Mingshanhou Site

Mingshanhou Site

The Mingshanhou Site is a Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The Mingshanhou Site is situated on the northern slope of Ming Mountain, south of Mingshanhou Village, Jiangkou Subdistrict, Fenghua City. It was listed as a Fenghua Municipal Cultural Relics Protection Site in 2003 and designated as a Fenghua Municipal-level Cultural Relics Protection Unit in 2007. The site spans 180,000 square meters, with its distribution ranging from the processing factory of Mingshanhou Village in the east, southward along the canal to the northern slope of Xiaoheshan, from Xiaoheshan southward along the hillside to Fangjingtou (including the Xiaoheshan ravine), from Fangjingtou westward along Yangtianlong to Baxia Simiao, and from Baxia Simiao northward along the northern foot of Liujiaoshan to the northern edge of the new Mingshan Village area (bounded by a pond). The site has undergone two archaeological excavations, uncovering a total area of 620 square meters and yielding approximately 300 artifacts and over 10,000 pottery fragments. The site’s chronology ranges from about 6,000 to 3,500 years ago. The cultural deposits are rich and layered, primarily consisting of late Hemudu Culture and Liangzhu Culture remains. The late Hemudu Culture relics found here are more abundant than those at the Hemudu Site itself, while the Liangzhu Culture remains are notably diverse, including artificially built square, truncated pyramid-shaped earth platforms and burial sites. The discovery of such artificially constructed earth platforms in the Ningbo-Shaoxing Plain is unprecedented, making this site the most Liangzhu Culture-rich discovery in the region. As a result, it has been named the “Mingshanhou Type” of Liangzhu Culture. Flint arrowheads bearing characteristics of microlithic culture were also collected from the northern slope of Ming Mountain, providing crucial clues for tracing even earlier prehistoric cultures. This site represents the earliest known settlement of Fenghua’s ancestors. The Mingshanhou Site serves as a benchmark for studying the prehistoric cultures of the Ningbo-Shaoxing Plain and surrounding areas, and holds significant value for research on both Hemudu and Liangzhu Cultures. For the first time in the field, it reveals Liangzhu Culture deposits directly overlying Hemudu Culture layers, offering extraordinarily rich archaeological data to study the dynamics, mechanisms, and reasons behind the rise and decline of these two cultures in the Ningbo-Shaoxing Plain.

Jiangkou Subdistrict: Jiangkou Subdistrict is located in the northern part of Fenghua City. To the southeast is Xiwu Subdistrict, to the south lies downtown Fenghua, to the west it connects with Xiaowangmiao Subdistrict, and to the east and north it borders Yinzhou District. It covers an area of 63.65 square kilometers (some sources say 59.7), with a population of 49,000 (2006). The subdistrict administers two residential areas: Jiangkou and Fangqiao, and includes the following villages: Jiangkou, Shengjia, Hejia, Zhuangjia, Xinjianxia, Houjiang, Qianjiang, Zhujia, Zhushi, Zhoushan, Wangshupu, Qianhu, Zhengjiatudaxiaheng, Zhengjiatuzhongheng, Zhengjiataushangheng, Guofan, Nandu, Zhuangjiapan, Houheng, Jiangtudu, Shenjiatu, Qianheng, Shangxia… More detailed information on Jiangkou Subdistrict++

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units