Xiangyang Nangang Site

Xiangyang Nangang Site

The Xiangyang Nangang Site is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The Xiangyang Nangangzi Site is located on a sandy ridge about 20 kilometers south of Xiangyang Village, Tantu Town, Zhenlai County, and approximately 50 kilometers southwest of Zhenlai County town. It lies in an area of alternating sand dunes, grassland, and marshland. The ridge runs roughly east-west, extending about 5 kilometers, with a relative height of around 10 meters. The top of the ridge is flat and open. To the east of the middle section is a large area of artificial forest belt, while the western half has some cultivated land. The north and south sides of the ridge are low-lying, often holding water in summer and autumn, forming seasonal alkali ponds.

The site was discovered during the 1984 cultural relics survey in Zhenlai County. Between June and July 1985, the Provincial Cultural Relics and Archaeological Research Institute, in cooperation with the Baicheng Regional Museum and the Zhenlai County Cultural Relics Management Office, carried out large-scale excavations here. Prior to excavation, careful surveys and trial digs were conducted, and based on the findings, the site was divided into seven distinct zones where artifacts were relatively concentrated, distributed separately, and with differing contents. These seven zones were all located on the western section of the ridge, divided into seven locations from east to west.

Location 1 is situated slightly west of the middle section of the ridge, about 400 meters north of the edge of the ridge. At the center of the site, several large sand pits have formed due to long-term wind erosion. At the bottom and eastern and southern edges of the pits, many pottery shards and pressed microliths were collected.

Location 2 is located 300 meters to the west of Location 1. The cultural layer here has been more severely eroded, but pottery shards and microliths can be found on the surface and in the sand pits. In addition, one ground stone axe was collected from the northern part of the site. Unlike Location 1, the pottery shards here were fired at higher temperatures, are thin and hard, with polished surfaces, and most are decorated. The decorations include fish-scale-like fingernail-indentation patterns and composite patterns made of punctate lines. These features are quite consistent with the “Han Shu Phase I Culture” found at Da’an Duanjitun, belonging to the Bronze Age.

Location 3 is located more than 500 meters west of Location 2, near the northern edge of the ridge, and at a lower elevation compared to the previous two locations. The site is now used as farmland, and artifacts are scattered densely across the surface. Microliths such as points, scrapers, and flakes have been found. Only one ground stone tool—a flat, crescent-shaped, edgeless implement—was collected, and its use is unclear. Most of the pottery is fragmentary, but one boat-shaped vessel could be restored. Viewed from the side, it resembles a boat, with both ends upturned and the middle arched inward. From above, it is elliptical, with diagonal short lines incised on the rim. The pottery is all sandy ware, either gray or yellow in color, handmade, and well-fired. The forms include tripods, jars, vessels, and boat-shaped items. The decorations are relatively developed, with types such as impressed dot patterns, fish-scale patterns, punctate patterns, incised lines, and appliqué ridges. There are also quite a few plain pottery shards. Culturally, it bears many characteristics of the Han Shu Culture, though red-slipped pottery is relatively rare.

Locations 4 and 7 are both burial areas. Location 4 yielded red-slipped pottery pots, red-slipped pottery bowls, a relatively large number of bronze ornaments, and fewer iron artifacts. Its date roughly corresponds to the early Iron Age.

Location 5 is located to the west of the burial area at Location 4, about 300 meters apart, and may be related. The surface of the site contains many artifacts, including microliths such as stone cores, flakes, scrapers, and points, as well as red-slipped pottery shards, ring-shaped lug handles, tripod leg stubs with rope impressions and short solid feet, and remnants of single-handled cups. Also unearthed were finely crafted small jade axes and jade chisels. Overall, the cultural features are somewhat similar to the “Han Shu Phase II Culture” found at Da’an Duanjitun. However, some pottery fragments from this site bear incised parallel lines, punctate impressions, and fingernail marks, indicating cultural elements that differ from those of the Han Shu Phase II Culture. Compared to the Han Shu Phase II Culture represented by Duanjitun, there seems to be a chronological difference here.

Location 6 is located at the northern end of a branch ridge about 500 meters west of Location 3. The terrain here gradually flattens and is closer to the back marsh. It has been more severely affected and damaged by monsoons. Almost no cultural layer deposits are visible at the site, and most artifacts have been exposed on the surface. There are many fish bones, clam shells, fragmented microliths, and pottery shards on the surface, but the pottery shards, due to years of cultivation, are mostly small and fragmented, making it difficult to find large pieces. Judging from the texture, color, production method, and decoration of the pottery shards, this site is quite similar to Location 3 and may represent remains from different periods of the same culture.

Location 7 yielded more iron artifacts and is relatively later in date compared to the iron artifacts found at Location 4.

On October 20, 1987, the Xiangyang Nangang Site was designated as a Jilin Provincial-level Cultural Relics Protection Unit. In May 2013, it was listed by the State Council of China as part of the seventh batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units (Ancient Sites).

The site is located on a mountainside, covering an area of about 100 meters east-west and 30 meters north-south. A small number of pottery shards are scattered on the surface. A few stone tools were once collected from the mountaintop, and stone axes, stone chisels, and bronze dagger-axes were found at the foot of the mountain. During the second national cultural relics survey in 1985, pottery shards and stone tools were collected from the site, and 20 bronze arrowheads and iron-tipped bronze arrowheads were acquired.

The pottery shards collected from the site were all handmade, fired at low temperatures, with loose clay and rough craftsmanship, and all were plain. They are all sandy red-brown pottery, with some containing talc powder. Only jars could be identified among the forms. Stone tools include chipped stone picks, stone knives, and grinding tools. A total of 22 bronze arrowheads were acquired or collected. Ten are three-winged, two of which have inscriptions engraved between the wings. These inscriptions are commonly seen in the Central Plains and are unique to the Zhao State of the Eastern Zhou period. The other 12 are iron-tipped bronze arrowheads, with three-edged arrowheads 2.2–3.8 cm long, attached to iron shafts. One complete example has a conical tip at the end of the shaft, 14 cm long.

Fewer pottery and stone tools were collected from the site, making it difficult to determine the exact period, but it likely belongs to the late Neolithic Age or the Shang-Zhou transition. The inscribed bronze arrowheads found at the site were made in the Zhao State. Iron-tipped bronze arrowheads have also been unearthed at Jiapigoumen in Guoguo Township, Ji’an City. These arrowheads have thick bodies, likely for crossbow use, and also date to the Warring States period.

Xiangyang Village: Xiangyang Village…… More details about Xiangyang Village++

Further Reading:

· Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units