Reply to Pierret et al.: Stratigraphic and dating consistency reinforces the status of Tam Pa Ling fossil

We recently presented a human fossil from Tam Pa Ling (TPL), Laos (i.e., TPL1), that is the earliest definitively modern human fossil in eastern Asia (1). Unfounded criticism of this research, showing partial readings of this publication, has been raised by Pierret et al. (2). They allege that (i) the chronology is not stratigraphically consistent, (ii) TPL1 was an intrusive burial, and (iii) other human fossils in Asia are older.