François Sémah

Gamma-ray spectrometric dating of late Homo erectus skulls from Ngandong and Sambungmacan, Central Java, Indonesia.

Hominid fossils from Ngandong and Sambungmacan, Central Java, Indonesia, are considered to be the most anatomically derived and youngest representatives of Homo erectus. Nondestructive gamma-ray spectrometric dating of three of these Homo erectus skulls showed that all samples underwent uranium leaching. Nevertheless, we could establish minimum age estimates of around 40ka, with an upper age limit of around 60 to 70ka. This means that the Homo erectus of Java very likely survived the Toba eruption and may have been contemporaneous with the earliest Homo sapiens in Southeast Asia and Australasia.

Notes on the Morphology and Age of the Tabon Cave Fossil Homo sapiens

eusebio dizon, florent détroit , françois s émah, christophe falguères , s ébastien hameau, wilfredo ronquillo, and emmanuel cabanis Archaeology Division, National Museum of the Philippines, Manila, The Philippines (Dizon, Ronquillo)/Laboratoire de Préhistoire du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle et Laboratoire d’Anthropologie de l’Université de la Méditerranée, UMR 6569 du CNRS, IPH, 1, rue René Panhard, F75013 Paris, France (fdetroit@cimrs1.mnhn.fr) (Détroit, Sémah, Falguères, Hameau)/Service de Radiologie de l’Hôpital des Quinze-Vingt et UMR 6569 du CNRS, IPH, 1, rue René Panhard, F-75013 Paris, France (Cabanis). 14 i 02

Paleomagnetic data bearing on the age of high terrace deposits (Durance sequence) in Alpine valleys of Southeastern France

Abstract In the Durance valley, high terrace levels are stepped below the young. Villafranchian surface and separated from the middle and low terraces by a step 80 m high. A paleomagnetic study was made of a key bed of freshwater silt on the high terrace, that contains archaic faunal and floral elements. The section contains two sedimentary cycles with opposite polarities, which are therefore placed on either side of the Brunhes-Matuyama boundary. By comparison with the northern European climato-stratigraphy, this sequence is correlated with the base of the Cromerian complex. Taking into account the morphological relations to the upland morainic system, this youngest high terrace is assigned a Gunz age.