Xiata Site

Xiata Site

The Xiata Site is a cultural heritage protection unit of Zhejiang Province.

The Xiata Site is located at the northern end of Xiata Village, Zhengqiao, approximately 30 kilometers west of Xianju County. It sits on a terrace north of Bagua Mountain and south of the Yong’anxi River valley plain. The site covers an area of about 25,000 square meters (with around 10,000 square meters relatively well-preserved). It features rich cultural deposits with distinct stratification, and the cultural layer is over 2 meters thick. Pottery types include carbon-tempered gray pottery, sand-tempered red pottery, fine clay gray pottery, and black pottery, all with rather crumbly bodies. Among them, the carbon-tempered gray pottery used carbonized rice husks and weeds as tempering materials, resulting in a charred core with a pitch-black color. The inner and outer surfaces of the pottery were coated with a layer of lacquer-like reddish-brown dye about 0.2 cm thick, which appeared strikingly bright red upon excavation—an unusual feature not seen before. Vessel types include containers (jars, bottles, pots, etc.), cooking vessels (cauldrons, tripods, ding vessels), drinking vessels (bowls, plates, basins, cups), as well as spinning tools such as spinning wheels and pottery paddles for making ceramics. Decorations on the pottery include perforations, appliqué, ear of wheat patterns, straight stripes, stamped patterns, cord marks, basket weave patterns, and diagonal stripes. The vessels are predominantly flat-bottomed, with a small number having concave or ring bases. Stone tools are small and roughly made, only slightly polished after being struck, still in a primitive state. However, there are also finely crafted items such as willow-leaf-shaped arrowheads, fingernail-shaped segmented small adzes, pen-tip-shaped small chisels, as well as decorative items like stone hairpins, stone pendants, and stone huang ornaments, all finely polished and showing a higher level of craftsmanship. Stone tools display a clear division of manufacturing and usage functions—for example, production tools include axes, spades, knives, chisels, sickles, scrapers, disc-shaped chopping tools, and various types of stone adzes (segmented conical, segmented gable-style, stepped, segmented regular, fingernail-shaped, and ridged double-edged). Hunting tools consist of spears, arrowheads (both with and without tangs), sling stones, and pellets. Daily tools and ornaments include stone grinding plates, grinding balls, whetstones, stone hairpins, huangs, and textile tools like stone spinning wheels. Based on the characteristics of unearthed artifacts and their cultural attributes, the Xiata people had moved away from cave dwelling in the deep mountains and settled on the plains. Their economy was primarily agricultural, supplemented by hunting and gathering, and they developed textile-making, pottery, and fishing industries. There was a clear division between agriculture and handicrafts, and surplus labor products were evident.

The Xiata Site is currently the largest, best-preserved, earliest, and richest in cultural content human settlement site discovered in southern Zhejiang. It dates back 6,000 to 7,000 years, corresponding to the early to middle periods of the matrilineal clan society.

Hengxi Town: A town under the jurisdiction of Xianju County. In 1958, Hengxi Commune was established; it was reorganized as a township in 1984, became a town in 1985, and merged with Zhengqiao and Xikou townships in 1992. Located in the western part of the county, it lies along the middle reaches of the Yong’anxi River, 29.2 kilometers from the county seat. The town covers an area of 200 square kilometers and has a population of 37,000. The Linhai–Shizhu Highway passes through it. The town administers Xinbi, Zhengyan, Xinluo, Daoshi Mountain, Xikou, Wuyantou, Laowujī, Chakeng, Hengxi Upper Street, Hengxi Lower Street, Wudu Pan, Sanzaoyuan, Bubutou, Houduntou, Dongshan, Shangshen, Yudian, Xitou, Xiashen, Zhutang’an, Qiaoting, Zhang... More detailed information about Hengxi Town++

Further Reading:

· Zhejiang Province’s Second Batch of Provincial Archaeological Site Parks

· Third Batch of Cultural Heritage Protection Units of Zhejiang Province