ESR DATING AT MIROSAVA CAVE, EASTERN SERBIA

Formed in the Jurassic limestones that form the mountainous hinterland in Velika Morava near Ćuprija, eastern Serbia, Mirosava Cave measures about 6 m x 3 m. The 2017 test excavations have demonstrated that the back of the cave preserves Pleistocene sediment with abundant faunal remains, including temperate mammals, Bison priscus, Equus ferus, Equus hydruntinus, Megaloceros giganteus, Cervus elaphus, Dama dama, Capreolus capreolus, Ursus spelaeus, Crocuta spelaea, indeterminate Rhinocerotidae, several other smaller carnivores, herpetofauna, and fish. Electron spin resonance (ESR) can date mammalian teeth from ~ 5-10 ka to ~ 2-4 Ma, with ~ 2-5% precision. From late Pleistocene layers, three teeth, an E. ferus milk molar, ET55, a Bos or Bison premolar, ET53, and a Canis lupus canine, ET54, were collected from Layer 3 along with 10 associated sediment samples from Mirosava for ESR dating. Samples were prepared using normal protocols for standard and isochron ESR enamel dating with contaminant containment procedures for a Class 10,000 clean lab. Ten associated sediment samples were analyzed with NAA for U, Th, and K, by powdering to ≤ 100 mesh. All dental tissues were analyzed only for U, which averaged 0.30 ± 0.02 ppm in the enamel and 14.23-17.42 ± 0.02 ppm in the dentine. With volumetrically and time-averaged sedimentary dose rates averaging 780 ± 66 μGy/y and a cosmic dose rate at 56 ± 6 μGy/y, ET55 dated at 48.0 ± 3.1 ka, while ET53 dated to 48.2 ± 2.0 ka, both assuming a linear U (LU) uptake model. Their mean age, 48.1 ± 1.7 ka, correlates with early MIS (Marine Isotope Stage) 3, and most likely, with the Moorschoofd–Glinde Interstadial, Dansgaard–Oeschger (DO) Stage 14. Since Serbian sites documenting the fauna and climates at this time are rare, these new dates for Mirosava Cave allow better paleoenvironmental comparisons with other MIS 3 sites in the Balkans, such as Pešturina, Divje Babe I, Šalitrena, Hadži Prodanova, and Bacho Kiro Cave, in which a layer dating to approximately the same age contains anatomically modern Homo sapiens remains associated with Initial Upper Palaeolithic artefacts (Hublin et al., 2020. Nature 581: 299-302).