Abstract

AbstractThe chronological position of Peking Man, or Homo erectus pekinensis, has long been pursued, but has remained problematic due to lack of a suitable dating method^1-7^. Here we report cosmogenic ^26^Al/ ^10^Be burial dating of quartz sediments and artifacts from the lower strata of Zhoukoudian Locality 1 where the remains of early members of the Peking Man family were discovered. This study marks the first radioisotopic dating of any early hominin site in China beyond the range of mass spectrometric U-series dating. The weighted mean of six meaningful measurements, 0.75 +/-; 0.09 (0.11) Ma (million years), provides the best age estimate for lower cultural Layers ^7-10^. Together with previously reported U-series^3^ and paleomagnetic^4^ data, as well as sedimentological considerations^8, 9^ these layers may be further correlated to S6-S7 in Chinese loess stratigraphy or marine isotope stages 17-18, in the range of ~0.68-0.75 Ma. These ages are substantially older than previously supposed and may imply hominin presence in northern China throughout early Middle Pleistocene climate cycles.

Highlights

  • The chronological position of Peking Man, or Homo erectus pekinensis, has long been pursued, but has remained problematic due to lack of a suitable dating method[1,2,3,4,5,6,7]

  • The following age sequence was proposed: ~700 ka for the lowest fossiliferous Layer 13, based mainly on paleomagnetic stratigraphy4; ~500 ka for the lowest hominin fossil-bearing Layer 10, based on fission track dating of sphene grains; and ~230 ka for the uppermost Layers 1-3, based on 230Th/234U dating of fossil materials[2]

  • We suggest that Layers 7-10, including the lower cultural level and the first appearance of H. erectus at Locality 1, lie within the range of S6-S7 and MIS 17-18 from ~0.68-0.75 Ma

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Summary

Introduction

The chronological position of Peking Man, or Homo erectus pekinensis, has long been pursued, but has remained problematic due to lack of a suitable dating method[1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. Much older ages were determined by mass spectrometric U-series dating of intercalated pure and dense calcite samples[3], known to be a more reliable chronometer[14, 15].

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