Modern human presence in eastern Asia before 130 ka: evidence from U-series re-dating of Daoxian site
Journal
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports
Journal Volume
70
Start Page
105631
ISSN
2352-409X
Date Issued
2026-04
Author(s)
Zhong, Jiemei
Yao, Yanyan
Yu, Shengnan
Tang, Min
Wu, Xiaochun
Tang, Zhongyong
Shen, Guanjun
Wang, Wei
Huang, Chun-Yuan
Abstract
The first “Out of Africa” of Homo sapiens was about 200 thousand years ago (ka). However, the migration to East Asia is still under debate. Here, we present new radiometric U-Th dating results of speleothem samples from Fuyan Cave in southern China to constrain the intervening archaeological sediment level associated with the Daoxian H. sapiens. Results show that the hominin-bearing layer is bracketed between 230.2 ± 4.3 and 130.7 ± 1.4 ka. In combination with chronological data from this and other archaeological sites, our findings suggest that the dispersal of modern humans into East Asia should be earlier than 130 ka.
Subjects
130 ka
Daoxian hominin
Homo sapiens
Speleothem
U-Th dating
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Type
journal article