Longquan Cave Site

Longquan Cave Site

The Longquan Cave Site is a cultural relic protection unit of Henan Province.

The Longquan Cave Site is located at the foot of Nanlupu Slope, south of Beimiaopo, on Xinghua Road, Chengguan Town, Luanchuan County, Luoyang City, Henan Province. It lies approximately 50 meters northwest of the west gate of present-day Longquanshan Park. Its geographical coordinates are: latitude 33°47′24.0″N, longitude 111°36′28.0″E, and an elevation of 750 meters.

The cave entrance is oval in shape, 3 meters wide from north to south, and 2 meters high from bottom to top. The cave’s overhanging lip was blasted away by stone quarry workers in the 1970s. A large number of animal bone fossils have been found at and inside the cave entrance, but they were damaged as people excavated and looted them, mistakenly believing them to be dinosaur bones. In 1978, the Luanchuan County Municipal Office designated this cave as a dinosaur site. Currently, the exposed part of the cave is 2 meters deep and extends westward into the hillside. The interior remains filled with silt and debris from mudflows; the soil is yellowish-brown and loose. During the Third National Cultural Relics Survey, staff from the Luanchuan County Cultural Relics Management Office conducted a new investigation of the cave and discovered that animal bone fossils were still present. They also collected stone artifacts suspected to be scrapers, points, burins, flakes, and silex fragments such as quartzite tools from the soil layers. Between February and April 2011, a joint excavation was carried out by researchers from Beijing Normal University, the Luoyang Cultural Relics Work Team (now renamed the Luoyang Cultural Relics and Archaeology Research Institute), and the Luanchuan County Cultural Relics Management Office. The excavation yielded 512 stone artifacts, including 96 cores, 60 flakes, 73 tools, 58 implements, and 225 chunks. Additionally, a large number of silex fragments and debris were washed out. The primary methods used in making the stone artifacts were hammering and battering. Among the hammered flakes, those with roughly equal length and width were in the majority, with nearly 30% resembling blade flakes. Tools were mainly scrapers, along with a small number of points, awls, drills, and burins. One suspected bone tool and one hearth were also found. The fossils unearthed included those of rhinoceros, cattle, deer, horses, pigs, dogs, sheep, and dozens of other species. The article "Preliminary Study of Stone Artifacts from the Longquan Cave Site," authored by Zhou Li, Du Shuisheng, and others, was published in Volume 31, Issue 6 of the 2011 journal Quaternary Sciences. During the excavation of this cave, another cave, dubbed Longquan No. 2 Cave, was discovered about 10 meters to the south. The floor and walls of this second cave also had thick, soft soil layers containing a large number of stone tools, flakes, silex fragments, and animal bone fossils. This cave has also suffered varying degrees of damage due to digging, stone quarrying, rainwater, and mountain floods, and awaits rescue excavation.

The Longquan Cave Site is the first scientifically excavated and studied Late Paleolithic cave site in the Funiu Mountain area. Its discovery provides important data for a comprehensive understanding of the culture of China’s Late Paleolithic period and the behavior of modern humans. It holds significant historical, technological, academic, and research value for the study of the Late Paleolithic era.

Chengguan Town: Chengguan Town is the political, economic, cultural, financial, and information hub of Luanchuan County. It is the seat of the Luanchuan County Committee and County Government, covering a total area of 8.4 square kilometers. It governs 5 neighborhood committees, 3 administrative villages, and 63 resident groups, with a permanent population of over 14,000 and an urban population of over 70,000.

In recent years, under the correct leadership of the county Party committee and government, Chengguan Town has thoroughly implemented the Scientific Outlook on Development. With the goal of “bringing prosperity to residents and strengthening the town,” it adheres unwaveringly to the development strategy of “boosting commerce, strengthening tourism, focusing on urban construction, and maintaining stability.” It is accelerating efforts to become an “economically strong town, a culturally and educationally advanced town, a…” More details about Chengguan Town ++

Further reading:

· Seventh Batch of Henan Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units