Pesticides are fundamental to modern agriculture but pose significant environmental risks due to their persistence, bioaccumulation potential, and toxicity. This study systematically investigates the pollution characteristics and historical trends of 28 legacy organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and 17 currently-used pesticides (CUPs) in a sediment core from the Pearl River Estuary (PRE), assessing their potential as Anthropocene markers. The concentrations of Σ28OCPs ranged from 0.788 to 9.12 ng/g, dominated by dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethanes (DDTs, 49 ± 21 %) and chlordane (9 ± 6 %), while the Σ17CUP concentrations were an order of magnitude higher, ranging from 4.85 to 98.4 ng/g, with pyrethroids contributing 50-99 %. This shift in pesticide composition reflects the historical transition from OCPs to CUPs in China's pesticide usage. Temporal trends (1919-2019) showed that the concentrations of DDTs, chlordane, pyrethroids, and dicofol closely mirrored their usage history in China, demonstrating that sediment cores effectively record pesticide application history. Redundancy analysis identified total organic carbon, temperature, and precipitation as key environmental factors influencing the concentrations of DDTs, chlordane, pyrethroids, and dicofol. Correlation analysis further demonstrated that the concentrations of DDTs and phenothrin were linked to population, GDP, and agricultural activities, whereas dicofol, parathion-methyl, and bromophos-ethyl were primarily driven by agricultural activities. Moreover, DDT exhibited temporally abrupt trends, broad geographic signals, and permanent environmental records, suggesting its potential as a robust Anthropocene marker. This study provides critical insights into pesticide pollution dynamics and highlights the value of legacy and emerging pollutants in tracking human impacts on Earth's environmental systems.