ESR dating of the Hougou Paleolithic site in the Nihewan Basin, North China, using both additive and regenerative dose methods

Abstract

The Nihewan Basin is one of the most important areas for the study of early human evolution and land mammals in East Asia. More than 100 Paleolithic sites have been discovered in the basin, spanning the Early Pleistocene to the Late Pleistocene. The chronological framework for the Early Pleistocene sites is well established using magnetostratigraphy. However, few independent ages are associated with Middle Pleistocene sites; one such example is the Hougou Paleolithic site, where interpolated magnetostratigraphic ages are not precise and accurate enough, owing to the artifact layer of the site is far relative to the Matuyama/Brunhens (M/B) boundary. In this study, we use the ESR signals of Al and Ti–Li centers in quartz to date the Hougou site. The advantages of the regenerative dose method over the additive dose method were discussed. Our ESR results indicate that the age of the Hougou Paleolithic site is between 436 ± 30 and 416 ± 42 ka, approximately with an average of 426 ± 36 ka, which corresponds to Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 12 or loess layer L5. In addition, the disappearance time of the eastern part of the Nihewan paleolake may be approximately 430 ka.