Shishanzi Site

Shishanzi Site

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

The Shishanzi Site is located in Shishanzi Village, Gurao Town, Lieshan District. To the south of the site lies Shishan, a mountain composed entirely of stone with no soil, featuring steep peaks and peculiar rocks. The area around the mountain is relatively low-lying, and after heavy rain, water accumulates in a manner resembling a river surrounding a mountain. According to the *Fengyang Prefecture Annals* from the Guangxu era of the Qing Dynasty: “Over 50 li to the northwest of Suzhou lies a stone mountain, about one li in circumference, made entirely of stone with no soil, standing independently, with layers rising one atop the other, intricately hollowed and exquisitely shaped, like carvings or paintings.” Local legend says the mountain is a wedge that fell from the shoulder pole of Yang Erlang, a celestial being, while he was carrying mountains, and it is also called “Flying Peak.”

In 1984, during the second national cultural relics survey, the Shishanzi Site was discovered by cultural relics authorities. The site is situated on the northern side of Shishan, with a 4-meter-wide east-west village road passing through the middle. On the north side of the road, the cultural layer is clearly exposed in the trench section, about 1.5 meters thick and 1 meter below the surface. The multicolored soil layer is irregularly shaped, containing a large amount of granular red burnt earth and various pottery shards. On the south side of the road, the trench contains a large accumulation of shell layers, interspersed with a small number of pottery shards and hand-made spinning whorls. The pottery is mostly clay-based red pottery, with a few eggshell red pottery and black pottery pieces, as well as shell-sand gray pottery. Tripod feet are all conical in shape, varying in size and length, with loose texture and low firing temperature. None of the pottery shards bear any decorations.

In 1987, the Anhui Provincial Institute of Archaeology conducted a re-examination of the site, determining it to be 370 meters long from east to west and 350 meters wide from north to south, covering an actual area of nearly 120,000 square meters. In 1988, the institute carried out the first archaeological excavation at the Shishanzi Site, surveying an area of 100 square meters. In 1992 and 1993, two more archaeological excavations were conducted, covering a total area of 350 square meters. The three excavations uncovered a total of 395 ash pits, 16 tombs, 15 house foundations, and nearly 500 cultural relics including pottery, stone, bone, and horn tools. In 1989, the Shishanzi Site was designated as a third batch key cultural relics protection unit by the People’s Government of Anhui Province.

Through carbon-14 dating of the unearthed artifacts, it is estimated that the Shishanzi Site dates back approximately 7,000 years. Based on a comprehensive assessment of the various types of relics excavated, the site is characterized by its large area, thick accumulation, rich cultural content, and distinctly featured artifacts. Its era predates the Neolithic cultural sites found in neighboring regions and is close in time to the Peiligang culture site, a representative of early Neolithic culture in China. However, its cultural content is independent from that of the Peiligang culture. Therefore, the Shishanzi Site, as a representative of early Neolithic culture in northern Anhui, holds significant value for the in-depth study of the origins of early civilization in the region.

Protected Area: With the center of the site as the base point, 100 meters west, 80 meters south, north to the southern end of the Chenzhao Road subgrade, and east to the western end of the Feilai Peak West Road subgrade.

Construction Control Zone: 30 meters east, 50 meters north of the protected area, extending outward to the planned Shishan Road and Hushan Road roadside areas on the south and west sides.

Gurao Town: Gurao Town is located in the eastern part of Suixi County, adjacent to Suzhou City. It administers 17 villages and one neighborhood committee, with a total population of 42,534 and an area of 78 square kilometers, including 68,000 mu of arable land. The town has a dedicated railway line for coal mines and is close to the Fuciai Railway and S101 Provincial Highway, as well as National Highway 206, the Hexiong Expressway, and the Suixi–Sibu County Road, all of which pass through the area. It has two water transport docks, Gurao Port and Sibu Sluice, and is traversed by the Su River, Xinbeituo River, and Tuo River from north to south, offering very convenient transportation. The town has established a well-connected and efficient transportation network primarily consisting of highways, railways, and inland waterways. … Gurao Town detailed information++

Further Reading:

· Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units