The Jiangjiashan Site

The Jiangjiashan Site

The Jiangjiashan Site is a cultural heritage site protected by Huangshan City.

The Jiangjiashan Site is a Neolithic site. Located at the junction of Gantang and Gengcheng towns, about 4 kilometers south of Huangshan District, it sits on an elevated hillside plateau approximately 10 meters above the surrounding terrain, covering an area of over 50,000 square meters. It is the largest ancient human settlement site from the Neolithic period in southern Anhui.

The deepest part of the cultural layer at the Jiangjiashan Site is over 4 meters thick, making it the most archaeologically rich Neolithic site discovered to date in the Huangshan region. It holds significant value for the study of Neolithic culture in Huangshan and southern Anhui. In 1998, the Huangshan Municipal People’s Government designated it as a municipal-level key cultural relics protection unit.

The site was discovered in 1957 when local farmers excavated soil for water conservancy projects. Cultural authorities have conducted multiple surveys and follow-up investigations of the site, collecting nearly 1,000 stone tools, jade artifacts, pottery items, and pottery shards. Stone tools include axes, shovels, chisels, arrowheads, knives, pestles, grinding wheels, adzes, sickles, battle-axes, net sinkers, and whetstones. Most of the stone tools were polished, though some were chipped; many are finely crafted, sharp, smooth, and aesthetically shaped, while others are more roughly made, but the majority are well preserved. Complete pottery pieces are rare, though a large number of shards have been collected—mostly sand-tempered red pottery, followed by gray pottery, with black pottery being the least common. Pottery decorations primarily feature incised patterns, herringbone designs, cord marks, string patterns, checkered patterns, and applied relief. Common vessel types include tripods, bowls, zun (wine vessels), jars, bowls, dou (bean-shaped vessels), and spinning whorls. Jade artifacts include rings and drum-shaped beads.

In 2004, the Anhui Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology conducted the first phase of excavation. Based on unearthed artifacts, it is inferred that the site dates back between 4,500 and 6,000 years.

Gantang Town: Gantang Town is located in southern Anhui Province, nestled between the world-famous Huangshan Mountain and Taihu Lake, known as the “lover of Huangshan.” It lies 130 kilometers and 220 kilometers north of the Yangtze River ports Tongling and Wuhu, respectively, and 115 kilometers south of Tunxi Airport. Provincial Highway S103 and the under-construction Hefei–Tongling Expressway run through the town, making it a transportation hub for the “Two Mountains and One Lake” (Huangshan, Jiuhua Mountain, and Taihu Lake) area. As the political, economic, cultural, and tourism center of Huangshan District, Gantang Town covers an area of 104 square kilometers after the 1992 merger of districts and townships. It administers 14 villages (including 1 mountain village, 2 semi-mountain and semi-farmland villages, and 11 market towns… Gantang Town Detailed Information++)