Chronology of Late Pleistocene Humans in Eurasia: Results and Perspectives

Abstract

ABSTRACT. A compilation of direct age determinations for Late Pleistocene human fossils in eastern Europe and Asia is presented in this paper, and current problems with the dating of hominids in these regions are discussed. Only 25 human finds (4 Neanderthals and 21 modern humans) have been directly dated from Pleistocene eastern Europe and Asia. Indirect dating of human remains (using presumably associated organics) often is insecure, especially when information about the exact provenance of human fossils is lacking. Continuation of direct dating of Late Pleistocene humans in Eurasia, primarily with the help of the accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) ,4 C method, is therefore an urgent task.

Direct Radiocarbon Dating of Late Pleistocene Hominids in Eurasia: Current Status, Problems, and Perspectives

“…Also, most of the 14 C dates have been evaluated by the authors of the original reports and in several review articles (e.g. Higham et al 2006aHigham et al , 2011Street et al 2006;Pinhasi et al 2011;Prat et al 2011;White and Pettitt 2012;Keates et al 2012), and we agree with their evaluations. Furthermore, several 14 C dates that were not accepted by the original authors are mentioned in the footnotes of Table 1 as "rejected.…”

“…This calls for more serious efforts to increase the age determinations for Late Pleistocene humans. Recent overviews of the Eurasian records are presented by Higham et al (2011), Prat et al (2011), and Keates et al (2012). This article reports the latest developments and discusses some of the existing problems.…”

The Siberian Late Pleistocene Mammal Fossils in Numerical Perspective: Review of Christy G. TurnerII , Nicolai D. Ovodov and Olga V. Pavlova. Animal Teeth and Human Tools: A Taphonomic Odyssey in Ice Age Siberia. 2013. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN: 978-1-107-03029-9; 490 + xi pages, with 269 figures and 34 tables. List price $110 US (hardback).

“…This once again highlights the necessity of direct 14 C dating of presumably Pleistocene human fossils worldwide (e.g. Keates et al 2012).…”

The Niah Caves in Chronological Context: Review of Barker Graeme (editor), Rainforest Foraging and Farming in Island Southeast Asia. 2013. Cambridge: McDonald Institute of Archaeological Research; ISBN: 978-1-902937-54-0; xx+410 pages, with 279 illustrations and 60 tables. £62.00 (hardback); and Barker Graeme and Farr Lucy (editors), Archaeological Investigations in the Niah Caves, Sarawak. 2016. Cambridge: McDonald Institute of Archaeological Research; ISBN: 978-1-902937-60-1; xxx+562 pages, with 298 ill

“…It was therefore suggested that the skull may have been inserted by ancient people into the older sediments. The Deep Skull is still one of the few directly dated Pleistocene human remains in Southeast Asia (see Keates et al 2012), and in the entire Asia (see Kuzmin and Keates 2014). Recently, anthropological re-study of the Deep Skull was conducted (Curnoe et al 2016); it is proposed that it belongs to a female of advanced age, and is morphologically close to early modern humans from mainland East Asia.…”