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Hominin occupation of the Chinese Loess Plateau since about 2.1 million years ago

Author

Listed:
  • Zhaoyu Zhu

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Robin Dennell

    (University of Exeter)

  • Weiwen Huang

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Yi Wu

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Shifan Qiu

    (Gannan Normal University)

  • Shixia Yang

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Zhiguo Rao

    (Hunan Normal University)

  • Yamei Hou

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Jiubing Xie

    (Environmental Supervision Detachment of Nanning)

  • Jiangwei Han

    (Henan Institute of Geological Survey)

  • Tingping Ouyang

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences
    South China Normal University)

Abstract

Considerable attention has been paid to dating the earliest appearance of hominins outside Africa. The earliest skeletal and artefactual evidence for the genus Homo in Asia currently comes from Dmanisi, Georgia, and is dated to approximately 1.77–1.85 million years ago (Ma)1. Two incisors that may belong to Homo erectus come from Yuanmou, south China, and are dated to 1.7 Ma2; the next-oldest evidence is an H. erectus cranium from Lantian (Gongwangling)—which has recently been dated to 1.63 Ma3—and the earliest hominin fossils from the Sangiran dome in Java, which are dated to about 1.5–1.6 Ma4. Artefacts from Majuangou III5 and Shangshazui6 in the Nihewan basin, north China, have also been dated to 1.6–1.7 Ma. Here we report an Early Pleistocene and largely continuous artefact sequence from Shangchen, which is a newly discovered Palaeolithic locality of the southern Chinese Loess Plateau, near Gongwangling in Lantian county. The site contains 17 artefact layers that extend from palaeosol S15—dated to approximately 1.26 Ma—to loess L28, which we date to about 2.12 Ma. This discovery implies that hominins left Africa earlier than indicated by the evidence from Dmanisi.

Suggested Citation

  • Zhaoyu Zhu & Robin Dennell & Weiwen Huang & Yi Wu & Shifan Qiu & Shixia Yang & Zhiguo Rao & Yamei Hou & Jiubing Xie & Jiangwei Han & Tingping Ouyang, 2018. "Hominin occupation of the Chinese Loess Plateau since about 2.1 million years ago," Nature, Nature, vol. 559(7715), pages 608-612, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:559:y:2018:i:7715:d:10.1038_s41586-018-0299-4
    DOI: 10.1038/s41586-018-0299-4
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    Cited by:

    1. Hong Ao & Diederik Liebrand & Mark J. Dekkers & Andrew P. Roberts & Tara N. Jonell & Zhangdong Jin & Yougui Song & Qingsong Liu & Qiang Sun & Xinxia Li & Chunju Huang & Xiaoke Qiang & Peng Zhang, 2024. "Orbital- and millennial-scale Asian winter monsoon variability across the Pliocene–Pleistocene glacial intensification," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-10, December.

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