TL and IRSL dating of Jiahu relics and sediments: clue of 7th millennium BC civilization in central China

Abstract

Thermoluminescence (TL) dating of pottery and infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) dating of sediments from early Neolithic layers at the Jiahu site, Henan Province, east-central China, have been achieved. The pottery TL ages range from 6800 (±450) to 8900 (±640) years and the sediment IRSL ages from 6750 (±760) to 8860 (±870) years confirming former 14C data. Both TL and IRSL ages agree well with each other. They reinforce the very early existence of a fully developed Neolithic civilization in central China, starting already in the first half of the 7th millennium BC and lasting about 2100 years. From these layers finds of bone flutes and Chinese characters have already been reported [X. Li, G. Harbottle, J. Zhang, C. Wang, The earliest writing? Sign use in the seventh millennium BC at Jiahu, Henan Province, China, Antiquity 77 (2003) 31–44; J. Zhang, G. Harbottle, C. Wang, Z. Kong, Oldest playable musical instruments found at Jiahu early Neolithic site in China, Nature 401 (1999) 366–368.] The Jiahu pottery of the 7th millennium BC belongs to the earliest in China and elsewhere.