When the experts from the Xinjiang Artifacts and Archaeology Institute excavated the Jirentai settlement ruins in Nilka County, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, during 2015 – 2016, they found evidence that Xinjiang was the first to use coals, in addition, they also found iron chunks, which moved up the date of iron-smelting in Xinjiang by more than three thousand years.

According to reports, there was coal ash, coal cinders, remnants of coal lumps, and locations for piles of coals found in the Jirentai settlement ruins in Nilka County, Xinjiang, indicating that humans who lived there during the Bronze Age were already using coal, which was more than three thousand years ago.

The Jirentai settlement ruins are located on a highland, and the borders for every rectangular dugout inside the ruins are separated by stone slabs. There are visible signs of coal-use inside the ruins. In addition, the iron chunks found were sent to related agencies for collection and further research.

The archeologists said the ruins are located above a branch of the Yili River, and less than one kilometer away is a piece of flat and fertile land. It is apparent that this was a hospitable place to live at the time, and the reason humans in the Bronze Age chose to live here.