First AMS 14C dates on the Protoaurignacian in Mediterranean France: the site of Esquicho-Grapaou (Russan-Ste-Anastasie, Gard)

International audienceThis paper presents the first AMS radiocarbon dates done on the Protoaurignacian layer (SLC1 a+b) of Esquicho-Grapaou, a stratified site in Southeastern France. Previous conventional method radiocarbon dates at this site (mostly on charcoal) done in the 1970s produced too large standard deviations, making them difficult to place precisely in time, but already pointing to the antiquity of this layer. For AMS radiocarbon dating we selected taxon-identified faunal samples of the 1970s Bazile excavation collection. Of six samples attempted, two produced dates. These are the first AMS 14 C Protoaurignacian dates in Mediterranean France. In this paper they are placed within a larger context of recently-dated Protoaurignacian sites in western Mediterranean Europe. The Esquicho-Grapaou dates fall squarely in the middle of these, in the 38.7-41.9 ka cal BP range (95.4%), fully in-line with what is currently known about the timing of Protoaurignacian presence in western Mediterranean Europe