Cave sediments pose dating challenges due to complex depositional and post-depositional processes that operate during their transport and accumulation. Here, we confront these challenges and investigate the stratified sedimentary sequence from Wonderwerk Cave, which is a key site for the Earlier Stone Age (ESA) in Southern Africa. The precise ages of the Wonderwerk sediments are crucial for our understanding of the timing of critical events in hominin biological and cultural evolution in the region, and its correlation with the global paleontological and archaeological records. We report new constraints for the Wonderwerk ESA chronology based on magnetostratigraphy, with 178 samples passing our rigorous selection criteria, and fourteen cosmogenic burial ages. We identify a previously unrecognized reversal within the Acheulean sequence attributed to the base of the Jaramillo (1.07 Ma) or Cobb Mtn. subchrons (1.22 Ma). This reversal sets an early age constraint for the onset of the Acheulean, and supports the assignment of the basal stratum to the Olduvai subchron (1.77–1.93 Ma). This temporal framework offers strong evidence for the early establishment of the Oldowan and associated hominins in Southern Africa. Notably, we found that cosmogenic burial ages of sediments older than 1 Ma are underestimated due to changes in the inherited ²⁶Al/¹⁰Be ratio of the quartz particles entering the cave. Back calculation of the inherited ²⁶Al/¹⁰Be ratios using magnetostratigraphic constraints reveals a decrease in the ²⁶Al/¹⁰Be ratio of the Kalahari sands with time. These results imply rapid aeolian transport in the Kalahari during the early Pleistocene which slowed during the Middle Pleistocene and enabled prolonged and deeper burial of sand while transported across the Kalahari Basin.

由于复杂的沉积和沉积后过程在运移和积累过程中起作用，洞穴沉积物提出了测年挑战。在这里，我们面临这些挑战，并研究了Wonderwerk洞穴的分层沉积序列，该洞穴是南部非洲早期石器时代（ESA）的重要地点。Wonderwerk沉积物的确切年龄对于我们了解该地区人类生物学和文化进化中关键事件的时机及其与全球古生物学和考古学记录的相关性至关重要。我们报告了基于地磁地层学的Wonderwerk ESA年表的新限制条件，其中178个样品通过了我们严格的选择标准，并且有14个宇宙成因的埋葬年龄。我们确定归因于Jaramillo（1.07 Ma）或Cobb Mtn基地的Acheulean序列内以前无法识别的逆转。副时（1.22 Ma）。这种逆转为Acheulean的发病设置了早期年龄限制，并支持将基础层分配给Olduvai次时代（1.77–1.93 Ma）。这个时间框架为在南部非洲早期建立奥尔多万和相关的人源提供了有力的证据。值得注意的是，我们发现，由于继承物的变化，年龄大于1 Ma的沉积物的宇宙成因埋葬年龄被低估了。这个时间框架为在南部非洲早期建立奥尔多万和相关的人源提供了有力的证据。值得注意的是，我们发现，由于继承物的变化，年龄大于1 Ma的沉积物的宇宙成因埋葬年龄被低估了。这个时间框架为在南部非洲早期建立奥尔多万和相关的人源提供了有力的证据。值得注意的是，我们发现，由于继承物的变化，年龄大于1 Ma的沉积物的宇宙成因埋葬年龄被低估了。进入洞穴的石英颗粒的比率为²⁶ Al / ¹⁰ Be。利用磁地层学约束反演继承的²⁶ Al / ¹⁰ Be比值表明，卡拉哈里砂的²⁶ Al / ¹⁰ Be比值随时间降低。这些结果表明，在更新世早期，风速在卡拉哈里进行，而在中更新世期间，风速减慢了，并使得在穿越卡拉哈里盆地的过程中，沙子的埋藏时间更长，深度更深。