Radiocarbon constraints on the age of the world's highest-elevation Cave-Bear population, conturines Cave (Dolomites, Northern Italy)
- Author(s)
- Christoph Spötl, Paula J. Reimer, Gernot Rabeder, Christopher Bronk Ramsey
- Abstract
We report radiocarbon (C-14) dates on bone samples of Ursus ladinicus, a small cave bear species well adapted to a life in the mountains, whose remains were found in Conturines Cave. Located at 2775 m asl in the Dolomites of northern Italy, this cave is by far the highest known cave bear site worldwide. Eleven C-14 dates obtained by the Belfast and Oxford laboratories on samples showing good collagen preservation yielded consistent ages in excess of 46-50 ka BP. These results show that contrary to the previously held view these cave bear remains are older than Marine Isotope Stage 3, and likely date from a warm climate period with a high treeline, possibly the Last Interglacial.
- Organisation(s)
- Department of Palaeontology, Department of Evolutionary Anthropology
- External organisation(s)
- Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck, University of Oxford, Queen's University Belfast
- Journal
- Radiocarbon
- Volume
- 60
- Pages
- 299-307
- No. of pages
- 9
- ISSN
- 0033-8222
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1017/RDC.2017.60
- Publication date
- 06-2017
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 105118 Palaeontology
- Keywords
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Earth and Planetary Sciences, Archaeology
- Portal url
- https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/369aca76-868c-455a-b9e2-1dbcd5082940