Luminescence dating of rock surface. The case of monoliths from the megalithic sanctuary of ossimo-pat (valle camonica, italy)

Abstract

Ossimo-Pat megalithic sanctuary (Valle Camonica, BS, Italy) is one of the most relevant archaeological findings of the southern alpine region, for the variety of its structures and the quality of its engraved monoliths. Its unique state of preservation gives the opportunity to apply the luminescence dating of the rock surface method. Here, we investigate the use of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) for dating five cobbles from the site and compare cobble-surface derived ages to quartz OSL ages from sediments and to archaeological evidences. The obtained ages confirm the archaeological studies and open the way to a new hypothesis.