The history of Jiangxi stretches from Lower Paleolithic times to the present, as Jiangxi was already inhabited by humans one million years ago. Until recently, the earliest known Jiangxi pottery was dated to around 11000 BC,; however, recent finds show that the absolutely earliest known pottery, from ca. 18,000 BC, comes from Xianren Cave in Jiangxi. In this Chinese province the full Neolithic period began before 8000 BC, as represented by Xianrendong culture in discovering cultivated rice over 10,000 years ago. This period is followed by the Bronze Age around 2000 BC, represented by Wucheng culture and Dayangzhou culture, and by the Iron Age prior to 500 BC. The first recorded people inhabited in Jiangxi are Baiyue and their influence is still found in modern-day Gan Chinese dialects. Jiangxi was then respectively ruled by Wu, Yue, Chu in the 1st millennium BC and firstly conquered by the Chinese dynasty of Han around 200 BC. Centred on the Gan River valley, Jiangxi provides the main north–south transport route. Its encirclement by mountains has allowed the lands of Jiangxi to develop as a separate geographic region and an independent cultural entity. They provide one of the communication routes from the North China Plain and the Yangzi River valley to the territory of modern Guangdong. As a result, Jiangxi has been strategically important throughout much of its history. Early history Jiangxi was outside the sphere of influence of early Chinese civilization during the Shang dynasty (16th to 11th centuries). Information about this era is scarce, but it is likely that peoples collectively known as the Yue inhabited the region. During the Spring and Autumn period, the northern part of modern Jiangxi formed the western frontier of the state of Wu. Two settlements are known of at this time: Ai (), and Po (番, later 潘). After Wu was conquered by the state of Yue (a power based in modern northern Zhejiang) in 473 BC, the state of Chu (based in modern Hubei) took over northern Jiangxi and there may have been some Yue influence in the south. Chu subjugated Yue in 333 BC, and was in turn subjugated by the state of Qin in 221 BC. Qin established the Qin dynasty in that same year, the first unified Chinese state. Imperial China The unification of China by the Qin dynasty saw the incorporation of Jiangxi into the Qin empire. The First Emperor of