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

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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 (1ơ), 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.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Prof. David Fink for his help in the laboratory work, and Prof. Guanjun Shen for his help and encouragement.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geography and Ocean Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China

    Kexin Wang, Xinghua Xu, Xuefeng Sun, Qiongxuan Zeng, Yiming Lu & Huayu Lu

  2. BGEG, School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Hua Tu

  3. Key Laboratory of Vertebrate Evolution and Human Origins of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, CAS, Beijing, 100044, China

    Shejiang Wang

  4. CAS Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Beijing, 100044, China

    Shejiang Wang

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  1. Kexin Wang
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  2. Xinghua Xu
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  5. Qiongxuan Zeng
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Correspondence to Xuefeng Sun.

Additional information

Foundation: National Natural Science Foundation of China, No.41572155, No.41690111; The Global Change Program of the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, No.2016YFA0600503

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Wang, K., Xu, X., Sun, X. et al. Cosmogenic nuclide burial dating of Liuwan Paleolithic site in the Luonan Basin, Central China. J. Geogr. Sci. 29, 406–416 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-019-1606-1

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