New age constraints for hominid footprints found on Jeju Island, South Korea

In 2004 numerous hominid footprints, along with diverse animal footprints, were found in the Late Quaternary strata of Jeju Island, South Korea. However, the age of the sediments in which the footprints were found is still controversial. Previous age estimates included radiocarbon ages of ca. 15,000...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of archaeological science Vol. 37; no. 12; pp. 3338 - 3343
Main Authors Kim, Cheong Bin, Kim, Jeong Yul, Kim, Kyung Soo, Lim, Hyoun Soo
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2010
Elsevier
Subjects
Asia
Dating
Excavation and methods
Far East
Hominid footprints
Korea
Laboratory methods
Late Pleistocene
Methodology and general studies
Palaeolithic and mesolithic
Prehistory and protohistory
Proboscidean footprints
Radiocarbon dating
Far East
Asia
Korea
Radiocarbon dating
Late Pleistocene
Proboscidean footprints
Hominid footprints
Korea
Proboscidea
Sediment
Quaternary
Human palaeontology
Foot print
Radiocarbon
Animal
Dating
Hominid
Mass spectrometry
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Summary:In 2004 numerous hominid footprints, along with diverse animal footprints, were found in the Late Quaternary strata of Jeju Island, South Korea. However, the age of the sediments in which the footprints were found is still controversial. Previous age estimates included radiocarbon ages of ca. 15,000 yr BP (Late Pleistocene) and quartz optically stimulated luminescence ages of ca. 7000 yr BP (mid-Holocene). In this study we report on 11 AMS 14C dating results from a new set of samples collected from the footprint-bearing strata and from associated sediments. Despite some variations and age reversal, all samples collected from the footprint-bearing strata yielded 14C ages of late Pleistocene. These ages are comparable with previous radiocarbon dating results. Furthermore, the presence of the proboscidean footprints attributable to woolly mammoths in the footprint-bearing strata supports the radiocarbon dating results. Based on the new radiocarbon dates and the presence of the alleged mammoth footprints, the age of the hominid footprints found at Jeju Island is thought to be late Pleistocene (about 19,000–25,000 cal yr BP). Therefore, this is the second discovery of hominid footprints dated to the Pleistocene age in Asia, and the first to be discovered in Korea.
ISSN:0305-4403
1095-9238
DOI:10.1016/j.jas.2010.08.002