ISSN 0735-1348 Department of Physics, East Carolina University, 1000 East 5th Street, Greenville, NC 27858, USA http://www.ecu.edu/cs-cas/physics/ancient-timeline/ December 2016, Volume 34 No.2 IRSL dating of fast-fading sanidine feldspars from Sulawesi, Indonesia 1 Bo Li, Richard G. Roberts, Adam Brumm, Yu-Jie Guo, Budianto Hakim, Muhammad Ramli, Maxime Aubert, Rainer Grün, Jian-xin Zhao, E. Wahyu Saptomo Bayesian statistics in luminescence dating: The ‘baSAR’-model and its 14 implementation in the R package ‘Luminescence’ Norbert Mercier, Sebastian Kreutzer, Claire Christophe, Guillaume Guérin, Pierre Guibert, Christelle Lahaye, Philippe Lanos, Anne Philippe, and Chantal Tribolo RLumShiny - A graphical user interface for the R Package ‘Luminescence’ 22 Christoph Burow, Sebastian Kreutzer, Michael Dietze, Margret C. Fuchs, Manfred Fischer, Christoph Schmidt, Helmut Brückner Thesis abstracts 33 Bibliography 36 Ancient TL Started by the late David Zimmerman in 1977 EDITOR Regina DeWitt, Department of Physics, East Carolina University, Howell Science Complex, 1000 E. 5th Street Greenville, NC 27858, USA; Tel: +252-328-4980; Fax: +252-328-0753 ([email protected]) EDITORIAL BOARD Ian K. Bailiff, Luminescence Dating Laboratory, Univ. of Durham, Durham, UK ([email protected]) Geoff A.T. Duller, Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences, Aberystwyth University, Ceredigion, Wales, UK ([email protected]) Sheng-Hua Li, Department of Earth Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China ([email protected]) Shannon Mahan, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver Federal Center, Denver, CO, USA ([email protected]) Richard G. Roberts, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, Australia ([email protected]) REVIEWERS PANEL Richard M. Bailey Andrew S. Murray Oxford, UK Roskilde, Denmark [email protected] [email protected] James Feathers Vasilis Pagonis Seattle, WA, USA Westminster, MD, USA [email protected] [email protected] Rainer Grün Naomi Porat Canberra, Australia Jerusalem, Israel [email protected] [email protected] David J. Huntley Daniel Richter Burnaby B.C., Canada Leipzig, Germany [email protected] [email protected] Sebastian Kreutzer David C.W. Sanderson Bordeaux, France East Kilbride, UK [email protected] [email protected] Michel Lamothe Andre Sawakuchi Montréal, Québec, Canada São Paulo, SP, Brazil [email protected] [email protected] Norbert Mercier Ashok K. Singhvi Bordeaux, France Ahmedabad, India [email protected] [email protected] Didier Miallier Kristina J. Thomsen Aubière, France Roskilde, Denmark [email protected] [email protected] Web coordinators: Joel DeWitt, Regina DeWitt Article layout and typesetting: Sebastian Kreutzer, Christoph Burow Bibliography: Sebastien Huot Li et al., Ancient TL, Vol. 34, No. 2, 2016 IRSL dating of fast-fading sanidine feldspars from Sulawesi, Indonesia Bo Li1∗, Richard G. Roberts1, Adam Brumm2;3, Yu-Jie Guo1, Budianto Hakim4, Muhammad Ramli5, Maxime Aubert6;2, Rainer Grun¨ 2, Jian-xin Zhao7, E. Wahyu Saptomo8;1 1 Centre for Archaeological Science, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences University of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia 2Research Centre of Human Evolution, Environmental Futures Research Institute, Griffith University, Queensland, Australia 3 School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia 4 Balai Arkeologi Makassar, Indonesia 5 Balai Pelestarian Cagar Budaya, Jambi, Indonesia 6 Place, Evolution and Rock Art Heritage Unit (PERAHU), Griffith University, Queensland, Australia 7 School of Earth Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 8 Pusat Penelitian Arkeologi Nasional, Jakarta, Indonesia ∗Corresponding Author: [email protected] Received: August 10, 2016; in final form: August 31, 2016 Abstract and laboratory fading rate (g-value). The resul- The volcanic origin of the sediments from tant luminescence ages show consistency with Sulawesi, Indonesia, provides a particular other radiometric age determinations from challenge for luminescence dating due to the the site. Our results suggest that a systematic dim optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and detailed investigation of the relationship from quartz, and the high anomalous fading between De and anomalous fading rate for rate in the infrared (IR) stimulated lumines- different grains or aliquots is necessary for cence (IRSL) from feldspars. In this study, we dating volcanic feldspars. present results of dating the sanidine feldspars from 2 samples taken from an archaeological site (Leang Bulu Bettue) in the Maros karsts of Keywords: Post-IR IRSL, Volcanic feldspars, South Sulawesi. We tested the post-IR IRSL Sanidine, Luminescence dating, Sulawesi, In- (pIRIR) procedures in order to find a stable donesia luminescence signal that is less affected by anomalous fading. It was found that there is a highly variable anomalous fading rate 1. Introduction in the IRSL and pIRIR signals for different grains and aliquots, and a low temperature Although luminescence