Vertebrate burrows in late pleistocene paleosols at Korean Palaeolithic sites and their significance as a stratigraphic marker

Abstract

A vertebrate burrow-bearing layer of late Pleistocene age is commonly found at many Paleolithic archaeological sites in Korea. The burrows are straight to slightly curved in horizontal (plan) view and gently inclined in lateral (sectional) view. They are interpreted as having been produced by rodent-like mammals based on their size and architecture. The significance of such burrow-bearing layers as a characteristic stratigraphic marker unit is demonstrated by high burrow abundance, consistent stratigraphic position, lack of stratigraphic recurrence at these sites, and widespread geographic extent. Three dating methods, tephrochronology, radiocarbon, and OSL dating, were used to infer the age of these burrow-bearing layers. The dating results indicate that they were formed between ca. 40,000 and 25,000 yr (MIS 3−2), and this suggests that this layer can be used as a stratigraphic time-marker in late Pleistocene paleosol sequences for this region.

A Preliminary Study of Rodent Burrows at Lake Hovsgol, Mongolia: Comparison with the Late Pleistocene Rodent Burrows of Korea

“…Mongolia (this study) Korea (Lim et al, 2004(Lim et al, , 2007 Diameter mostly 8-10 cm mostly 7-10 cm X-sectional shape circular or elliptical circular or elliptical Architecture gently inclined to subhorizontal, straight to slightly curved gently inclined to subhorizontal, straight to slightly curved Branching high angle branches (not common) high angle branches (not common) Penetration depth ca. 1-2 m ca.…”

“…1-2 m ca. 1-2 m Burrower remains fecal pellets none Burrow fill passive fill (soil, pebble), fecal pellets well-laminated clays, passive fill (mainly soils) Lim et al, 2004;Lim et al, 2007 …”

“…척추동물 서관 구조는 전기 데본기부터 보 고되기 시작하여 (Allen and Williams, 1981;O'Sullivan et al, 1986), 최근에는 플라이스토세 후기의 설치류 서관 구조가 다수 보고된 바 있다 (Lim et al, 2004;Lim et al, 2007;Tobin, 2004aTobin, , 2004bZanina et al, 2011;Pietsch, 2013;Pietsch et al, 2014 (Fig. 2a), 횡단면에서는 완만한 경사를 가지는 직선형의 횡단면이 관찰된다 (Fig.…”

The Persistence of Mode 1 Technology in the Korean Late Paleolithic

“…A possible reason why cultural layer 3 seems to be older than the layer below it is the mechanical reworking of organic matter and subsequent contamination. For further discussion, see [26], [36]. Courtesy of Jeolla Research Institute of Cultural Heritage, Korea.…”

“…These extraordinarily thin structures are easily interpreted as thin fissures resulting from desiccation [32]. Nevertheless, many Korean authors claimed that these structures formed under periglacial conditions during OIS 2 and 4 [25] or under cold and arid conditions [23], [26]. Normally, the younger wedges are attributed to MIS 2, while the older ones are attributed to MIS 4 [33].…”