Luobi Cave
this karst cave sits under the face of Yin Ridge
some 9 plus miles from Sanya City, China, with an entrance 40
feet high and 30 feet wide, with the interior rising almost 60
feet, and floor space of some 1500 square feet, and two enormous
stalactites hanging down. There are many inscriptions carved
into the walls of the cave and believed to date from the Yuan
dynasty in 1271 to 1368 AD. One such inscription provides the
exact date of 1283 AD, and it is later mentioned in the Ming
dynasty records for Hainan province that was compiled during the
reign of the Zhengde emperor in 1505 to 1525 AD. During the
period between 1992 and 1993, archaeologists would do a complete
excavation of the cave as well as survey over 750 square feet,
discovering eight fossilized human teeth, several hundred
fossilized animal bones, stone and bone tools and over 70,000
sea shells and evidence of ancient fires. Radiocarbon dating put
the discoveries from the late upper Paleolithic period from
10,000 years ago and showcase the earliest evidence of human
remains in the province, along with the southernmost happening
of stone tools from the era. The cave became a national
protected site in 2001 and according to legend, anyone that has
water dripped on them from the stalactites will become a great
writer, with a good number of large flat stones laid across the
floor believed to have been inkstones that were used by the
Taoist immortals as writing tables. Nearby, the Xianlang Cave is
believed to have been the home of a female immortal that had
come down from heaven and married a human from the local Li
minority.
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