The oldest in situ Homo erectus crania in eastern Asia: The Yunxian site dates to ~1.77 Ma
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: With the discovery of three almost complete Homo erectus crania, Yunxian is one of the most important early Pleistocene hominin sites in eastern Asia. Yet, the age of the Yunxian fossils has remained debated because of the lack of reliable numerical dating results. Here, we apply the well-established isochron 26 Al/ 10 Be burial dating to quartz gravels from two sediment layers of the site. The age results push the Yunxian crania back to 1.77 ± 0.08 million years ago (±1σ internal error), representing the oldest H. erectus fossils discovered in situ in eastern Asia. A much older age assignment to Yunxian supports the model of rapid dispersal and widespread distribution of early H. erectus and contributes to narrowing the chronological gap between the earliest archaeology and hominin paleontology in eastern Asia.
Source: Science Advances
Language: English
Subfield: Anthropology
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $4,500
Awards: Collaborative Research: Research Infrastructure: CFS (Track III) Cosmogenic Nuclides in Earth Science Research: Allied facilities for sample preparation, analysis, and training, 等时线Al-26/Be-10埋藏测年法研究西侯度等重要早期人类遗址的年代, G5480087328, Facility Support: Accelerator Mass Spectrometry at PRIME Lab, G7524375918, G946118098
OpenAlex ID: W7130326500