Qitoushan Site

Qitoushan Site

The Qitoushan Site is a protected cultural heritage site of Jiangsu Province.

The Qitoushan Site is situated in Huangjiadang, east of Jiangyin City, about 4 kilometers southeast of the city center. It is located to the north of Taihu Lake and on the southern bank of the Yangtze River. The site is 5 kilometers north of the Yangtze River, approximately 7 kilometers east of the Majiabang Culture site at Dongshancun, Zhangjiagang, about 30 kilometers southeast of the Majiabang Culture site at Pengzudun, Wuxi, roughly 15 kilometers southwest of the Songze Culture site at Nanlou, Qingyang, and around 30 kilometers west of the Liangzhu Culture cemetery at Gaochengdun, Shizhuang, Huangtu. The total area is about 40,000 square meters.

From August 2000 to January 2001, the Archaeological Research Institute of the Nanjing Museum, in collaboration with the Wuxi Museum and the Jiangyin Museum, conducted drilling and rescue excavations at the site. The excavation covered an area of about 500 square meters, uncovering 39 ash pits and 137 burials from the Neolithic Age, as well as more than 200 artifacts, including 18 stone tools, 17 jade artifacts, and 219 pottery pieces.

The excavation revealed that the Qitoushan Site was an important large settlement remnant dating back to the Majiabang Culture period. The site features deep stratigraphic deposits and complex relationships between remains, particularly the uniquely characteristic artifacts unearthed from the Neolithic burials, which are unparalleled among other Neolithic remains in the region.

The site is a raised platform about 2–4 meters above ground level, with cultural layers approximately 3 meters thick, and the deepest excavation reaching 3.8 meters. It can be divided into 15 layers. Below the plow soil lies the cultural layer, with Layer ④ being a widespread layer of red burned soil, which drilling indicates covers an area of several thousand square meters. In the excavated test pits, Layer ④ consists of red burned soil blocks of varying sizes. Circular, rectangular, or arc-shaped pits made of red burned soil are commonly found beneath the surface, preliminarily speculated to be related to architectural or ritual remains.

The discovery of densely distributed Majiabang-period burials was the most significant find of the excavation. All the Neolithic burials uncovered were located in the northwest area of the site, where burial layers reached up to 8 levels, distributed from Layer ② down to Layer ⑩a. The superimposition and disruption relationships between and within layers were extremely complex. Few burial objects were found, mostly 1–2 items, with a maximum of 6, and a small number of burials had no burial goods at all. Most burial objects were utilitarian items, with the basic combination including pots and bean-shaped vessels, pots and basins, pots and tripod bowls, pots and bowls, and pots and jars. Most bean-shaped vessels had their stems broken off, and like basins and bowls, they were placed under the heads of the deceased, while pots were mostly shattered and placed on or beside the body. A small number of spinning whorls and supports were also found.

Among the burial goods, early flat-bottomed vessels were prevalent, but three-legged vessels gradually became more common, and by the late period, ring-footed vessels replaced three-legged ones as the main vessel type. Pots were the primary cooking vessels at the Qitoushan Site, with a variety of forms. Straight cylindrical rimmed pots were the most numerous, making up the vast majority of pots and representing the most distinctive and representative artifacts of Qitoushan. These pots were made by coiling clay strips, with the lower and upper parts joined together. The lower part was made of shell-tempered clay, while the upper part was fine clay, often coated, with a rim attached at the joint and reinforced with thin clay strips. Changes from early to late periods are evident: early pots mostly had straight mouths and upturned rims, while over time the lower parts became taller and slimmer, and the rims gradually flattened. In addition to early bean and bowl vessels often featuring red painted decorations, late-period artifacts displayed stamped and appliqué decorative patterns, distinct from the painted pottery traditions of the north. Such decoration methods are rare in this region, though more common in early cultural remains of the middle Yangtze River. Among the jade artifacts unearthed, aside from common ring-shaped pieces, tube-shaped jades were more prevalent. Jade ornaments like huangs appeared more frequently in the late period, including an extremely rare solid-carved frog-shaped jade piece.

In addition to its unique pottery combinations, most artifacts from the Qitoushan Site exhibit clear temporal characteristics. For example, the short and stout straight cylindrical rimmed pots from the early period share a developmental relationship with the late-period straight cylindrical rimmed pots from the Luotuodun and Shendun sites in the western Taihu Lake region, consistent with the trend of flat-bottomed pot systems spreading from mountainous to plain areas. By the late period, influenced by the round-bottomed pot system from the eastern Taihu Lake region, round-bottomed pots began to appear at Qitoushan, while cultural elements from the eastern Huaihai region also continuously impacted the site.

The Qitoushan Site can be divided into four phases: Phase I is similar to Layer 4 of Luotuodun and the middle layer of Shendun, dating to around 6600–6500 years ago. Phase II is approximately 6500 years ago, corresponding to Layer ⑧ of the first group at Pengzudun, Layer ② at Qucheng in Huzhou, and the earlier part of Phase II at Houjiazhai. Phase III of Qitoushan dates to around 6500–6400 years ago, equivalent to Phase II at Houjiazhai and the earlier part of the Gaomiao Upper Layer culture. Phase IV of Qitoushan is divided into early and late sub-phases. The early sub-phase corresponds to the Gaomiao Upper Layer culture, Layers ⑦–⑧ at Longqiu Village, and deposits below Layer ④ at Beiyinyangying, with Layer ⑦–⑧ at Longqiu Village representing the earlier part of Phase I, dating to around 6400 years ago. The late sub-phase corresponds to burials below Layer ③ at Pengzudun, the middle layer at Weidun, Layer ⑥ at Longqiu Village, and burials at Layer ④ at Beiyinyangying, dating to around 6300 years ago.

Since its discovery in 2000, the Qitoushan Site has garnered widespread academic attention. Its unique assemblage of artifacts, primarily characterized by cylindrical flat-bottomed pots with four handles and flared rims, shows a clear distinction from the inherent artifact groups of the Majiabang Culture in the eastern Taihu Lake region. Previously discovered flat-bottomed four-handled pots in areas such as Changxing and Deqing in Huzhou, Zhejiang, suggest that the Qitoushan-type remains, originating in the Yilishan Mountain area, flourished and expanded in two directions. One branch moved north to the southern bank of the Yangtze River, where the cylindrical four-handled cooking pots evolved from short and stout to tall and slim, a highly typical development. The other branch moved south, with slightly more complex developments. The pot shapes were primarily basin-like, based on flat bottoms, along with other forms.

The coverage areas of these two branches align with what Mr. Zhang Min described: a crescent-shaped distribution across the western and northern regions of Taihu Lake. Given the highly distinctive artifact assemblages, clear developmental trajectory, and relatively stable distribution area of the Qitoushan-type remains, we have designated it as a new cultural type—the Qitoushan Culture.

Further Reading:

· Fifth Batch of Protected Cultural Heritage Sites of Jiangsu Province