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World-first artefact dating method shows humans have lived in shadow of Himalayas for more than 5,000 years
A new technique suitable for dating ancient stone tools has revealed the presence of early humans on the Tibetan Plateau
Few parts of the world would seem as inhospitable to humans as the highlands of the Tibetan Plateau, near the Himalayas. Archaeologists have long wondered when, where and how our ancestors began to explore and occupy these landscapes.
But evidence of early human presence on the plateau has been scarce – and dating the few remaining traces has proven an ongoing challenge.
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Oldest human traces from southern Tibetan Plateau in a new light
For the first time, Michael Meyer and Luke Gliganic from the Department of Geology at the University of Innsbruck have used a new optical dating technique to directly constrain the age of prehistoric stone artefacts from an archaeological site southern Tibet. The findings are more than 5,000 years old and thus the oldest evidence of human presence in this part of the Tibetan Plateau.
Stone tools have been made by humans and their ancestors for millions of years. For archaeologists these rocky remnants – lithic artefacts and flakes – are of key importance. Because of their high preservation potential they are among the most common findings in archaeological excavations. Worldwide, numerical dating of these lithic artefacts, especially when they occur as surface findings, remains a major challenge. Usually, stone tools cannot be dated directly, but only when they are embedded in sediment layers together w