Cosmogenic nuclide burial dating of Liuwan Paleolithic site in the Luonan Basin, Central China

doi:10.1007/s11442-019-1606-1

Abstract

Abstract:

The Luonan Basin is a key region of early human settlement in Central China with more than 300 discovered Paleolithic sites. Artifact layer 1 of the Liuwan site was dated to approximately 0.6 million years (Ma) based on correlation with the well-dated loess-paleosol sequence of the central Chinese Loess Plateau. This study reassessed the age of the Liuwan artifact layer via an absolute dating method, namely, ²⁶Al/¹⁰Be burial dating. We determined the burial age of artifact layer 1, which was most likely at least 0.60 ± 0.12 Ma (1?), using three simple burial ages. The new burial age confirmed the previous estimated age and provided a considerably accurate age range. Therefore, we suggest the use of the ²⁶Al/¹⁰Be burial dating method in thin loess-covered Paleolithic sites around the Qinling Mountain Range is helpful to understand the early human behavior.

Key words: Luonan Basin, loess, Paleolithic artifact, Middle Pleistocene, Cosmogenic nuclides

Kexin WANG, Xinghua XU, Xuefeng SUN, Hua TU, Qiongxuan ZENG, Yiming LU, Huayu LU, Shejiang WANG. Cosmogenic nuclide burial dating of Liuwan Paleolithic site in the Luonan Basin, Central China[J].Journal of Geographical Sciences, 2019, 29(3): 406-416.

Figures/Tables 6

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Table 1

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Sample	Description	Burial depth (m)	¹⁰Be concentration (×10⁶ at g^-1)	²⁶Al concentration (×10⁶ at g^-1)	²⁶Al/¹⁰Be	Minimum age (Ma)	Burial age (Ma)
LW-1	Paleolithic artifacts	4.5	0.2314 ± 0.0062	1.4401 ± 0.0719	6.223 ± 0.352	0.144 ± 0.115	0.144 ± 0.115
LW-2	Paleolithic artifacts	4.5	0.1895 ± 0.0062	1.1502 ± 0.0686	6.068 ± 0.412	0.201 ± 0.137	0.201 ± 0.137
LW-3	Paleolithic artifacts	4.5	0.4182 ± 0.0113	2.0541 ± 0.1106	4.912 ± 0.296	0.599 ± 0.122	0.599 ± 0.122