U-series dating of TP1, an almost complete human skeleton from Tuinplaas (Springbok Flats), South Africa

Abstract

The TP1 skeleton discovered in 1929 during quarry work at Tuinplaas, near Pretoria, South Africa, has generally been considered to date from the Middle Stone Age on the basis of artefacts and biostratigraphy at the site. However, no direct association between the skeleton and the lithics or faunal remains could be demonstrated, and the date of TP1 has remained uncertain. We present U-series dates measured directly on a fragment of TP1 using laser ablation mass spectrometry. The results constrain the age to between 11.0 ± 0.7 and 20 ± 3 kyr, placing TP1 in the Late Stone Age.