Electron spin resonance dating in paleoanthropology

Abstract

Many archeological and paleoanthropological sites cannot be dated by well established and common dating techniques such as uranium series (U‐series) or argon‐argon (40Ar/39Ar) because of the lack of materials that are suitable for these techniques. Most sites, however, contain bones and teeth, and the latter can be used to obtain electron spin resonance (ESR) age estimates. The theoretical age range of ESR dating accuracy lies between a few thousand and more than a million years. In practice, continuing uranium accumulation increases the uncertainty of ESR age assessments in such a way that most age assignments beyond 300,000 years are very uncertain. Show more