Fa-shien cave is a complex of interconnected rock-shelters, eroded into almost vertical, southwest-facing cliff in gneiss of the Highland Complex. The humus-stained cliff that hosts the rockshelters drops from a forested summit to the banks of a small steam

This shelter faces north eats and is easily accessed via a stone path. the mouth has a width of ca.30m and an avarage height above the floor of 20 m.the interior is ca. 10m deep and slopes down from west to east. the site was first examined by S.U deraniyagala in 1968 before its excavation over several seasons between 1986 and 1988 W.H Wijeyapala 

Two areas of the cave, lab,led A & B were probed with a view to understanding the of the cave

The dominant occupation deposit at the site occured in layer 4, comprising dark brown silty sand of medium compactness, ca. 25 cm thick, with a high density of occupation debris. The content included a partial human interment in the lower horizon without red ocher, and seven post holes. the three radiocarbon dates calibrate to between ca. 30,000 and 38, 000 BP. the earliest human occupation at the site is represented by layer 5, which is a moderately loose sandy silt deposit.