Padah-Lin Caves are limestone caves located in Western Shan State

Shan State

Shan State is a state of Burma . Shan State borders China to the north, Laos to the east, and Thailand to the south, and five administrative divisions of Burma in the west. Largest of the 14 administrative divisions by land area, Shan State covers 155,800 km², almost a quarter of the total...

, Taunggyi District

Taunggyi District

Taunggyi District is a district of Shan State in Burma. The principal town and administrative center is Taunggyi. This district has 12 towns and 3001 villages.-Townships:The district contains the following townships:*Taunggyi Township*Nyaungshwe Township...

, Burma near a path from Nyaunggyatt to Yebock, on a spur of the Nwalabo mountains within the Panlaung Reserved Forest. There are two caves; the smaller of the two contains paintings

Cave painting

Cave paintings are paintings on cave walls and ceilings, and the term is used especially for those dating to prehistoric times. The earliest European cave paintings date to the Aurignacian, some 32,000 years ago. The purpose of the paleolithic cave paintings is not known...

 from between the mesolithic

Mesolithic

The Mesolithic is an archaeological concept used to refer to certain groups of archaeological cultures defined as falling between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic....

 and early neolithic

Neolithic

The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...

 periods.

History

A superficial investigation of the caves in Shan State had been performed by the American South-East Expedition for Early Man in 1937–1938, and geologist U Khin Maung Kyaw discovered the paintings in 1960. In 1969–1972, the Burmese government organized a more in-depth investigation, and another expedition to the caves was mounted in 2004.

This site was added to the UNESCO

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

 World Heritage Tentative List on October 4, 1996 in the Cultural category.

Contents

Charcoal pieces that were found in one cave during initial excavations from 1969-72 have been carbon dated to 13,000 years old (before present). Cave paintings produced in red ochre have been found, as well as various paleolithic

Paleolithic

The Paleolithic Age, Era or Period, is a prehistoric period of human history distinguished by the development of the most primitive stone tools discovered , and covers roughly 99% of human technological prehistory...

 and neolithic

Neolithic

The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...

tools, over 1600 stone artifacts as well as many pieces of bone and red ochre. The walls of the cave have also been decorated with carved patterns.