 Sign with cave layout and rock art | |
  Location in Myanmar | |
| Alternative name | Padalin |
|---|---|
| Location | Ywangan Township,Taunggyi District,Shan State,Myanmar |
| Coordinates | 21°6′0″N96°18′0″E / 21.10000°N 96.30000°E /21.10000; 96.30000 |
ThePadah-Lin Caves (Burmese:ဗဒလင်းဂူ,pronounced[bədəlíɰ̃ɡù]; alsoPadalin orBadalin[1]) arelimestone caves located inTaunggyi District,Shan State,Burma (Myanmar). It is located near a path from Nyaunggyat toYebock,[2] on a spur of the Nwalabo mountains within thePanlaung Reserved Forest.[3] There are two caves; the smaller of the two is arock 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 activespeleothem 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 theUNESCOWorld 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 300cupules have been documented in the rockshelter.[1]
Excavations at the rock shelter from 1969 to 1972 recovered seven pieces of charcoal and bone that wereradiocarbon dated to between 1,750 and 13,000 yearsBP.[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 byBen Marwick in 2016 revealed deposits dating to 65,000 years ago, and flaked stone artefacts dating to 25,000 years ago.[7]
A smallBuddhist 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.
