Alternative timescales: a critical review of Willandra Lakes dating

The Late Pleistocene radiocarbon record from the Willandra Lakes region is analysed to select the most reliable age estimates. Chemical pretreatment experiments addressing problems of contradictory ages on black organic samples from archaeological hearths and shell middens show that macroscopic charcoal is not present at some sites, although multiple sub‐samples of well preserved charcoal have been dated at other sites. Radiocarbon measurements on properly decontaminated charcoal are as reliable as other robust single component samples such as shell, fish otoliths and emu eggshell. After calibration, 14C ages are in close agreement with luminescence based ages on suitably analysed quartz from the same sites. Regional patterns of 14C and luminescence dates are correlated across the Murray‐Darling basin, implying rapid and sensitive responses to changing climate. Chemical arguments, and the likelihood of widespread sediment erosion prior to Last Glacial Maximum, suggest that probable ages for some human burials are younger than usually quoted. There is no unequivocal evidence for archaeological remains in the Willandra older than 43 ka.