Direct U-series dating of the Apidima C human remains

Abstract

The site of Apidima, in southern Greece, is one of the most important Paleolithic sites in Greece and southeast Europe. One of the caves belonging to this cave complex, Cave A, has yielded human fossil crania Apidima 1 and 2, showing the presence of an early Homo sapiens population followed by a Neanderthal one in the Middle Pleistocene. Less known are the human remains reportedly recovered from Cave C at Apidima. These include a number of isolated elements, but also a partial skeleton interpreted as a female burial, Apidima 3, proposed by Pitsios (e.g., Pitsios 1999) to be associated with Aurignacian lithics and to date to ca. 30 ka. In light of the rarity of the Upper Paleolithic in Greece, and the general scarcity of human remains associated with the Aurignacian, the remains from Apidima Cave C are potentially very significant in elucidating the arrival of the early Upper Paleolithic populations in Europe. Here we undertake direct Uranium-series dating of three human samples from Cave C, including the burial, to help clarify their chronology. Results suggest a minimum age of terminal Pleistocene for all three samples.