Refusal to acknowledge dating complexities of Fuyan Cave strengthens our case
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Journal Volume
118
Journal Issue
22
Date Issued
2021
Author(s)
Abstract
Martinon-Torres et al. (1) present a flawed reinterpretation of our work which demands correction. FY-HT-1 and FY-HT-2 were collected from the section walls of the 2011–2013 excavations; details of provenience were provided (2). All of the lingual and much of the occlusal and mesial surfaces of FY-HT-2’s enamel is missing (Fig. 1 A ). Therefore, reconstructions of “deer-like” wear (1) simply bear no resemblance to the preservational reality of the tooth. Also disconcerting is their comparison of FY-HT-2 with images of various deer incisors (Fig. 1 A and ref. 1). Confirmation bias aside, a proper comparison would have indicated affinities to recent humans (Fig. 1 A ), as confirmed by DNA analyses (2). Regarding FY-HT-1, its preservation is visually indistinct from existing samples (see ref. 3). But within-sample variation is clear, and expected, given nonuniform taphonomic processes within the context of a dynamic sedimentary history, as we have demonstrated at Fuyan Cave (2). Fig. 1. ( A ) Fuyan Cave tooth FY-TH-2 ( i ), a recent human from the Foyemiaowan Han Tomb ( ii ), and deer of Martinon-Torres et al. (1) ( iii ). Right column adapted with permission from ref. 1. ( B ) Number of sequences overlapping each position in the FY-HT-2 mitochondrial genome (coverage, Left ) and percentage of sequences carrying an identical base ( Right ). ( C ) Frequencies of nucleotide substitutions at the start and end positions of sequences from the FY-HT-2 library. Martinon-Torres et al. (1) and Higham and Douka (4) challenge our AMS 14C dating. We describe our accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14 … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: darrencurnoe{at}icloud.com. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1
Subjects
organic carbon
amino acid sequence
binding affinity
DNA determination
DNA library
gene sequence
human
Letter
mitochondrial genome
substitution reaction
ultrafiltration
cave
radiometric dating
Caves
Radiometric Dating
SDGs
Type
letter