The OCR carbon dating procedure in Australia: New dates from Wilinyjibari Rockshelter, southeast Kimberley, Western Australia

Dates obtained using the newly developed absolute dating technique, the OCR Carbon Dating procedure, from an Aboriginal rockshelter site in the southeast Kimberley Western Australia, have been paired with conventional radiocarbon determinations to assess its usefulness in estimating the ages of soils in Australian archaeological contexts. The OCR procedure measures the site-specific rate of biodegradation of organic carbon in soils, which under most circumstances will closely approximate the age of artefacts and cultural features contained within them. These are the first published OCR determinations from an archaeological site in the Australasian region. Close agreement between paired OCR and 14C determinations from Wilinyjibari suggest that with further confirmation, the technique may provide an independent dating method with potential applications at both pre and post-contact archaeological sites in Australia