New ESR and U-series dating at Caune de l'Arago, France: A key-site for European Middle Pleistocene

This study presents new ESR/U-Series dates obtained on herbivorous teeth coming from the lowest excavated layers (Q-P levels) which yield an age range for the entire thick archaeological infilling. The new results suggest that the sedimentological levels containing lithic and faunal artefacts began to be deposited at 550 ka in the P-Q levels and a younger age of 350-400 ka for the F level. The P-Q levels which have yielded bifaces are one of the oldest evidence of the Acheulian culture in the southern part of Western Europe while the dates obtained on G level suggest a contemporaneity with la Sima de los Huesos and TD10 Dolina level at Atapuerca.