The Baishicun Site

The Baishicun Site

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

The Baishicun Site is located on the north side of the western section of Xinbaishi Road in Zhifu District, Yantai City, Shandong Province, and is professionally classified as a coastal shell mound site.

The Baishicun Site represents the earliest culture within the prehistoric cultural sequence of Jiaodong. Excavations indicate that the inhabitants of the Baishicun Site lived in semi-subterranean houses with thatched roofs made of seaweed. They were capable of crafting various stone tools such as stone axes, Baishicun Site stone sickles, stone balls, stone arrowheads, stone grinding plates, and stone rollers. The stone artifacts unearthed suggest that the "Baishicun people" were meticulous and diligent in selecting materials and producing tools, investing considerable time and effort. In both the flaking and polishing of stone tools, they demonstrated a keen understanding of form and a relatively developed aesthetic sense for various shapes. The site has also yielded a variety of beautifully crafted pottery items, including bowls, jars, tripod bowls, bowl-shaped ding vessels, cylindrical jars, and axe-shaped ding vessels, among others. These artifacts show that the Baishicun culture was not inferior to the Banpo culture. The design and production of the cylindrical jars, in particular, exhibit distinct local characteristics. The primitive Baishicun people also created numerous bone tools, such as bone needles, bone awls, and bone arrowheads. From an archaeological perspective, the drilling of holes in stone tools and the perforation of bone tools are seen as indicators of the further development of primitive culture. The Baishicun people further utilized bone hairpins and shell artifacts to create hair-binding devices. The creation of such an item holds significant meaning—it facilitated labor and daily life by keeping hair tidy and altered primitive appearances, reflecting the Baishicun people’s strong desire for beauty and adornment.

This also proves that the Baishicun Site is an important birthplace of China’s prehistoric maritime civilization. Although the method by which the "Yantai ancestors" crossed the strait remains unknown, experts have confirmed through research of excavated artifacts that there was cultural exchange between the Jiaodong Peninsula and the Liaodong Peninsula as early as 6,000 years ago, exerting certain influences on the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese archipelago as well.

Stone axes, stone shovels, stone net sinkers, tripod basins with triangular feet, and bone needles unearthed from the Baishicun Site, dating back to the Neolithic Age, feature cultural characteristics typical of the Jiaodong coastal region. The bone tools were finely polished, with bone needles nearly approaching the quality of later steel needles, indicating that grinding, weaving, and sewing techniques had already reached a relatively advanced level at the time.

In 2006, the Baishicun Site, as a prehistoric site from the Neolithic period, was included in the sixth batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units by the State Council.

Tongshen Subdistrict: Tongshen Subdistrict Office

Office Address: No. 68 Xidajie, Yantai City

Contact Number: (0535) 6243541

Fax Number: (0535) 6243541

Postal Code: 264000

[Overview] Total area of 2.2 square kilometers. Administers 5 neighborhood committees, with a total population of 31,819 at year-end. In 2009, the total economic income was 2.58 billion yuan, and local fiscal revenue was 66.096 million yuan. The subdistrict's gross production value was 92.10... For more detailed information about Tongshen Subdistrict, ++

Further Reading:

· Sixth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units