single quartz grains from the sandy matrix. The majority of samples show De distributions that are well-bleached but that also include evidence for mixing as a result of post-depositional bioturbation of the sediment. The results of the two techniques are compared and evaluated within a Bayesian model. Consistency between the two methods is good, and we demonstrate human occupation at this site from 46.4-44.6 cal kBP (95.4% probability range). Importantly, the lowest archaeological horizon at Riwi is underlain by sterile sediments which have been dated by OSL making it possible to demonstrate the absence of human occupation for between 0.9-5.2 ka (68.2% probability range) prior to occupation.

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

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