Xianjidun Site

Xianjidun Site

The Xianjidun Site is located on the north bank of the Liangxi River in the southwest of Wuxi City. It was discovered in 1953, excavated in 1954 by the Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relics Management Committee, and further excavated in 1959 by both the Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relics Management Committee and the Wuxi Museum.

The site is an earthen mound standing 7.2 meters above the ground, measuring approximately 75 meters in length from east to west and 60 meters in width from north to south, covering an area of around 3,500 square meters. The cultural layer is about 2 meters thick and contains remains from the Neolithic Age, the Shang and Zhou dynasties, as well as Han dynasty tombs.

Discoveries from the Neolithic Age include the foundations of residential houses and post holes. For the first time in the Taihu Lake region, rice remains were found here. Stone tools such as perforated stone axes, stone hoes, square pillar-shaped stone adzes, and double-hole stone knives were unearthed, along with pottery, stone artifacts, and net sinkers. The pottery pieces include earthenware jars, pots, and dou vessels, decorated with incised patterns, appliqué designs, and perforations, some featuring impressed interlocking motifs. The site also yielded beaded jewelry made of perforated stone beads and bone beads, as well as ornaments such as stone huangs and stone bracelets. Based on the unearthed artifacts, the site includes cultural remains from both the Songze and Liangzhu cultures.

The upper layer of the site contains coarse red pottery mixed with sand and geometric-patterned pottery, which belong to the remains from the Shang and Zhou dynasties.