View source for Xianren Cave

{{short description|Cave and archaeological site in China}}
{{Distinguish|Fairy Cave (Jiujiang)}}
{{infobox ancient site
|name        = Xianren Cave
| image = Wannian Xianrendong yizhi 8816.jpg
| image_caption =
| image_size = 240
| map_type       = China
| map_alt        =
| map_caption    = Location in China
| map_size = 240
| relief         = 1
| location       = [[Jiangxi]]
| region         = Southern China
| coordinates    =   {{coord|28|44|10|N|117|10|25|E|region:FR-75|display=inline,title}}
| type           =
| part_of        =
| length =
| width =
| area =
| height =
| builder =
| material = [[Limestone]] [[Karst]]
| built          = [[18,000 BCE|20,000 BP]]
| abandoned      = 17,800 BP
| epochs         = [[Paleolithic China]]
| cultures       =
}}
The '''Xianren Cave''' ({{zh|s=仙人洞}}, ''Xiānréndòng''), together with the nearby '''Diaotonghuan''' ({{zh|s=吊桶环}}, ''Diàotǒnghuán'') [[rock shelter]], is an archaeological site in Dayuan Township ({{lang|zh-Hans|大源乡}}), [[Wannian County]] in the [[Jiangxi province]], China<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/photo/2008-08/31/content_9745287.htm|title=The unusual Xianren Cave (奇特的仙人洞)|language=zh|date=31 August 2008|access-date=February 26, 2011|archive-date=12 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170312200112/http://news.xinhuanet.com/photo/2008-08/31/content_9745287.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> and a location of historically important discoveries of prehistoric [[pottery]] [[Glossary of archaeology#potsherd|sherds]] that bears evidence of early [[rice]] cultivation. The cave's name refers to the legendary Chinese enlightened people, the [[Xian (Daoist)|Xian]] "immortals". The cave is {{Convert|7|m|ft|1|abbr=on}} high, {{cvt|11|m|ft|1|abbr=on}} wide, and {{cvt|14|m|ft|1|abbr=on}} deep.

A 2012 publication in the ''[[Science (journal)|Science]]'' journal announced that the earliest pottery yet known anywhere in the world was found at this site dating by [[Radiocarbon dating|radiocarbon]] to between 20,000 and 19,000 years [[Before Present|before present]], at the end of the [[Last Glacial Period]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2012/06/pottery-found-in-from-china-cave-confirmed-as-worlds-oldest/1#.UDiyGtZlRv0|title=Pottery found in China cave confirmed as world's oldest|author=Stanglin, Douglas|newspaper=[[USA Today]]|date=2012-06-29}}</ref><ref name="Science">{{cite journal|title=Early Pottery at 20,000 Years Ago in Xianrendong Cave, China|journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]]|date=June 29, 2012|volume=336|issue=6089|pages=1696–1700|doi=10.1126/science.1218643|bibcode = 2012Sci...336.1696W|pmid=22745428|last1=Wu|first1=X|last2=Zhang|first2=C|last3=Goldberg|first3=P|last4=Cohen|first4=D|last5=Pan|first5=Y|last6=Arpin|first6=T|last7=Bar-Yosef|first7=O|s2cid=37666548 }}</ref> The carbon 14 datation was established by carefully dating surrounding sediments.<ref name="Science"/> Many of the pottery fragments had scorch marks, suggesting that the pottery was used for cooking.<ref name="Science"/>

These early pottery containers were made well before the [[invention of agriculture]] (dated to 10,000 to 8,000 BC), by mobile foragers who hunted and gathered their food during the [[Last Glacial Maximum|Late Glacial Maximum]].<ref name="Science"/>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px" perrow="4">
File:Wannian Xianrendong yizhi 8805.jpg|Inside the cave
File:National Museum of China 2014.02.01 14-43-38.jpg|20,000–10,000-year-old pottery found in the cave, with re-construction repairs.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Huan|first1=Anthony|title=Ancient China: Neolithic|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/anthonyhuan/32661009357/in/album-72157706522993001/|website=National Museum of China|date=13 April 2019}}</ref>
File:Xianrendong Cave Pottery - 2.jpg|Xianrendong cave pottery fragment, radiocarbon dated to {{c.|20,000 BP}}<ref name="Science"/>
</gallery>

== See also ==
{{Continental Asia in 20000 BP|right|{{center|Location of the Xianren culture}}|{{location map~ |Continental Asia |lat=30|N |long=115|E |label=|position=|label_size=|mark=Orange dot (semi-transparent).png|marksize=18}}}}
* [[List of caves in China]]
* [[List of Neolithic cultures of China]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

{{commons category|Xianrendong & Diaotonghuan Site}}

{{Caves of China}}
{{Prehistoric Asia}}
{{Navbox prehistoric caves}}

[[Category:Caves of Jiangxi]]
[[Category:Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Jiangxi]]
[[Category:Archaeological sites in China]]
[[Category:Shangrao]]
[[Category:Paleolithic sites in China]]

{{Jiangxi-geo-stub}}