Archeological deposits at Abric Romaní extend to 110 ka: U-series dating of a newly cored, 30 meter-thick section

The dates, which preserve stratigraphic order in all cases, range from ~ 55 ka for a sample from level N of the existing excavation to ~ 110 ka at the base of the core. The new dates show that tufas at Abric Romaní extend at least to early Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5. Mean accumulation rates in the core varied widely, from a minimum of 17 cm/ka during the later parts of MIS 5 to a maximum of 130 cm/ka during the Last Interglacial in early MIS 5, suggesting that a wetter hydroclimate prevailed in the region during periods of low global ice volume. The new dates show that burned travertine and sand intersected by the drill-core, which are likely indicators of human presence, are as old as ~ 100 ka. Thus, evidence for human presence at Abric Romaní now extends over ~ 60 thousand years.