Chertovy Vorota Cave
| Пещера Чертовы Ворота | |
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 Shown within Primorsky Krai
Shown within Primorsky Krai
Shown within Primorsky Krai
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| Alternate name | Devil’s Gate Cave |
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| Location | Primorsky Krai, Russia |
| Region | Sikhote-Alin |
| Coordinates | 44°29′N 135°23′E / 44.483°N 135.383°ECoordinates: 44°29′N 135°23′E / 44.483°N 135.383°E |
| Altitude | 660 m (2,165 ft) |
| Type | karst cave |
| Length | 132 m (433 ft) |
| Width | 10 m (33 ft) |
| Area | 730 m2 (7,858 sq ft) |
| Volume | 2,950 m3 (104,178 cu ft) |
| Height | 16 m (52 ft) |
| History | |
| Founded | ca. 9,400 BP |
| Abandoned | ca. 7,200 BP |
| Periods | Neolithic |
| Cultures | Rudninskaya (Rudnaya) culture |
| Site notes | |
| Excavation dates | 1973 |
| Archaeologists | Zhanna Vasilievna Andreeva |
Chertovy Vorota Cave is a Neolithic archaeological site located in the Sikhote-Alin mountains, about 12 km (7 mi) from the town of Dalnegorsk in Primorsky Krai, Russia. The karst cave is located on a limestone cliff and lies about 35 m (115 ft) above the Krivaya River, a tributary of the Rudnaya River, below. Chertovy Vorota provides secure evidence for some of the oldest surviving textiles found in the archaeological record.
The cave consists of a main chamber, measuring around 45 m (148 ft) in length, and several smaller galleries behind it. The site was looted several times before the first archaeological excavations were performed in 1973. Around 600 lithic, osteological and shell artefacts, 700 pottery fragments, and over 700 animal bones were recovered from the site. A .6 cm thick jade disk made from brownish-green jade and measuring 5.2 cm (2 in) in diameter was also recovered from Chertovy Vorota.
The remains of racoon dog, brown bear, Asian black bear, wild boar, badger, red deer, fish and mollusc shells were found inside the cave.
Isotopic analysis shows that the people of Chertovy Vorota likely derived their protein from a mix of terrestrial and maritime sources; around 25% of their dietary protein appears to have been derived from maritime resources, most likely from anadromous salmon. The people of Chertovy Vorota likely hunted terrestrial mammals, collected nuts and fished salmon to provide for their food needs.
The remains of carbonized textile fragments were found within the cave, under the remains of a wooden structure that had caught on fire and collapsed. The carbonized remains of rope, nets, and woven fabrics were recovered from the cave. The fibers likely came from Carex sordida, a sedge grass from the Cyperaceae family. The textile remains were directly dated to around 9400-8400 BP, the earliest evidence in the archaeological record for textile remains from East Asia. As spindle whorls were not found in the cave, and also rarely found in contemporary East Asian sites, archaeologists postulate that the people at Chertovy Vorota either produced their textiles by hand or through the use of warp-weighted looms.
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