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Magnetostratigraphic dating of the Donggutuo and Maliang Paleolithic sites in the Nihewan Basin, North China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Hongqiang Wang ,
Chenglong Deng ,
Rixiang Zhu ,
Qi Wei ,
Yamei Hou  and
Eric Boëda
Hongqiang Wang*
Affiliation:
Paleomagnetism and Geochronology Laboratory (SKL-LTE), Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China
Chenglong Deng
Affiliation:
Paleomagnetism and Geochronology Laboratory (SKL-LTE), Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China
Rixiang Zhu
Affiliation:
Paleomagnetism and Geochronology Laboratory (SKL-LTE), Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China
Qi Wei
Affiliation:
Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, China
Yamei Hou
Affiliation:
Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100044, China
Eric Boëda
Affiliation:
Maison de L'Archéologie et de l'Ethnologie, Université Paris X, Nanterre 92023, France
*
*Corresponding author. E-mail addresses:[email protected] (H. Wang) [email protected] (C. Deng) [email protected] (R. Zhu) [email protected] (Y. Hou)
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Abstract

A detailed magnetostratigraphic investigation, coupled with rock-magnetic studies, was carried out on a lacustrine sequence in the eastern Nihewan Basin, Northern China, which contains the Donggutuo and Maliang Paleolithic sites. Magnetite and hematite were identified as the main carriers for the characteristic remanent magnetizations. Magnetostratigraphic results show that the lacustrine sequence recorded the late Matuyama and Brunhes chrons. Furthermore, the Maliang artifact layer occurs just below the Brunhes/Matuyama boundary, and the Donggutuo artifact layer is just below the Jaramillo onset. Therefore, the age of the Maliang and Donggutuo artifact layers can be definitely estimated to be about 0.78 myr and 1.1 myr, respectively. These two paleomagnetic ages, coupled with previously obtained paleomagnetic data of the Majuangou, Xiaochangliang, Banshan, Lantian, and Xihoudu Paleolithic sites, suggest an expansion and lengthy flourishing of human groups from northern to north-central China during the entire Early Pleistocene.

Keywords

MagnetostratigraphyPaleolithic sitePleistoceneDonggutuoMaliangNihewan BasinNorth China
Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 64 , Issue 1 , July 2005 , pp. 1 - 11
Copyright
University of Washington

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