Ancient site · Other
Xianrendong Cave
Also known as Xianren Cave, Diaotonghuan
Xianrendong is a small limestone cave in Wannian County, Jiangxi, which together with the nearby Diaotonghuan rock shelter has produced the oldest pottery yet known anywhere in the world. A 2012 study dated the earliest sherds to 20,000–19,000 years ago, near the end of the last Ice Age.
Many fragments carry scorch marks, so the pots were probably used for cooking. They were made by mobile hunter-gatherers thousands of years before farming began, which overturned the old idea that pottery came only after agriculture. Later layers hold evidence of wild and then cultivated rice.
- Dates
- pottery c. 18,000 BCE (20,000–19,000 years ago); used to c. 8000 BCE
- Still standing
- Yes
- Location
- 28.74° N, 117.17° E
How we know
No writing existed; the age of the pottery comes from radiocarbon dates on the soil layers around the sherds, published in Science in 2012.
Nearby sites
- Shangshan c. 9400–6600 BCE (11,400–8600 cal BP)
- Liangzhu City c. 3300–2300 BCE
- Mawangdui burials c. 186–160s BCE
- Hemudu c. 5500–3300 BCE
- Pengtoushan c. 7500–6100 BCE
- Jiahu c. 7000–5700 BCE