Qian'ao Site

Qian'ao Site

The Qian'ao Site is a cultural heritage protection unit of Yinzhou District.

The Qian'ao Site is located in Hengxi Village, Hengxi Town, Yinzhou District, and was designated as a district-level cultural heritage protection unit in 1982.

The Qian'ao Site was discovered in 1976 during the construction of the Hengxi Reservoir. It is about 25 kilometers from downtown Ningbo. To the south is Taibai Mountain of the Jinhua Mountain Range, to the north lies the vast Yinnan Plain, it is 1 kilometer east of Hengxi Street and 2.5 kilometers west of Bai Du, the ancient city of Yinxian. The site spans approximately 800 meters from east to west, from Hongguang Sluice under the diversion river’s big camphor tree in the east to the bamboo hill near Youyi Sluice in the west, and about 50 meters from north to south. Excavated soil layers reveal three distinct cultural strata—upper, middle, and lower—separated by soil types and overlapping each other. A large number of artifacts from the Shang, Zhou, Spring and Autumn, and Warring States periods were unearthed.

The first cultural layer contains artifacts from the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, including pottery, proto-porcelain, and bronze ware. The pottery consists of black (gray) clay pottery and stamped hard pottery, with items such as dou (food vessels), guan (jars), spinning whorls (all in black-gray pottery), urns (stamped hard pottery), bowls, plates, cups (proto-porcelain), as well as bronze items like zun (wine vessels), xiao (knives), and ben (adzes).

The second cultural layer dates back to the Western Zhou period. Unearthed artifacts include pottery, proto-porcelain, and stone tools. The pottery is mainly gravel-tempered red pottery, along with black (gray) clay pottery and stamped pottery. There are many tripod leg fragments, and sherds of urns and jars feature mat patterns, checkered patterns, and taotie motifs; proto-porcelain items include bowls, dou, and yu (basins); stone tools consist of stone chisels and elongated stone implements.

The third cultural layer belongs to the middle and late Shang Dynasty. Artifacts include gray sand-red pottery and black (gray) clay pottery, mostly cooking and storage vessels. Stone tools comprise stone knives, stone sickles, stone hoes, stone spades, as well as spears, adzes, yuan (rings), soil-breaking tools, and pointed implements. The stones are made of silicate rock, slate, sedimentary rock, and sandstone. Trumpet-shaped ring-footed dou with perforations found at the site are believed to be from the Shang Dynasty. Stamped hard pottery and stamped pottery feature patterns such as mat designs, feather patterns, and fir leaf patterns.

Carbonized rice grains have also been discovered at the site, as well as rice husks mixed into pottery shards. In the second cultural layer, there are densely arranged wooden piles, planks, and mortise-and-tenon holes—construction elements that demonstrate the advanced architectural skills of the ancestors in Yinxian during the Western Zhou period. With a history of over 2,500 years, the Qian'ao Site is a valuable resource for studying the production, living conditions, and historical development of Yinzhou District during the slave society era.