AMS Radiocarbon Dates for Charcoal from Three Missouri Pictographs and Their Associated Iconography

Abstract

This report presents four radiocarbon dates of charcoal pigments from Picture Cave, a site located in a remote wooded area in east-central Missouri. Carbon from charcoal pigments was extracted from three rock drawings on the wall of this cave. The four pigment samples contained sufficient carbon for accelerator mass spectrometric radiocarbon analysis. These black pigment samples (red and white paints are also present in the cave) yielded dates that place their affiliated motifs in a time-frame associated with Cahokia ca. 950 years ago. The dates are somewhat earlier than expected. We discuss the dates in connection with the iconography of the three motif panels tested.