Luminescence Dating of Quaternary Sediments: New approaches for dating archaeologic components Stephen L Forman Luminescence Dating Research Laboratory Dept. of Earth and Environmental Sciences University of Illinois at Chicago Abstract: Significant innovations during the past decade in dosimetry-based dating techniques, such as optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), provide improved capabilities for directly dating Quaternary sediments. Luminescence dating is an important tool for decipher the archaeologic record because it is one of the few techniques that can be applied in a variety of terrestrial sedimentologic environments, dating cultural components spanning the past ca. 30,000 years with a precision of <10%. Recent research has shown OSL dating particularly useful in dating Clovis and pre-Clovis age cultural horizons, solely or in tandem with other dating methods. Effective use of OSL dating at archaeologic sites not only provides ages for artifact bearing levels but also, yields insights on site formation processes. OSL dating achieves its greatest utility for archaeologic research when in incorporated into the geoarchaeologic assessment and is poised to address many chronologic questions on the history of human activity in the Late Quaternary. http://www.uic.edu/labs/ldrl/ Steven L. Forman Steven L. Forman, director of the Luminescence Dating Research Laboratory at the University of Illinois at Chicago pursues a diverse research agenda including geoarchaeology, paleoclimatology, glacial geology, eolian depositional systems, hydrology, experimental geochronology and luminescence dating. He regular teaches undergraduate courses in surficial processes and global climate change and graduate seminars in Quaternary environmental Systems, Quaternary geochronology and paleoclimatology. Dr. Forman was educated at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana, where he received a B.S. in Geology and at the University of Colorado at Boulder, earning his Ph.D. in 1986 in Geological Sciences. As a graduate student he also spent a year at the University of Cambridge, England with NSF support to study in the Luminescence Dating Laboratory of Dr. Ann Wintle. Forman established one of the first Luminescence dating laboratories in North America focused on extension of the method to various geologic environments. This laboratory has been instrumental in developing luminescence techniques to date past earthquakes, flood events, glaciations, dune reactivation and potentially the earliest humans in Eurasia and North America.