Huellas de presencia humana paleolítica preservadas en estalagmitas en la Grotte aux Points (Ardèche, Francia)

  1. M. Richard
  2. E. Pons-Branchu 1
  3. H. Valladas 1
  4. M. Toffolo 2
  5. S. Dubernet 2
  6. A. Dapoigny 1
  7. J.-P. Dumoulin 1
  8. E. Douville 1
  9. L. Bordier 1
  10. J. Monney 3
  1. 1 Laboratoire des Sciences du Climat et de l’Environnement (LSCE-IPSL)
  2. 2 Michel de Montaigne University Bordeaux 3
    info

    Michel de Montaigne University Bordeaux 3

    Burdeos, Francia

    ROR https://ror.org/03pbgwk21

  3. 3 University of Savoy
    info

    University of Savoy

    Chambéry, Francia

    ROR https://ror.org/04gqg1a07

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Journal:
Geotemas (Madrid)

ISSN: 1576-5172

Year of publication: 2021

Issue Title: X Congreso Geológico de España

Issue: 18

Pages: 814

Type: Article

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More publications in: Geotemas (Madrid)

Abstract

The Grotte aux Points (“Points Cave”) is an Upper Palaeolithic rock art site in the Ardèche gorges, Rhône valley (France). Also called the “little sister of Chauvet cave”, it is famous for providing parietal art including a series of dots made of palm prints. However, excavation of the cave during historic times led to the partial destruction of the sedimentary deposits, and many of the stalagmites were found broken. To constrain the chronology of human presence at the cave and to understand the evolution of karstic activity, we undertook U-series (230 Th/U) dating of 15 stalagmites collected on the floor. Several samples were taken from each stalagmite (n=39) to determine the growth period and to provide a maximum age for the fracture. One of the stalagmites contains dark layers that appeared as possible remnant of fire-related activities at the cave. Scanning electron microscopy and Raman analysis confirmed that dark layers include soot, and U-series indicate that the fire event occurred around 14,000 years ago, during the Upper Magdalenian. In addition, radiocarbon and trace elements analyses were performed, the latter for palaeoenviron- mental reconstruction. Corrected U-series ages obtained from the 39 samples range from 241,423 ± 4,183 to 432 ± 148 years ago. A hiatus is obser- ved from around 119,000 to 14,500 years ago, and two main growth phases are observed: an early one that spans from MIS 7 to the beginning of MIS 5 and a late one that corresponds to the end of MIS 2 and beginning of MIS 1. These ages give new information about the activity in the karst starting from the Middle Pleistocene and the frequency of human visits at the site: some of the stalagmites are coeval with Upper Palaeolithic occupation while others were broken less than 500 years ago.

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