江苏镇江莲花洞动物化石铀系年代

莲花洞位于镇江市南约 6ｋｍ的白龙岗山北坡 (原在丹徒县境内 ) ,地理座标 119°2 4′Ｅ ,32°10′Ｎ。白龙山为宁镇山脉东支 ,走向近东西 ,顶峰海拔 118ｍ。溶洞发育于三迭纪青龙组灰岩 ,洞口标高约 35ｍ。 1981年 ,南京博物院等单位1 ] 对该地点进行发掘 ,获哺乳动物化石16种 ,其中人牙化石 1枚。洞内堆积自下而上被分为 4层 ,其中第 2层为棕红色亚粘土 ,含石灰岩碎块、铁锰质结核和大量动物化石。发掘者根据动物化石中有 3个绝灭种 ,将该地点定在“晚更新世或晚更新世早期” ,人牙化石被认为属于智人。韩德芬等2 ] 认为莲花洞在我国晚…

U-SERIES DATING OF FOSSIL TEETH FROM LIANHUA CAVE IN ZHENJIANG, JIANGSU PROVINCE

Lianhua Cave in the southern suburb of Zhengjiang City is one of the few hominid fossil-containing localities in Jiangsu Province.A human lower molar and numerous mammalian fossils of 16 species were recovered during an excavation season in 1981. Based on biostratigraphic studies,this site has been assigned to Late Pleistocene in time. 230Th/ 234U and 227Th/ 230Th age determinations were carried out on two in situ collected mammalian teeth,obtaining broadly consistent dates ranging from 104 to 136 ka,which should be indicative to the age of the hominid tooth.Morphologically the human tooth has been classified to late \%Homo sapiens\%. If correct,the present dates imply an early presence of late \% Homo sapiens\% in the lower reaches of Yangtse River.Parallel studies on Ganqian (Tubo),Liujiang and Bailiandong hominid sites in Guangxi,southern China,yielded similar results.Taken together,much earlier than previously estimated appearance of modern humans might be a general phenomenon in extended areas of China.