Sihong Zhaozhuang Site

Sihong Zhaozhuang Site

The Sihong Zhaozhuang Site is a cultural tourism attraction.

The Zhaozhuang Site is located in Zhaozhuang Village, Meihua Township, approximately 15 kilometers northwest of Sihong County and about 40 kilometers south of the Huai River. To the east of the site lies Zhonggang Mountain, to the south an ancient river channel. The northeastern part of the surface is flat, while the northwestern section features an earthen mound about 3 meters high, surrounded by a moat and commonly known as “Turtle Mound.” The mound itself consists of Shang and Zhou dynasty remains, with Neolithic period relics buried beneath the ground. The site covers an area of about 100,000 square meters. It was discovered in 1962, and excavated in 1982 by the Nanjing Museum, covering an area of 225 square meters. The main deposits at the site consist of Neolithic Dawenkou Culture and Western Zhou Cultural strata, along with a small amount of early Shang Dynasty layers. The Dawenkou Culture remains include house foundations, ash pits, and tombs. There are four house foundations, all built on level ground, with rectangular and oval floor plans and fine sandy living surfaces. Ten tombs were found, including joint burials, single burials, and urn burials. Burial positions include both side-flexed and supine-extended styles. A rich array of artifacts was unearthed, including pottery vessels such as ? (a specific type), cups, bean-shaped vessels, basins, ding (tripod cauldrons), and back-supporting pots, all clearly showing characteristics of the late Dawenkou Culture phase.

The Western Zhou Culture remains revealed three house foundations with nearly square or L-shaped layouts. The living surfaces were paved with fine sand mixed with small pebbles, gravel, and shrimp shells, compacted in layers. The periphery featured walls made of grass-mixed clay and postholes. At the center of each house was a square hearth. The unearthed artifacts mainly included stone axes, stone sickles, clam knives, bone awls, bone hairpins, as well as pottery li (tripods), jars, gui (food vessels), basins, bowls, bean-shaped vessels, and ?. These artifacts exhibit features characteristic of the early Western Zhou period.

In recent years, the Nanjing Museum, in collaboration with the Suqian City Museum and the Sihong County Museum, has conducted proactive excavations at the site. These efforts uncovered numerous early ancient relics and tombs, yielding a large number of pottery, stone, jade, and bone artifacts among the burial goods. Examination has determined that these skeletal remains and accompanying items date back over 5,000 years, belonging to the Dawenkou period. This provides valuable material for the study of the Dawenkou Culture in the Suqian region.

Further Reading:

· Eighth Batch of Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units