Yuchanyan Cave

Yuchanyan Cave
History
Location in China
Location	Hunan
Region	southern China
Coordinates	25°36′24″N 111°28′58″E / 25.6067°N 111.4828°E / 25.6067; 111.4828
Founded	21,000 BP
Abandoned	13,800 BP
Periods	Paleolithic China

Yuchanyan Cave is an archeological site in Daoxian County, Hunan, China. The site yielded sherds of ceramic vessels and other artifacts which were dated by analysis of charcoal and bone collagen, giving a date range of 17,500 to 18,300 years old for the pottery.^[1] The pottery specimens may be the oldest known examples of pottery.^[2]

The cave yielded fragmentary remains of 2 or more ceramic vessels, in addition to large amounts of ash, a rich animal bone assemblage, cobble and flake artifacts, bone tools, and shell tools. The artifacts indicate that the cave was a Late Paleolithic foragers' camp. Here we report on the radiocarbon ages of the sediments based on analyses of charcoal and bone collagen. The best-preserved charcoal and bone samples were identified by prescreening in the field and laboratory. The dates range from around 21,000 to 13,800 cal BP. The age of the ancient pottery ranges between 18,300 and 15,430 cal BP. Charcoal and bone collagen samples located above and below one of the fragments produced dates of around 18,000. These ceramic potsherds therefore provide some of the earliest evidence for pottery making in China.

Notes

↑ Boaretto, E.; et al. (2009). "Radiocarbon dating of charcoal and bone collagen associated with early pottery at Yuchanyan Cave, Hunan Province, China". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 106 (24): 9537–9538. Bibcode:2009PNAS..106.9595B. doi:10.1073/pnas.0900539106.
↑ 'Oldest pottery' found in China

External links

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences article

Prehistoric Asia

Paleolithic	Homo erectus georgicus Japanese Paleolithic Java Man List of Paleolithic sites in China Paleolithic Mesopotamia Peking Man Riwat Soanian Sangiran South Asian Stone Age Ubeidiya Xiaochangliang

Neolithic	Fertile crescent Early Neolithic settlements Khiamian Natufian culture Neolithic China Neolithic Tibet Neolithic Korea Neolithic Revolution Neolithic South Asia Ohalo Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (Mesopotamia) Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (Mesopotamia)

Chalcolithic	Daimabad Halaf culture Uruk period

Bronze Age	Andronovo culture Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex Bronze Age Anatolia Bronze Age Caucasus Bronze Age China Bronze Age India Bronze Age Korea Bronze Age Levant List of Bronze Age sites in China Seima-Turbino phenomenon

List of archaeological periods List of time periods

Coordinates: 25°36′24″N 111°28′58″E / 25.60667°N 111.48278°E / 25.60667; 111.48278

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