Late Pleistocene glacial outwash terraces and modern
glaciers in the Xidatan area. excavations in 2003 will
concentrate on abundant archaeological materials in
stratified loess caps on these terraces




13,000 year old hearth from the Qinghai Lake Basin






Obsidian microblade core from Erdaogou, Qinghai, 5000 m asl. This obsidan
has been chemically characterized by Richard Hughes and is identified at several
sites on the Plateau. It is known to have been transported over distances
of at least 200 km.




Late Pleistocene beach from Da Qaidam

Late Plestocene beach in Da Qaidam, Qinghai


John Olsen examines an 18,000 year old ice-wedge cast
in a Pleistocene beach at Lenghu, Qinghai.

Senior scientists of the Tibet Paleolithic Project examine the
 cleaned stratigraphic profile at Heimahe, Qinghai Lake.


 

Obsidian artifacts from Terrace 4 at Xidatan, Qinghai (Tibet).



Modern glaciers near Terrace 5 at Xidatan, Qinghai (Tibet),
4400 m above sea level. Terrace 5 is dated to about
12,000 years ago using cosmogenic Be-Al dating.
Archaeological materials on Terrace 4 (West of the pictured
location) are dated to about 6000-7000 years ago and include
obsidian artifacts traced to even higher elevation sites on the Plateau.















Terminal Pleistocene and Holocene loess exposure at Heimahe, Qinghai Lake (Tibet), 3100 m above
sea level. Human occupation surfaces with fire pits, cobbles, stone tools and bone are found at the base
of the exposure and are dated to about 12,913 years ago. Note the buried paleosol at approximately 2m
below the surface. The Tibet Paleolithic Project is studying climate change and hunter-gatherer adaptations
on Plateau envioronments during the last glacial cycle. Scale bar at right is in 0.5m units.