Alternative name | Padalin |
---|---|
Location | Ywangan Township, Taunggyi District, Shan State, Myanmar |
Coordinates | 21°6′0″N 96°18′0″E / 21.10000°N 96.30000°E |
The Padah-Lin Caves ( Burmese: ဗဒလင်းဂူ, pronounced [bədəlíɰ̃ ɡù]; also Padalin or Badalin [1]) are limestone caves located in Taunggyi District, Shan State, Burma (Myanmar). It is located near a path from Nyaunggyat to Yebock, [2] on a spur of the Nwalabo mountains within the Panlaung Reserved Forest. [3] There are two caves; the smaller of the two is a rock shelter while the larger cave comprises nine chambers connected by narrow passages in a north-south axis, three large sinkholes that let natural light in, and several active speleothem formations. [4]
A superficial investigation of the caves in Shan State had been performed by the American South-East Expedition for Early Man in 1937 and 1938, and geologist U Khin Maung Kyaw discovered the paintings in 1960. [3] In 1969–1972, the Burmese government organized a more in-depth investigation, [3] and another expedition to the caves was mounted in 2004. [1]
The site was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List on 4 October 1996 in the Cultural category. [5]
Red ochre paintings of human hands, fish, bulls, bison, deer and other objects are visible at the rock shelter. [5] The art has not been directly dated. The walls of the cave have also been decorated with carved patterns. [6] More than 300 cupules have been documented in the rockshelter. [1]
Excavations at the rock shelter from 1969 to 1972 recovered seven pieces of charcoal and bone that were radiocarbon dated to between 1,750 and 13,000 years BP. [4] The excavation also recovered over 1,600 stone artifacts as well as many pieces of bone and red ochre. [3] The stone artifacts include unifacial choppers, bifacial chopping tools, perforated stone rings, adzes and scrapers. [4] Excavations in the larger cave conducted by Ben Marwick in 2016 revealed deposits dating to 65,000 years ago, and flaked stone artefacts dating to 25,000 years ago. [7]
A small Buddhist stupa has been erected at the eastern end of the rockshelter, and several stupas of varying sizes have been built in the chambers of the cave.
Alternative name | Padalin |
---|---|
Location | Ywangan Township, Taunggyi District, Shan State, Myanmar |
Coordinates | 21°6′0″N 96°18′0″E / 21.10000°N 96.30000°E |
The Padah-Lin Caves ( Burmese: ဗဒလင်းဂူ, pronounced [bədəlíɰ̃ ɡù]; also Padalin or Badalin [1]) are limestone caves located in Taunggyi District, Shan State, Burma (Myanmar). It is located near a path from Nyaunggyat to Yebock, [2] on a spur of the Nwalabo mountains within the Panlaung Reserved Forest. [3] There are two caves; the smaller of the two is a rock shelter while the larger cave comprises nine chambers connected by narrow passages in a north-south axis, three large sinkholes that let natural light in, and several active speleothem formations. [4]
A superficial investigation of the caves in Shan State had been performed by the American South-East Expedition for Early Man in 1937 and 1938, and geologist U Khin Maung Kyaw discovered the paintings in 1960. [3] In 1969–1972, the Burmese government organized a more in-depth investigation, [3] and another expedition to the caves was mounted in 2004. [1]
The site was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Tentative List on 4 October 1996 in the Cultural category. [5]
Red ochre paintings of human hands, fish, bulls, bison, deer and other objects are visible at the rock shelter. [5] The art has not been directly dated. The walls of the cave have also been decorated with carved patterns. [6] More than 300 cupules have been documented in the rockshelter. [1]
Excavations at the rock shelter from 1969 to 1972 recovered seven pieces of charcoal and bone that were radiocarbon dated to between 1,750 and 13,000 years BP. [4] The excavation also recovered over 1,600 stone artifacts as well as many pieces of bone and red ochre. [3] The stone artifacts include unifacial choppers, bifacial chopping tools, perforated stone rings, adzes and scrapers. [4] Excavations in the larger cave conducted by Ben Marwick in 2016 revealed deposits dating to 65,000 years ago, and flaked stone artefacts dating to 25,000 years ago. [7]
A small Buddhist stupa has been erected at the eastern end of the rockshelter, and several stupas of varying sizes have been built in the chambers of the cave.