Luminescence dating of reticulated red clay buried in Lanshanmiao Paleolithic site in Zhejiang Province, southern China

Abstract

The Lanshanmiao (LSM) Palaeolithic site, which was excavated in the summer of 2017 by the Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, is the only excavated palaeolithic site in central Zhejiang Province to date. Luminescence dating methods, including optical stimulated luminescence (OSL) and thermal transfer OSL (TT-OSL) for quartz and post-infrared (IR) stimulated luminescence (pIRIR 290) for feldspar, were used to determine the age of the LSM site. The results showed that the LSM section developed before 145.5 ± 12.5 ka and ended after 17.1 ± 1.0 ka. The TT-OSL dating of samples NJU2576 and NJU2615 showed that palaeolithic artifact-bearing layer was between 150 and 100 ka in age. The age range of the palaeolithic layer mainly corresponded to the transition between Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 6 and MIS5. Our study showed that hominins prominently occupied the LSM site during the glacial and interglacial stages, when it exhibited a floodplain environment.