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Luminescence dating of prehistoric hearths in Northeast Qinghai Lake and its paleoclimatic implication

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Abstract

Archeological research has been trying to provide evidence relevant to understanding both the timing of and processes responsible for human colonization of the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP). Hearth is one of the most extensive, important, and typical prehistoric humanity activity evidence on the QTP. However, there are a number of hearths lacking charcoal material because of the wind and water erosion. Fortunately, most of these hearths can be dated by luminescence dating on the remnant sediments around the hearth. In this study, 18 optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) samples from 14 hearths in Yandongtai site (YDT) and Bronze Wire site (BW) in the northeast of Qinghai Lake area were systematically dated. The OSL ages range from 6.8 ± 0.7 to 14.4 ± 1.2 ka. There is a good agreement between OSL dating results and charcoal ages during the last deglaciation period, which indicates that OSL method has great potential in dating hearth on QTP. Combined with the previous dating results from other hearths, the age of hearths concentrates in 11–13 ka BP, i.e., the Younger Dryas (YD) chronozone. The increased number of hearths indicates reinforced colonization in the Qinghai Lake area during YD cold event, implying that the cold climate during YD event was not severe enough to hinder the inhabitation of prehistoric humanity at an elevation of 3.2 km.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the China NSF grant (41302150, 41361047), Platform 271 Construction for Key Laboratory in Qinghai Province (grants 2013-Z-Y12), the Guide Fund for Youth of Qinghai Institute of Salt Lakes, Chinese Academy of Sciences. We thank David Madsen and David Rhode for their help in the field. Special thanks are due to anonymous reviewers and editors whose constructive suggestions and detailed comments helped to clarify and improve the paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Salt Lake Geology and Environment of Qinghai Province, Qinghai Institute of Salt Lakes, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xining, 810008, People’s Republic of China

    Yongjuan Sun

  2. Key laboratory of Physical Geography and Environmental Processes of Qinghai Province, Qinghai Normal University, 810000, Xining, People’s Republic of China

    Yongjuan Sun, E. Chongyi & Guangliang Hou

  3. School of Earth Sciences, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, 430074, People’s Republic of China

    Zhongping Lai

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  1. Yongjuan Sun
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  2. E. Chongyi
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  4. Guangliang Hou
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Correspondence to E. Chongyi or Zhongping Lai.

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Sun, Y., Chongyi, E., Lai, Z. et al. Luminescence dating of prehistoric hearths in Northeast Qinghai Lake and its paleoclimatic implication. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 10, 1525–1534 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-017-0472-y

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