<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Koonalda Cave is located on the Nullarbor Plain of South Australia and is one of 17 deep karst caves in this region. In 2014, the cave was listed as a National Heritage Place in recognition of its significant archaeological and cultural heritage features. It In order to understand the antiquity of and complex human activity in this site a range of dating methods have been applied including typologic, radiometric and luminescence. Each has been challenged and the chronology of this highly significant site has relied on contextual data from other sites. This paper presents an overview of the archaeology recorded at Koonalda Cave, the issues in dating sites in deep karst systems and emphasises the urgent need to resolve these issues so that a reliable chronology can be presented for Koonalda Cave.</p></abstract>

Koonalda Cave is located on the Nullarbor Plain of South Australia and is one of 17 deep karst caves in this region. In 2014, the cave was listed as a National Heritage Place in recognition of its significant archaeological and cultural heritage features. It In order to understand the antiquity of and complex human activity in this site a range of dating methods have been applied including typologic, radiometric and luminescence. Each has been challenged and the chronology of this highly significant site has relied on contextual data from other sites. This paper presents an overview of the archaeology recorded at Koonalda Cave, the issues in dating sites in deep karst systems and emphasises the urgent need to resolve these issues so that a reliable chronology can be presented for Koonalda Cave.

Koonalda Cave, Nullarbor Plain, South Australia – issues in optical and radiometric dating of deep karst caves

Geochronometria

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Koonalda Cave is located on the Nullarbor Plain of South Australia and is one of 17 deep karst caves in this region. In 2014, the cave was listed as a National...

Code	Depth from ‘0’ datum, Trench 111 (approx.) (cm)	Age ¹⁴C (BP)	Deviation (± BP)
Waikato radiocarbon dating lab C-15-34	10 above	10,085	31

Rafter GNS Science. KLDA B4-16, Ass.5 Fl.4	45 below	7,787	40

Waikato radiocarbon dating lab B6-2, Ass.5	63 below	17,568	61

Waikato radiocarbon dating lab C-19-3	132 below	17,375	60

Waikato radiocarbon dating lab KLDA intermediate zone (a)	182 below	23,019	92

Waikato radiocarbon dating lab KLDA intermediate zone (b)	182 below	23,040	109

Koonalda Cave, Nullarbor Plain, South Australia – issues in optical and radiometric dating of deep karst caves

Published Online: Dec 29, 2017

Page range: 366 - 373

Received: Mar 14, 2016

Accepted: Sep 21, 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/geochr-2015-0081

Keywords
Koonalda Cave, Allen’s Cave, Nullarbor, dating techniques, Gallus excavation

© 2016 K. Walshe.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Fig. 4

KLDA Radiocarbon Samples and Results.

Koonalda Cave, Nullarbor Plain, South Australia – issues in optical and radiometric dating of deep karst caves

Published Online: Dec 29, 2017

Page range: 366 - 373

Received: Mar 14, 2016

Accepted: Sep 21, 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/geochr-2015-0081

KeywordsKoonalda Cave, Allen’s Cave, Nullarbor, dating techniques, Gallus excavation

© 2016 K. Walshe.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Fig. 4

KLDA Radiocarbon Samples and Results.

Keywords
Koonalda Cave, Allen’s Cave, Nullarbor, dating techniques, Gallus excavation