Oldest human traces from the southern Tibetan Plateau in a new light
Stone tools have been made by humans and their ancestors for millions of years. For archaeologists, these rocky remnants—lithic artifacts 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 artifacts, 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 with, for example, organic material. The age of such organic material can be constrained via the radiocarbon technique. If such datable organic remains are missing or if stone artifacts lack a stratified sedimentary context, but rather occur as scattered surface artifacts, numerical dating becomes very difficult or is simply impossible.
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