Ship-shaped Nao Site

Ship-shaped Nao Site

The Ship-shaped Nao Site is located about 1,000 meters southeast of Zaomu Village in Zhutan Town, approximately 49 kilometers from the county seat. To the southeast of the site lies a dense pine forest and residential houses, about 0.5 kilometers northeast is the Xiang-Gan Highway, and the western slope is dotted with farmhouses. The Shu River, which runs parallel to the Xiang-Gan Highway, borders the eastern edge of the site, forming a river bend.

The site rises about 10 meters above the ground surface, extending in a southeast–northwest direction. It is 1,500 meters long from north to south and 100 meters wide from east to west, covering a total area of 15,000 square meters. The soil is yellowish, and the entire hillside is shaped like a boat. Most of the area has been cultivated into vegetable plots, but a section of about 200 square meters in the southwest, where earth was removed for housing construction, has exposed a cross-section about 10 meters deep. Artifacts found at the site include one finely polished stone axe, four pottery spinning whorls shaped like counting beads, and pottery fragments primarily made of gray and yellow hard pottery, along with some sandy red pottery and gray clay pottery. Recognizable vessel shapes among the fragments include shoulder-folded jars, concave-bottomed vessels, and large-mouthed zun. The decorative patterns consist of combined motifs such as checkered designs, net-like patterns, S-shaped patterns, appliqué ridges, and comb-stamped dots.

The Ship-shaped Nao Site has suffered considerable damage due to soil erosion, years of vegetable cultivation, and demolition for housing construction. Based on the identifiable pottery fragments, many vessels exhibit characteristics of the Shang Dynasty but also incorporate cultural elements from the Western Zhou period. Therefore, it is tentatively classified as a Western Zhou-period site. Future scientific excavations may reveal stratigraphic relationships that clarify its chronological sequence.

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