鄂西-三峡地区密集分布着众多更新世古人类化石地点，包括从早更新世的早期人科成员至晚更新世的现代人化石。这些丰富的古人类资源及近期发表的以河南许昌人为代表的北方人类化石地点对于研究东亚地区古人类的生存与演化具有非常重要的学术价值。但由于缺少精准的测年技术手段，制约了鄂西-三峡地区古人类地点的系统年代学研究。ESR/铀系联合测年与宇宙成因核素26Al/10Be埋藏测年是近年发展完善的同位素测年方法，可分别对动物牙齿化石和石器及石英沉积物进行精准定年，是目前早期人类遗址最有效的绝对测年方法。本项目拟综合应用上述两种测年方法对鄂西-三峡地区的早中更新世古人类遗址开展年代学研究，旨在通过对遗址中化石、石制品及石英沉积物几种不同测年对象的综合测年研究相互补充检验，获得鄂西-三峡地区更新世古人类遗址的可靠年龄并建立该地区古人类遗址的年代序列，为研究我国及东亚地区古人类的生存与演化提供坚实的年代学依据。

There are plenty of palaeoanthropological sites discovered in West Hubei and the Three Gorges region, including the early hominid, homo erectus and homo sapiens fossils from Early Pleistocene to Late Pleistocene. These enriched palaeoanthropological resources with other human fossils from North China represented by recent published Xuchang crania have a significant value for studying the existence and evolution of ancient human in East Asia. However, systematic chronological studies of the Early-Middle Pleistocene palaeoanthropological sites in West Hubei and the Three Gorges region are absent due to the lack of precise dating techniques. Coupled ESR/U-series fossil dating and cosmogenic nuclides 26Al/10Be burial dating are two emerging radioisotopic dating methods which could be used on mammalian fossil teeth and quartz sediments and/or stone artifacts, respectively. These are the most feasible dating methods to study the early homo sites at present. This project intends to integrate these methods to date the Early-Middle Pleistocene palaeoanthropological sites in West Hubei and the Three Gorges region, including Jianshi Longgudong Cave. Moreover, in order to obtain more reliable results, different materials (fossils, stone artifacts and sediments) are applied in dating. This work will establish a time sequence of the palaeoanthropological sites in West Hubei and the Three Gorges region, and provide a solid chronological evidence for studying the survival and evolution of ancient human in China and East Asia.