Luminescence dating and its application to key pre-Late Devensian sites in Scotland

Relatively few sites have been identified in Scotland that contain records that predate the peak of the Late Devensian glaciation (ca. 18 ka BP). Where such records have been identified they have assumed a key role in developing our understanding of climate change in Scotland. Radiocarbon dating has been the primary chronological tool applied to these sites, but the reliability of age determinations in excess of 30 ka is questionable. In this paper we describe the results of a programme which applies luminescence dating methods to eight key pre-Late Devensian sites in Scotland. Methods were developed and tested to enable the identification of samples for which luminescence dating was only able to provide an upper limit on the age because of the limited light exposure that the sample experienced at deposition. These new approaches were applied to four sites where independent age control was available; this meant that the choice of sediments from test sites was restricted to those sediments which were formed in the last 40,000 years and hence were amenable to radiocarbon dating. The luminescence age estimates for the control sites and the pre-Late Devensian sites are discussed within the context of any existing chronological control on a site by site basis.