Observation. Pottery fragments were recovered from cave layers in Jiangxi, China. The excavators analyzed the stratigraphy at microscopic scale and dated associated charcoal and bone. They report contexts with early pottery at 20,000–19,000 cal BP, long before local agriculture. Wu et al., Science (2012); Cohen and colleagues, archaeological reassessment (2017).
Dated material and dispute. The radiocarbon samples are associated with, rather than manufactured into, the sherds. One comparative radiocarbon analysis argues the specific ~20 ka claim cannot be substantiated. The published disagreement calls for sample-by-sample context review; it does not make the observed pottery disappear.
Claim status. observed: fired ceramic vessels in prehistoric deposits. dated/contested in detail: their oldest proposed age. well-supported broader counterexample: pottery appeared among East Asian foraging societies; a ceramic container does not require a farming economy. Next test: reproduce the complete sample-to-layer-to-sherd chain, compare disturbance assessments, and keep Xianrendong separate from later East Asian farming villages.