Radiocarbon dating of the Mansuri Paleolithic site, Cheongwon, Korea

Construction of a new science complex in Osong, Cheongwon-gun, Korea, has allowed the investigation of 14 different Paleolithic localities, excavated during 2005-2007. Here, we investigated localities 1 and 12 of the Mansuri Paleolithic site to obtain chronological information using radiocarbon dating. The soil deposition rates varied from 0.09 to 0.15 mm/yr over the period ranging from 33 to 31 kyr BP for locality 1. Locality 12 samples were more recent, <10 ka, and have similar accumulation rates, averaging 0.11 mm/yr. The soil ages of locality 12 were found to be younger than 10 kyr BP. Results for both soil and organic materials at this locality gave much younger ages at shallower depths than the ages expected by the Korean Paleolithic cultural history for this region. Therefore, these more recent deposits may not be associated with the cultural layers and are interpreted to have been hydrologically modified following emplacement. ¹⁴C dates of the soil and organic materials at locality 12 confirm that there is evidence for multiple human occupations throughout the last 9 kyr BP.