Dawenkou Site

Dawenkou Site

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

The Dawenkou Site is located along the Wen River in Dawenkou Town, Tai’an City, Shandong Province.

The Dawenkou Site is a famous Neolithic site in the lower reaches of the Yellow River in China. In 1959, the Shandong Provincial Museum conducted excavations at the site, and in 1964, it was named the “Dawenkou Culture.” The site dates from 3500 BC to 2500 BC, and its burial grounds are remnants of a patrilineal clan society.

Covering an area of 820,000 square meters, the Dawenkou Site has revealed 133 tombs and one pottery kiln within the 5,400 square meters that have been excavated. The tombs are all rectangular earthen pits, 14 of which contain wooden coffin-like burial structures. Many tombs include grave goods, primarily pottery in various types such as red pottery, painted pottery, gray pottery, black pottery, and white pottery. Representative pottery items include tripods, bean-shaped vessels, jars, back-turned jars, pots, cups, zun (wine vessels), bottles, and helmet-shaped vessels. Other notable artifacts include jade shovels used as ritual objects, exquisitely carved openwork ivory combs, and bone tubes inlaid with turquoise. The refinement of these burial items indicates that handicrafts had reached a high degree of specialization and skill at the time.

It was common practice to bury red deer teeth in tombs, often found near the finger bones of the deceased, sometimes accompanied by red deer hook-shaped tools or even tortoise shells. Pig bones in varying quantities were buried in 43 tombs, with the most containing 14 pig skulls. Scholars believe that pig heads symbolized private property, indicating clear social stratification and the emergence of private ownership.

Over the past 30 years, more than 200 sites belonging to the Dawenkou Culture have been discovered in northern Shandong and Jiangsu. These sites date from 4300 BC and evolved into the Longshan Culture of Shandong around 2500 BC. The discovery of the Dawenkou Culture and the establishment of its cultural lineage with the Longshan Culture of Shandong confirm that this region was a culturally distinct area dominated by the Dawenkou and Longshan cultures, forming its own unique system. (National Cultural Heritage Administration)

Further Reading:

· Second Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units