Hot spring deposits of carbonate origin on the Tibetan Plateau display significant plasticity before undergoing diagenesis. As diagenesis is an irreversible process, travertine is a valuable archive for recording prehistoric human activities on the plateau. At the Quesang hot springs in the central plateau, six groups of hand and footprints have been discovered in travertine deposits of different ages. These findings offer critical insights into early human history and migration routes across the Tibetan Plateau since 200 ka ago. Previous studies have employed uranium-thorium (U-Th) dating to determine the age of the travertine at Quesang, indicating that deposition primarily occurred during interglacial periods. However, subsequent investigations have revealed inconsistencies in U-Th age estimates from the same travertine profiles, sparking ongoing debate. To address this, this study applied the single-aliquot regenerative-dose-isothermal thermoluminescence (SAR-ITL) dating method to the travertine deposits in this area. The reliability of the equivalent dose measurement protocol was verified via a series of controlled experiments, and dose rates were calculated using a homogeneous medium model to establish an accurate age framework. Major element analysis was also conducted to ensure the geochemical purity of the samples. These data and results confirm that the ITL dating method is highly reliable, making it a promising alternative for dating travertine over timescales of at least several million years. By dating 52 travertine samples, we found that travertine deposition was concentrated during warm and humid interglacial periods—such as MIS 3, MIS 5, and MIS 7—but also occurred during glacial periods, including MIS 2, MIS 6, and MIS 8. We established a high-resolution SAR-ITL chronological framework for the Quesang site, providing a robust temporal foundation for further investigation into prehistoric human activity patterns on the Tibetan Plateau. We suggest that the persistent and relatively stable hot-spring activity at Quesang created favorable micro-refugia, supporting the survival of prehistoric humans. Such habitat stability may help explain the presence of hominins on the plateau as early as ～200 ka.
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