Xianren Cave
Appearance
Location | Jiangxi |
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Region | southern China |
Coordinates | 29°33′56″N 115°57′31″E / 29.56556°N 115.95861°E |
History | |
Material | Limestone Karst |
Founded | 18,000 BP |
Abandoned | 17,800 BP |
Periods | Paleolithic China |
The Xianren Cave (Chinese: 仙人洞), together with the nearby Diaotonghuan (Chinese: 吊桶环) rock shelter, is an archaeological site in Dayuan Township (大源乡), Wannian County in the Jiangxi province, China[1] and a location of historically important discoveries of prehistoric pottery shards and it bears evidence of early rice cultivation. The cave's name refers to the legendary Chinese enlightened people, the Xian "immortals". The cave is 7 m (23.0 ft) high, 11 m (36.1 ft) wide, and 14 m (45.9 ft) deep.
A 2012 publication in the Science journal, announced that the earliest pottery yet known anywhere in the world was found at this site dating to between 20,000 and 19,000 years before present.[2][3]
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Inside the cave.
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10,000 year old pottery with re-constriction repairs found in the cave
See also
References
- ^ "The unusual Xianren Cave (奇特的仙人洞)" (in Chinese). 31 August 2008. Retrieved February 26, 2011.
- ^ Stanglin, Douglas (2012-06-29). "Pottery found in China cave confirmed as world's oldest". USA Today.
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(help) - ^ Wu, X; Zhang, C; Goldberg, P; Cohen, D; Pan, Y; Arpin, T; Bar-Yosef, O (June 29, 2012). "Early Pottery at 20,000 Years Ago in Xianrendong Cave, China". Science. 336 (6089): 1696–1700. Bibcode:2012Sci...336.1696W. doi:10.1126/science.1218643. PMID 22745428. Retrieved June 29, 2012.
- ^ Bar-Yosef, Ofer; Arpin, Trina; Pan, Yan; Cohen, David; Goldberg, Paul; Zhang, Chi; Wu, Xiaohong (29 June 2012). "Early Pottery at 20,000 Years Ago in Xianrendong Cave, China". Science. 336 (6089): 1696–1700. doi:10.1126/science.1218643. ISSN 0036-8075.
- ^ Marshall, Michael. "Oldest pottery hints at cooking's ice-age origins". www.newscientist.com.