CREDit - Chronological REference Datasets and Sites (CREDit) towards improved accuracy and precision in luminescence-based chronologies

Numerical chronologies decisively determine the understanding and Numerical chronologies decisively determine the understanding and interpretation of environmental processes in the Earth Sciences and patterns of human evolution in the Archaeological Sciences. Of interest are the onset, duration, and intensity of events and phases. Luminescence dating is an event-based dosimetric age determination technique and one of the leading chronological methods in Quaternary science. However, methodological diversity and complexity, and the absence of community-wide protocol and calibration standards limit overall accuracy and precision. This project will contribute to the accuracy and precision of luminescence-based chronologies by implementing Chronological REference Datasets and Sites (CREDit) in a bottom-up approach. (1) An annually layered sediment core from the Eifel-Laminated-Sediment-Archive (ELSA) will provide a well-dated reference site to test luminescence dating methods and investigate their uncertainty structure. (2) A luminescence reference dataset will be deployed based on measured, and artificially generated data using energy-band models. (3) Both datasets will be used to test (a) luminescence data analysis tools and (b) models depending on accurate chronologies, e.g., age-depth models. The project will deliver a new approach to test luminescence dating methods using an independently high-resolution dated reference site. Additionally, the reference dataset will be designed to allow testing and certifying luminescence data analysis tools. Beyond these goals, the project will give valuable insights into the uncertainty structure of luminescence ages, and it will considerably improve the quality of luminescence-based chronologies. A clear open-access dissemination strategy will support the sustainability of the project in Quaternary science and the exploitation of the results in adjacent scientific disciplines following the Open Science initiative of Horizon 2020.