Coupled ESR and U-series dating of Middle Pleistocene hominin site Bailongdong cave, China

International audienceThe fossil evidence of hominins in China is crucial to understand the human evolution and dispersal in Eurasia. However, the dating of Chinese Early and Middle Pleistocene hominin record remains a serious problem. In this study, we applied coupled ESR/U-series dating method on Bailongdong hominin cave site in Hubei Province, central China, which is a key area to study early human migration between South and North China. The U-series analysis shows that the fossil teeth samples from three horizons are close or beyond equilibrium, which indicate very early uptake or potential loss of uranium. Coupled with ESR analysis, we obtain an ESR/U-series age of 528 ± 14 ka (weighted mean age of seven fossil teeth from three horizons). Combined with cosmogenic nuclides 26Al/10Be burial dating carried out on the cave deposits beneath the fossil layers in previous study, the multi-methods dating study places Bailongdong site at the early stage of Middle Pleistocene, and pinpoints the deposition of the fossil remains to the time of marine isotope stages 13. This is in agreement with the fauna composition and sedimentary characteristics which shows a subtropical-tropical warm forest-grass environment. The multi-methods of dating Bailongdong site by both cosmogenic and coupled ESR/U-series method is a good example for the future chronological study of early human sites in Chin