The Sima de los Huesos hominids date to beyond U/Th equilibrium (>350 kyr) and perhaps to 400-500 kyr: New radiometric dates

Bischoff, J. L.; Shamp, D. D.; Aramburu, A.; Arsuaga, J. L.; Carbonell, E.; Bermudez, de, Castro, J. M.

Abstract:

The Sima de los Huesos site of the Atapuerca complex near Burgos, Spain contains the skeletal remains of at least 28 individuals in a mud breccia underlying an accumulation of the Middle Pleistocene cave bear (U. deningeri). Earlier dating estimates of 200 to 320 kyr were based on U-series and ESR methods applied to bones, made inaccurate by unquantifiable uranium cycling. We report here on a new discovery within the Sima de los Huesos of human bones stratigraphically underlying an in situ speleothem. U-series analyses of the speleothem shows the lower part to be at isotopic U/Th equilibrium, translating to a firm lower limit of 350 kyr for the SH hominids. Finite dates on the upper part suggest a speleothem growth rate of c. 1 cm/32 kyr. This rate, along with paleontological constraints, place the likely age of the hominids in the interval of 400 to 600 kyr. ?? 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

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Article

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70025902

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Bischoff, J. L.; Shamp, D. D.; Aramburu, A.; Arsuaga, J. L.; Carbonell, E.; Bermudez, de, Castro, J. M.

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280

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English

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Journal of Archaeological Science

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The Sima de los Huesos hominids date to beyond U/Th equilibrium (>350 kyr) and perhaps to 400-500 kyr: New radiometric dates; 2003; Article; Journal; Journal of Archaeological Science; Bischoff, J. L.; Shamp, D. D.; Aramburu, A.; Arsuaga, J. L.; Carbonell, E.; Bermudez, de, Castro, J. M.