Archaeologists observe the excavation site of the Luobi Cave relic site in Sanya, south China's Hainan province, Nov. 8, 2025. (Xinhua/Guo Cheng)

A prehistoric tomb dating back between 12,000 and 13,000 years was discovered in south China's Hainan province, which is believed to be the earliest tomb found on the island.

The archaeological research was jointly conducted by the Hainan Provincial Institute of Cultural Heritage and Archaeology, the School of Archaeology and Museology at Peking University, and the Sanya Museum.

The tomb, discovered at the Luobi Cave relic site in Sanya's Jiyang District, belonged to a child who was buried on his or her side with bent limbs. Shell ornaments were found near the head and waist, believed to be the earliest of their kind in China, offering valuable insights into Hainan's prehistoric culture and its cultural exchanges with Southeast Asia.

The age of the tomb was established using carbon-14 and uranium series dating methods.

The Luobi Cave site, discovered in 1983, has yielded human fossils, stone tools, bone implements and animal remains, providing the earliest evidence of human activity in southern China.

The new discoveries are highly significant for understanding the activity history of prehistoric humans on Hainan Island, reconstructing the island's prehistoric cultural sequence, and studying the exchange and spread of stone tool technology and culture with humans in South China, Southeast Asia and beyond, said Gao Xing, a research fellow at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.