Abstract
A cryptotephra belonging to the Upper Pleistocene volcanism of the Bas-Vivarais was identified for the first time in the sedimentary infilling of the entrance area of the Chauvet-Pont d'Arc cave. This slightly reworked tephra fall is characterized by its heavy minerals assemblage, among which magnesian olivine, enstatite, and chromian diopside issued from peridotites and olivine and diopside of basaltic origin. This composition likely refers to a phreatomagmatic eruption of a maar-crater. The 14 C datings of the cryptotephra beds are contemporaneous with the Aurignacian settlement and paintings, that is, an age slightly older or close to 36 ka. Among the maar-craters from the Bas-Vivarais, the Ray-Pic maar have the closest 40 Ar/ 39 Ar age (36.2 ± 11.3 / 32.2 ± 11.1 ka). By contrast, the Vestide-du-Pal, the biggest maar-crater of this country, seems to have a younger age, but the 40 Ar/ 39 Ar dating was measured on a basalt which could have occurred later and been the source of the tephra-fall, since its tephras contain the same minerals of unknown origin as those found in Chauvet Cave. This discovery strengthens the previous hypothesis according to which the humans living in the Chauvet-Pont d'Arc area during the Upper Paleolithic have witnessed eruptions from the Bas-Vivarais volcanic field and other phenomena.
Highlights
The Chauvet-Pont d’Arc cave is situated in France in the Ardèche valley near Vallon-Pont-d’Arc (44° 23 14 N, 4 25 07 E, Figure 1A, B, D)
A cryptotephra belonging to the Upper Pleistocene volcanism of the Bas-Vivarais was identified for the first time in the sedimentary infilling of the entrance area of the Chauvet-Pont d’Arc cave
This slightly reworked tephra fall is characterized by its heavy minerals assemblage, among which magnesian olivine, enstatite, and chromian diopside issued from peridotites and olivine and diopside of basaltic origin
Summary
The Chauvet-Pont d’Arc cave is situated in France in the Ardèche valley near Vallon-Pont-d’Arc (44° 23 14 N, 4 25 07 E, Figure 1A, B, D). The 14C datings of charcoal and paintings indicate two periods of occupation attributed to the Aurignacian and to the Gravettian (from 37.5 to 33.5 ka cal BP and from 31 to 28 ka cal BP; Clottes et al, 1995, Cuzange et al, 2007, Quiles et al, 2016, Valladas et al, 2005) These dates coincide with one of the activity phases of the Bas-Vivarais volcanism. This study led to the discovery of volcanic minerals attributed to a cryptotephra subcontemporaneous with the sedimentary infilling of the entrance area of the cave These results, presented here, corroborate the contemporaneity of the recent volcanism of the Bas-Vivarais with the history of the cave during a period close to its occupation by Aurignacians
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