Chronology of the Middle Palaeolithic open-air site of Combe Brune 2 (Dordogne, France): a multi luminescence dating approach

Minerals present in the sediments were dated by the Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) using different protocols (Thermal-Transfer: TT-OSL for quartz grains and IRSL and post-IR IRSL for feldspar grains). Heated flints were also dated by thermoluminescence (TL). Dating results obtained from quartz and feldspars grains provide an age of 234 ± 25 ka for Unit 8 at the base of the western sequence, 161 ± 18 to 97.3 ± 12 ka for Unit 7; 63.1 ± 6.5 ka for Unit 4 and a series of ages ranging from 39.2 ± 4.0 to 22.3 ± 2.2 ka for Unit 3. TL ages obtained from heated flints recovered from the base of Unit 7 in the eastern section range from 183 ± 20 to 195 ± 16 ka. These results are in good agreement and are stratigraphically coherent, suggesting that the Early Middle Palaeolithic occupation, the first documented for the Bergerac region, can be placed at the end of Marine Isotopic Stage (MIS) 7 and the beginning of MIS 6.