Qingliangang Site

Qingliangang Site

The Qingliangang Site is a cultural relic protection unit of Jiangsu Province.

The Qingliangang Site is located at Qingliangang, 35 kilometers northeast of Huai’an County, bordering the abandoned course of the Yellow River to the north, covering an area of 2,000 square meters. It was discovered in 1951 by the East China Cultural Relics Work Team, and from 1951 to 1958, the Nanjing Museum conducted four surveys and one excavation.

The site has yielded remnants of red-fired earthen buildings. The walls of the residential structures were made by coating plant stalks with mud, then drying them until hard, resulting in a smooth surface. Stone tools found include flat perforated stone axes, rectangular and oval stone axes, stone adzes, and whetstones.

There are not many types of pottery, and the craftsmanship is relatively rough. Common shapes include red pottery bowls, tripods, cauldrons, and small-necked jars with double handles. There are also a significant number of deep-bellied round-bottomed jars, bowls, pedestals, spouted pots, and horn-handled pottery. The inner walls of the pottery are painted with designs, mainly featuring wave patterns, net patterns, as well as arc patterns and “Bagua” (Eight Trigrams) motifs. The lines are simple and fluid, presenting a style distinctly different from other Neolithic painted pottery cultures.

Remains of the Qingliangang Site type are mainly distributed across the central and lower reaches of the Huai River plain. The Neolithic culture of this region was named “Qingliangang Culture” after its first discovery at this site.

Further Reading:

· First and Second Batches of Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relic Protection Units

· Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relic Protection Units