The Nanhebang Site

The Nanhebang Site

The Nanhebang Site is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The Nanhebang Site is located in Yuncun Village, Daqiao Town, Xiuzhou District, Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province.

The site lies 100 meters west of the Shanghai-Hangzhou Expressway. The Nanhebang Site covers a relatively large area, stretches from east to west, and consists of several elevated landmasses, with a current area of about 20,000 square meters. To the south of Nanhebang lies the Taodun Site, which stands approximately 6 meters higher than the surrounding paddy fields. It extends about 80 meters from east to west and about 40 meters from north to south, covering an area of about 3,200 square meters. The Taodun Site and the Nanhebang Site should be considered as one integrated whole. The total area of both sites is about 75,000 square meters, concentrated within a region that is roughly 300 meters long from north to south and 250 meters wide from east to west.

From April to November 1996, to accommodate the construction of the Shanghai-Hangzhou Expressway, the Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology formed an archaeological team to conduct rescue excavations at the Nanhebang Site. The actual excavation covered an area of about 1,000 square meters, during which one artificially built earthen platform from the Songze Culture period was discovered, along with 96 tombs, 7 houses, and 26 ash pits being cleared. Over 700 cultural relics were unearthed, including pottery, stone tools, bone implements, and jade artifacts, particularly yielding fruitful results in the discovery and research of the Songze Culture. The excavation area was divided into Zones A and B. In Zone A, eight 10×10-meter test pits were arranged, and in Zone B—30 meters west of Zone A—two 10×10-meter test pits were laid out, bringing the total excavation area to about 1,000 square meters. In Zone A, a total of four Liangzhu Culture tombs, 85 Songze Culture tombs, 22 ash pits, seven house remains, and one Songze Culture sacrificial altar were cleared.

The site contains a continuous developmental process from the early to the late Songze Culture, providing valuable material for understanding the evolutionary stages of the Songze Culture and also offering a meaningful chronological benchmark for future research on the culture. The Nanhebang Site was awarded the title of one of China’s Top Ten Archaeological Discoveries of 1996. In 2006, as a Neolithic-period ancient site, Nanhebang was included in the sixth batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units by the State Council.

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units