Remains of the Hou Dun Site at Dashun Temple

Remains of the Hou Dun Site at Dashun Temple

The Hou Dun Site at Dashun Temple is a Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Remains of the Hou Dun Site at Dashun Temple (Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Unit)

Era: Neolithic Age

Announcement Date: December 12, 1989

Located about 200 meters north of Beier Village, Daidong Town. The site covers an area of approximately 20,000 square meters with a cultural layer about 1 meter thick. Collected stone tools include axes, adzes, and arrowheads, all fully polished; pottery shards include sandy red pottery, clayey red-grey pottery, and carbonaceous black pottery, predominantly plain in design, along with rope patterns, incised lines, and appliqué ridges. Identifiable vessel forms include fish-fin shaped tripod legs. The site remains well-preserved.

The Neolithic Hou Dun Site at Dashun Temple is located at Peiyin Hou Dun, Beier Village, Daidong Town, Daishan County, Qushan Town, approximately 100 meters east of Fanjia’ao and 200 meters west of Fenghuangzui hillside, with a road to the south and hills to the back. It was discovered in 1983 during the digging of clay for a kiln. The cultural layer is about 1 meter thick. Excavated artifacts include stone axes, segmented stone tools (celts), willow-leaf shaped stone arrowheads (projectile points), fish-fin type tripod legs, and pottery shards. Pottery types include sandy red pottery, clayey red-grey pottery, and carbonaceous black pottery. Decorative patterns feature rope impressions, incised lines, and appliqué ridges. All stone tools are fully polished and well preserved. Collected fragments of sandy red pottery and clayey grey pottery allow identification of vessel shapes such as cauldrons, tripods, jars, elephant-trunk shaped supports, and dou (bean-shaped vessels), with decorations including rope patterns, incised lines, and convex-concave ridges. The pottery is relatively hard with a high firing temperature. The site has been severely damaged. The unearthed relics are similar to those from the first cultural layer of Hemudu to the Liangzhu Culture, and also bear distinctive island-region characteristics.

The Hou Dun Site at Dashun Temple is irregularly trapezoidal in shape, with lengths of 320 meters and 220 meters, and widths of 280 meters and 105 meters, covering an area of about 50,000 square meters. Originally composed of paddy fields and five earthen mounds, three of the mounds have been excavated, leaving only two—the Temple Base Mound and the Temple Rear Mound—along with a grid of paddy fields. The Hou Dun Site at Dashun Temple was discovered in 1983 when local farmers dug clay for a kiln. The cultural layer is about 1 meter thick with clearly stratified deposits. Unearthed artifacts include pottery shards, stone tools, fired earth chunks, and adobe pieces. Among the pottery shards, identifiable vessel forms include tripods (with fish-fin shaped legs), dou (bean pots), and thicker-walled pottery containing shell fragments. The pottery is mainly sandy red pottery, followed by clayey grey pottery, mostly plain in decoration, with some rope patterns, incised lines, and appliqué ridges. Stone tools such as axes, adzes, and arrowheads are all fully polished. Based on the shapes of the artifacts, the Hou Dun Site at Dashun Temple resembles the first cultural layer of Hemudu and the Liangzhu Culture. Primitive inhabitants from around 5,000 years ago had already ventured offshore, developed coastal islands, and created ancient primitive cultures. The discovery of the Hou Dun Site at Dashun Temple provides valuable material for studying human activity in the Zhoushan Archipelago and holds significant historical value.

Protected Area: The site is triangular in shape, extending northeast to the mountain-foot mechanized farming road, south to the mechanized farming road, and northwest to the Nizhi Highway, covering an area of about 20,000 square meters. Within the protected area, deep excavation is prohibited, and no new constructions are allowed. The protection and management of the site are the responsibility of the People’s Government of Daidong Town.

Further Reading:

· Third Batch of Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units