The Cave of Pan, Marathon, Greece—Ams Dating of The
Radiocarbon, Vol 59, Nr 5, 2017, p 1475 –1485 DOI:10.1017/RDC.2017.65 Selected Papers from the 8th Radiocarbon & Archaeology Symposium, Edinburgh, UK, 27 June –1 July 2016 © 2017 by the Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of the University of Arizona THE CAVE OF PAN, MARATHON, GREECE —AMS DATING OF THE NEOLITHIC PHASE AND CALCULATION OF THE REGIONAL MARINE RESERVOIR EFFECT Yorgos Facorellis1* • Alexandra Mari 2 • Christine Oberlin 3 1Department of Antiquities and Works of Art Conservation, Faculty of Fine Arts and Design, Technological Educational Institute of Athens, Aghiou Spyridonos, 12243 Egaleo, Athens, Greece. 2Ephorate of Paleoanthropology-Speleology, Ardittou 34B, 11636 Athens, Greece. 3Laboratoire ArAr. Archéologie et Archéométrie, MSH Maison de l ’Orient et de la Méditerranée, 7 rue Raulin - 69365 LYON cedex 7, France. ABSTRACT . The Cave of Pan is located on the N/NE slope of the hill of Oinoe (38°09 ′31.60 ′′ N, 23°55 ′48.60 ′′ E), west of modern Marathon. In rescue excavation campaigns during the last three years, among other finds, charcoal and seashell samples were also collected. The purpose of this study is the accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dating of the cave ’s anthropogenic deposits and the calculation of the regional marine reservoir effect during the Neolithic period. For that purpose, 7 charcoal pieces and 1 seashell were dated. Our results show that the cave was used from the second quarter of the 6th millennium (Middle Neolithic period) until the beginning of the 5th millennium BC. Additionally, one sample collected from a depth of 2 cm from the present surface of the cave yielded an age falling within the 6th century AD, giving thus the absolute time span of the cave use.
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