AMS 14C chronology of the world's southernmost woolly mammoth (Mammuthus primigenius Blum.)

The world's definite southernmost woolly mammoth record is a molar from Ji’nan (around 36°N), Shandong Province, China. AMS 14C dating of the specimen, gave a conventional 14C age of 33,150±250 BP. The period of 40–30 ka BP corresponds to the later phase of the Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3a), recognized as the global interstadial of the last glacial period. However, it is known that the winter monsoon strengthened in Asia during the period 35–33 ka BP, and the age of the woolly mammoth specimen from Ji’nan corresponds to that age. The specimen suggests that this area became cold and dry in 33 ka BP, and grassland or open forest, suitable habitat for woolly mammoths, developed during this short time span. This age is similar to the age of the southernmost woolly mammoth record in Europe, therefore supporting a hypothesis by Porter and An [1995. Correlation between climate events in the North Atlantic and China during the last glaciation. Nature 375, 305–308] that an important component of Chinese palaeoclimates may be linked to changes in North Atlantic oceanic conditions.