the first estimate of lm3's age was made in 1976 by the team of scientists from the australian national university (anu) who excavated lm3. they estimated that lm3 was between 28,000 and 32,000 years old. they did not test lm3's remains directly; instead, they made their estimate through stratigraphic comparison with lm1. in 1987, an electron spin resonance test was done on pieces of bone from lm3's skeleton. this gave an estimate of his age at 31,000 years, plus or minus 7,000 years. in 1999, optical dating work was done on quartz from the lm3 burial site. the results indicated a burial older than 24,600 years (± 2,400) and younger than 43,300 years (± 3,800).