Earliest presence of humans in northeast Asia

The timing of the earliest habitation and oldest stone technologies in diff erent regions of the world remains a contentious topic in the study of huma n evolution(1-4). Here we contribute to this debate with detailed magnetost ratigraphic results on two exposed parallel sections of lacustrine sediment s at Xiaochangliang in the Nihewan Basin, north China; these results place stringent controls on the age of Palaeolithic stone artifacts that were ori ginally reported over two decades ago(5). Our palaeomagnetic findings indic ate that the artifact layer resides in a reverse polarity magnetozone bound ed by the Olduvai and Jaramillo subchrons. Coupled with an estimated rate o f sedimentation, these findings constrain the layer's age to roughly 1.36 m illion years ago. This result represents the age of the oldest known stone assemblage comprising recognizable types of Palaeolithic tool in east Asia, and the earliest definite occupation in this region as far north as 40 deg rees N.