Yongshan Cave Site

Yongshan Cave Site

The Yongshan Cave Site is a cultural relic protection unit of Jiangxi Province.

The Yongshan Cave Site is located in a rock cave on the mountainside of Yongshan Mountain in Yongshan Town, about 33 kilometers north of Leping City. The cave is 9 meters high, 15 meters wide, and approximately 200 meters long.

In November 1962, the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences conducted its first investigation and found that the deposits near the cave entrance were divided into four layers. The third layer yielded a variety of animal fossils and quartz stone artifacts, one of which showed clear signs of human workmanship. The associated animal fossils included porcupine, black rat, saber-toothed elephant, rhinoceros, buffalo, sheep, and sambar deer.

After identification by the renowned Chinese paleolithic archaeologist and paleoanthropologist, Dr. Jia Lanpo, the fossils discovered at the Yongshan Cave Site were determined to be from the Middle Pleistocene fauna of South China. The Yongshan Cave Site is a cave site from the middle to late Paleolithic Age, dating back approximately 100,000 years. The original animal fossils are preserved at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. This site represents the first Paleolithic site discovered in Jiangxi Province. A photo of the site was published in the fourth issue of the People's Daily in 1964. In December 1987, it was designated as a cultural relic protection unit of Jiangxi Province.

Further Reading:

· Third Batch of Cultural Relic Protection Units of Jiangxi Province