Chao Dun Tou Site

Chao Dun Tou Site

The Chao Dun Tou Site is a protected cultural heritage site of Jiangsu Province.

The Chao Dun Tou Site is located about 3 kilometers east of Gucheng Lake in Gaochun County and 2 kilometers south of the Xuxi River. The site is mound-shaped and was discovered in 1989. It currently covers an area of approximately 10,000 square meters. That year, the Nanjing Museum conducted emergency excavations over an area of 500 square meters, uncovering 17 tombs, 8 ash pits, and nearly 500 restorable artifacts. The cultural deposits at the site are generally about 2 meters thick and contain remains from both the Neolithic Age and the Zhou Dynasty.

The Neolithic cultural remains are divided into early and late periods. Early pottery was mainly red pottery, with vessel shapes including duck-billed leg tripods, jars, ring-footed bean pots, as well as stone axes, adzes, spades, and jade ornaments. This period corresponds to the late Songze Culture to the early Liangzhu Culture, extending into the middle Liangzhu Culture. Late-period pottery was predominantly gray pottery, with vessel types such as flat-legged jar-shaped cord-marked tripods, cinched-waist bag-legged ding, and shallow plate high-stem bean pots. This period is equivalent to the late Henan Longshan Culture.

The Zhou Dynasty cultural remains featured mainly sandy red pottery, along with geometric-patterned pottery and proto-porcelain. Main vessel types included tripods, cauldrons, basins, plates, bean pots, as well as stamped hard pottery jars, bottles, proto-porcelain bean pots, and bowls. Production tools consisted of stone axes, adzes, spades, pottery spinning whorls, pottery net sinkers, and bronze arrowheads.

The excavation of the Chao Dun Tou Site indicates that the ancient culture of the Ning-Zhen region was successively influenced by the late Songze Culture and early Liangzhu Culture of the Taihu Lake region, as well as the late Henan Longshan Culture.

Further Reading:

· Seventh Batch of Protected Cultural Heritage Sites of Jiangsu Province