A new multidisciplinary age of 2.61–2.07 Ma for the Sterkfontein Member 4 australopiths

Abstract: Sterkfontein Caves is the single richest early hominin site in the world, with deposits yielding two potential species of Australopithecus, Paranthropus robustus, and early Homo, as well as an extensive faunal collection and stone tools. Recent advances in uranium-lead (U-Pb) dating of speleothems and palaeomagnetic analysis at Sterkfontein provide the first consistent chronological framework for Member 4 (MB4) and so the interned australopith fossils. Current data suggest that the MB4 deposit and so australopith remains accumulated over at least 400,000 years (2.4–2.0 Ma) if not 500,000–800,000 years. This long period of deposition should be taken into account when studying the MB4 australopith remains and looking at variability in both anatomy and other data such as isotopic evidence for diet.