东亚智人的出现是一个具有重要研究兴趣的话题。然而,保存完好的人类化石,该地区的可日期上下文极为罕见,由于地层和年代学问题,经常成为激烈辩论的主题。通天岩洞,在柳州市柳江区,中国南方是智人最重要的化石之一,尽管它的年龄一直在争论,计时日期从中更新世晚期到晚更新世早期。在这里,我们为柳江人类化石提供了新的年龄估计和修订的起源信息,它们是中国智人最完整的化石骨骼之一。人类化石和放射性碳的U系列测年和含化石沉积物上的光学刺激发光测年提供了约33,000至23,000年前(ka)的年龄。修订后的年龄估计与中国北方其他人类化石的日期一致,天元洞(~40.8-38.1ka)和周口店上洞(39.0-36.3ka),表明H.sapiens在东亚的地理上广泛存在于晚更新世,这对于更好地了解该地区的人类扩散和适应具有重要意义。
The emergence of Homo sapiens in Eastern Asia is a topic of significant research interest. However, well-preserved human fossils in secure, dateable contexts in this region are extremely rare, and often the subject of intense debate owing to stratigraphic and geochronological problems. Tongtianyan cave, in Liujiang District of Liuzhou City, southern
China is one of the most important fossils finds of H. sapiens, though its age has been debated, with chronometric dates ranging from the late Middle Pleistocene to the early Late Pleistocene. Here we provide new age estimates and revised provenience information for the Liujiang human fossils, which represent one of the most complete fossil skeletons of H. sapiens in
China. U-series dating on the human fossils and radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence dating on the fossil-bearing sediments provided ages ranging from ~33,000 to 23,000 years ago (ka). The revised age estimates correspond with the dates of other human fossils in northern
China, at Tianyuan Cave (~40.8-38.1 ka) and Zhoukoudian Upper Cave (39.0-36.3 ka), indicating the geographically widespread presence of H. sapiens across Eastern Asia in the Late Pleistocene, which is significant for better understanding human dispersals and adaptations in the region.