The Cao Wan Mountain Site

The Cao Wan Mountain Site

The Cao Wan Mountain Site is a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level.

The Cao Wan Mountain Site, also known as the Laoshan Mountain Site, is located in Lucheng District, Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province. It is an ancient human settlement site from the Neolithic Age. In May 2013, it was designated by the State Council as part of the seventh batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level.

The Cao Wan Mountain Site has rich stratigraphy and abundant cultural content. The large number of unearthed artifacts provide important data for studying the prehistoric culture of Wenzhou. The excavation of the Cao Wan Mountain Site marks a breakthrough in the archaeological study of pre-Qin sites in the Wenzhou area and holds significant historical, scientific, and artistic value.

Cao Wan Mountain stands at an elevation of 61 meters. It is a ridge-like hill formed by a main peak and several smaller hills, covering a total area of 36 hectares. It is an isolated small hill situated on the Shupu River Plain. The Shupu River flows along the western, southern, and eastern sides of Cao Wan Mountain before flowing eastward into the Ou River.

The Cao Wan Mountain Archaeological Team was jointly formed by the Provincial Institute of Archaeology, the Municipal Bureau of Cultural Relics, and the Municipal Institute of Archaeology, with Wang Haiming from the Provincial Institute of Archaeology serving as the team leader. On November 28, the team set up camp in Dutou Village and began a six-month archaeological excavation project.

In the early stages of the excavation, the primary tasks were to survey and explore the terrain and topography of Cao Wan Mountain in order to understand the general distribution of the site. Through several days of investigation and drilling, the distribution of underground remains across the various hills was largely identified. On December 9, formal excavation commenced, covering a total area of 635 square meters.

The excavation yielded abundant results. At the mountaintop residential area, continuous stone pillar foundation architectural remains of the "Haocuan Culture" were discovered, along with a tribal cemetery. A total of 35 tombs were excavated, uncovering over 1,000 artifacts including jade objects, stone tools, and pottery, as well as a large number of pottery shard specimens. The entire site centers around the mountaintop ridge as the settlement hub, with remains also distributed across the mountainsides and slopes, covering an area of nearly 10,000 square meters. It is a typical isolated hill settlement site along the river, dating back approximately 4,000 years. The mountaintop core is also the best-preserved part of the site. The southwestern part of the mountaintop was the residential area, while the southeastern part served as the burial ground.

Based on the unearthed pottery shards, various types were identified, including sand-tempered pottery, gray clay pottery, hard pottery, and stamped hard pottery. Pottery excavated from the tombs includes gray clay pottery?, perforated ring-footed dou (bean-shaped vessels), ring-footed basins, straight-necked ring-footed ewers, ring-footed jars, round-bottomed bowls, perforated ring-footed deep-bellied gui (food vessels), as well as sand-tempered red clay food steamers, cauldrons, and tripods.

Stone arrowheads and stone adzes were the most frequently found stone tools at the Cao Wan Mountain Site, showcasing a rich variety of forms. Notably distinctive are the wide, flat-shafted stone arrowheads, small adzes with blades only 1–2 centimeters wide, and arc-backed adzes with triangular (or fan-shaped) cross-sections.

Jade conical implements were unearthed from seven tombs, along with one ceremonial handle-shaped object inlaid with jade pieces, symbolizing power and status. The jade decorative pieces on the handle-shaped object represent the most important group of artifacts discovered at the Cao Wan Mountain Site. These jade pieces exhibit exquisite craftsmanship and demonstrate an exceptionally high level of stone cutting techniques, highlighting the advanced jade working skills of the ancient inhabitants of Cao Wan Mountain.

At the mountaintop, the strata are divided into four layers. The first layer is the surface soil, containing mostly small pottery fragments and broken stone tools. The second layer consists of light greyish-brown sandy soil, primarily containing sand-tempered pottery and blackened pottery shards, along with numerous small stone tools and fragmented stone artifacts. In the eastern excavation area, beneath the second layer, a number of earthen pit tombs were found. The third layer is dark greyish-brown sandy soil.

Within the southwest residential area, beneath the second and third layers, densely arranged and roughly regular block stone structures were discovered, covering a total area of more than 200 square meters. The Cao Wan Mountain architectural foundations are large in scale and meticulously constructed, reflecting the well-organized and staggered layout characteristics of the settlement's buildings.

Samples collected from the site were analyzed for phytoliths, revealing a large number of double-peaked phytoliths from rice husks. This indicates that primitive agricultural practices were already in place at Cao Wan Mountain at the time. The ancient inhabitants cultivated rice in the tidal flats at the foot of the mountain and transported the harvested grain to the mountaintop for storage and consumption.

Further Reading:

· First Batch of Provincial-Level Archaeological Site Parks in Zhejiang Province

· Seventh Batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level