dating has been successfully ap- IR stimulation (at 50 ◦C or 100 ◦C) used in a plied to many kinds of sediments from various environmen- pIRIR procedure cannot completely remove tal settings, dating the quartz and feldspar grains from vol- the anomalous fading for the subsequent pIRIR canic provinces has proved challenging. One of the main signals. The large uncertainties associated reasons for this difficulty is that quartz from volcanic regions with fading rates prevent the application of commonly emits a dim OSL signal, or no signal at all (e.g., fading-correction procedures. We propose Berger & Huntley, 1994; Fattahi & Stokes, 2003; Westaway a method to obtain reliable De estimates by & Roberts, 2006). The luminescence signals of feldspars are extrapolation of the relationship between De usually brighter than those of quartz from volcanic regions; 1 Li et al., Ancient TL, Vol. 34, No. 2, 2016 however, a high anomalous fading rate is usually observed excavations at Leang Burung 2 rock-shelter (Glover, 1981). for the blue luminescence from volcanic feldspars (Wintle, Some 20 km to the north, where the karst outcrops in the 1973; Tsukamoto & Duller, 2008; Tsukamoto et al., 2011). adjoining Pangkep district, excavations at Leang Sakapao 1 Recent progress on understanding anomalous fading for yielded in situ stone artefacts and shellfish remains with a feldspar provides the possibility of isolating a non-fading maximum age of 30–20 cal. ka BP (Bulbeck et al., 2004). component in IRSL for feldspars, using either a post-IR In 2013–2015, we conducted deep-trench excavations at a IRSL (pIRIR) approach (Thomsen et al., 2008) or a multiple- previously uninvestigated Maros site, Leang Bulu Bettue elevated-temperature (MET) pIRIR procedure (Li & Li, (Fig.1a and b), yielding cultural deposits that may exceed 2011). These pIRIR procedures have been widely tested in antiquity the oldest evidence for humans in this karst re- and applied to sediment samples from different regions in gion. the world (see Li et al., 2014, for a comprehensive review The tunnel-like cave mouth at Leang Bulu Bettue is 4 m of the progress, potential and remaining problems in using wide and the roof at the mouth measures 3 m in height, while these pIRIR signals for dating). Tsukamoto et al.(2014) the interior chamber is 27.3 m long, 12.6 m wide and up to successfully applied a pIRIR procedure to date volcaniclas- 9.2 m high (Fig.1c). The excavated area is located just in- tic sediments (lahar deposits) from alkaline basalts in Italy. side the entrance to the cave shelter and in an adjoining rock- These authors found that the laboratory fading rates of IRSL shelter (inside the dripline). Our trench exposed a deeply from feldspars in their samples of scoria fallout and lahar stratified and undisturbed sequence of sedimentary layers deposits can be largely reduced by applying a high preheat (Fig.1d). The archaeological contents of these layers will temperature and pIRIR stimulation temperatures, suggesting be reported in detail in a separate study. We provide here a that the pIRIR method may provide a potential method for brief summation of the stratigraphic sequence and cultural dating sediments of volcanic origin. contents as they pertain to the uppermost (i.e., youngest) Previous efforts to date sediments of volcanic origins from deposits (Layers 1–5), relevant to the present study. The Indonesia have used red TL or ultraviolet OSL signals from chronological samples (i.e., radiocarbon, U-series and lumi- quartz, and IRSL signals from potassium-rich feldspar (K- nescence) were taken from the west and south wall profiles. feldspar). The OSL signals are, in general, too dim for dating Here we show the west wall profile only (Fig.1d), so that all purposes (Morwood et al., 2004; Roberts et al., 2009). The the chronological samples can be shown on a single section. light-sensitive component of the red TL signal is less easily Excavations into a deeper series of deposits below Layer 5, bleached than the OSL or IRSL traps, is small in size and and efforts to establish a chronology for this earlier part of is obtained by subtraction, resulting in imprecise and poten- the stratigraphic sequence, are still ongoing. tially inflated ages (Westaway & Roberts, 2006). The IRSL Below the topmost layer, a thin Neolithic level (Layer 1), signals measured previously showed exceptionally high rates are cemented flowstones intercalated with calcite-rich silts of anomalous fading and a suitable correction could not be (Layers 2–3). This capping flowstone unit is underlain by applied. It is not until recently that the newly developed thin silty clays (Layers 4a and 4b) that slope downwards from pIRIR and MET-pIRIR procedures were successfully applied the rear of the cave and level out and thicken in the main shel- to date the sediments from this region, including at the open- ter, where they inter-finger with localised ashy lenses (Lay- air site of Talepu in the Walanae Depression of South Su- ers 4c–e). This combined sequence is 1.5 m thick.