Radiocarbon and Thermoluminescence Dating of Prehistoric Sites in Hungary and Yugoslavia

Abstract

Direct dating by simultaneous independent physical methods is of particular interest to prehistoric archaeology in central Europe. Radiocarbon and thermoluminescence measurements were made to date two tell settlements in the Carpathian Basin: the Late Neolithic site at Gorzsa (southeast Hungary) and the Eneolithic site of Vučedol (east Croatia, Yugoslavia). Samples from Gorzsa span from the Szakalhát to the Proto-Tiszapolgár periods, while most important cultural layers from the Vučedol site belong to the Baden, Kostolac, and Vučedol cultures. By including some of our earlier dates from the Tiszapolgár-Basatanya Copper Age site, a chronological framework, spanning the period from Late Neolithic to Early Bronze Age can be established. The quartz inclusion technique was used for TL dating of pottery. Beta and gamma dose rates were determined by TL dosimetry. Allowances were made for supralinearity, water content, and beta attenuation in quartz grains. The TL ages range from 1900 to 4300 BC and 3600 to 2900 BC, for the Gorzsa and Vučedol sites, respectively.