Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Life Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Richard G Roberts

Africa

Articles 1 - 7 of 7

Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Equivalent Dose Distributions From Single Grains Of Quartz At Sibudu, South Africa: Context, Causes And Consequences For Optical Dating Of Archaeological Deposits, Richard Roberts, Zenobia Jacobs, Geoffrey Duller, Ann Wintle Mar 2013

Equivalent Dose Distributions From Single Grains Of Quartz At Sibudu, South Africa: Context, Causes And Consequences For Optical Dating Of Archaeological Deposits, Richard Roberts, Zenobia Jacobs, Geoffrey Duller, Ann Wintle

Richard G Roberts

No abstract provided.


Were Environmental Or Demographic Factors The Driving Force Behind Middle Stone Age Innovations In Southern Africa?, Zenobia Jacobs, Richard G. Roberts Mar 2013

Were Environmental Or Demographic Factors The Driving Force Behind Middle Stone Age Innovations In Southern Africa?, Zenobia Jacobs, Richard G. Roberts

Richard G Roberts

Sir—Past human responses to environmental changes have long interested archaeologists. During the last glacial cycle, southern Africa experienced marked climatic fluctuations, as recorded in ice-core records from West and East Antarctica.


Development Of The Sar Tt-Osl Procedure For Dating Middle Pleistocene Dune And Shallow Marine Deposits Along The Southern Cape Coast Of South Africa, Zenobia Jacobs, Richard Roberts, Terry Lachlan, Panagiotis Karkanas, Curtis Marean, David Roberts Mar 2013

Development Of The Sar Tt-Osl Procedure For Dating Middle Pleistocene Dune And Shallow Marine Deposits Along The Southern Cape Coast Of South Africa, Zenobia Jacobs, Richard Roberts, Terry Lachlan, Panagiotis Karkanas, Curtis Marean, David Roberts

Richard G Roberts

Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating is now commonly used to estimate the depositional age of Quaternary landforms along the southern Cape coast of South Africa. Due to the early onset of dose saturation in the quartz-rich sediments from this region, determining the age of deposits much older than the last three glacio-eustatic sea-level high stands has been a challenge. In this study, we explored the feasibility of using the thermally-transferred OSL (TT-OSL) dating method to obtain ages for aeolian and shallow marine deposits at three different localities that hold promise to further illuminate the long and complex Late Quaternary sea-level …


An Improved Osl Chronology For The Still Bay Layers At Blombos Cave, South Africa: Further Tests Of Single-Grain Dating Procedures And A Re-Evaluation Of The Timing Of The Still Bay Industry Across Southern Africa, Zenobia Jacobs, Elspeth Hayes, Richard Roberts, Rex Galbraith, Christopher Henshilwood Mar 2013

An Improved Osl Chronology For The Still Bay Layers At Blombos Cave, South Africa: Further Tests Of Single-Grain Dating Procedures And A Re-Evaluation Of The Timing Of The Still Bay Industry Across Southern Africa, Zenobia Jacobs, Elspeth Hayes, Richard Roberts, Rex Galbraith, Christopher Henshilwood

Richard G Roberts

This paper presents a series of new single-grain optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages for the Still Bay at Blombos Cave, South Africa, and compares them to previously published OSL, thermoluminescence (TL) and electron-spin resonance (ESR) ages for this site. Details are provided about the measurement and analytical procedures, including a discussion of the characteristics of the OSL signals of individual quartz grains. This forms the basis for further investigations into the sensitivity of the equivalent dose (De) estimates to a range of different analytical approaches, including changes in the size of the test dose, the choice of signal integration interval, …


Natural Variations In The Properties Of Tl And Irsl Emissions From Metamorphic And Volcanic K-Feldspars From East Africa: Assessing Their Reliability For Dating, L Gliganic, Richard Roberts, Z Jacobs Mar 2013

Natural Variations In The Properties Of Tl And Irsl Emissions From Metamorphic And Volcanic K-Feldspars From East Africa: Assessing Their Reliability For Dating, L Gliganic, Richard Roberts, Z Jacobs

Richard G Roberts

The elevated temperature infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) and post-IR IRSL signals of potassium (K)-feldspars have recently garnered attention for their minimal rates of anomalous fading. The post-IR IRSL signal has been used to obtain age estimates for geological deposits, mostly in Europe. Studies on the behaviour of the IRSL and post-IR IRSL signals of K-feldspars from a wider range of geographic regions and depositional contexts are needed, particularly for regions where the OSL signal from quartz is poorly behaved. Discrepancies in the literature regarding the behaviours of the IRSL and TL signals of K-feldspars also highlight the need to characterise …


Catalysts For Stone Age Innovations: What Might Have Triggered Two Short-Lived Bursts Of Technological And Behavioral Innovation In Southern Africa During The Middle Stone Age?, Richard Roberts, Zenobia Jacobs Mar 2013

Catalysts For Stone Age Innovations: What Might Have Triggered Two Short-Lived Bursts Of Technological And Behavioral Innovation In Southern Africa During The Middle Stone Age?, Richard Roberts, Zenobia Jacobs

Richard G Roberts

No abstract provided.


Single-Grain Osl Chronologies For Middle Palaeolithic Deposits At El Mnasra And El Harhoura 2, Morocco: Implications For Late Pleistocene Human-Environment Interactions Along The Atlantic Coast Of Northwest Africa, Zenobia Jacobs, Richard Roberts, Roland Nespoulet, M El Hajraoui, Andre Debenath Mar 2013

Single-Grain Osl Chronologies For Middle Palaeolithic Deposits At El Mnasra And El Harhoura 2, Morocco: Implications For Late Pleistocene Human-Environment Interactions Along The Atlantic Coast Of Northwest Africa, Zenobia Jacobs, Richard Roberts, Roland Nespoulet, M El Hajraoui, Andre Debenath

Richard G Roberts

Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) measurements were made on individual, sand-sized grains of quartz from Middle Palaeolithic deposits at two cave sites (El Harhoura 2 and El Mnasra) on the Atlantic coast of Morocco. We were able to calculate OSL ages for 32 of the 33 samples collected from the Middle Palaeolithic deposits, including the earliest and latest Aterian levels at both sites. These ages reveal periods of occupation between about 110 and 95 ka (thousands of years ago), and at ~75 ka. A late Middle Palaeolithic occupation of El Harhoura 2 is also recorded at ~55 ka. Our single-grain OSL …