Abstract: Deposits of the excavated area at the Dadong Cave in Panxian County, Guizhou Province, can be divided into three stratigraphic units, distributed in all parts of the main hall. Human fossils, stone artifacts and mammalian fauna were unearthed mainly from the second stratum, a breccia deposit. Angular rocks resulted from roof-fall and boulders are the main source of the deposits, filled with clay and sands,. The current U-series and ESR dating results indicate that early human activities in the cave began around 260 ka and ended at approximately 42 ka, which corresponds to Oxygen Isotope Stage 6 and 7. Strongly weathered dark deposits were detected from the lower breccia, suggesting a warm climatic period from 260 to 180 ka and corresponding to Oxygen Isotope Stage 7. The periodic climatic changes derived from the Dadong deposits can be compared with sequences of loess and glacia/ interglacial sequence of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Key words: Deposits; Paleoclimate and paleoenvironment; Oxygen Isotope Stage; Dadong cave, Panxian