Nanzhuangtou Site

Nanzhuangtou Site

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

The Nanzhuangtou Site is located about 2 kilometers northeast of Nanzhuangtou Village in Xushui County, Hebei Province. It is surrounded by ancient cultural sites such as Nihewan, Zhoukoudian, and Shandingdong, and is the earliest Neolithic site in northern China, dating back approximately 10,500 to 9,700 years.

The site covers an area of about 20,000 square meters. Discovered remains include five ash pits, two ash ditches, and two fire-use sites. A rich variety of artifacts have been unearthed, including stone grinding plates, stone grinding rods, bone awls, bone needles, seeds, as well as a small number of sandy dark gray pottery pieces, sandy reddish-brown pottery fragments, stone flakes, and traces of human activity such as water channels. Animal bones were also found, including those of mice, chickens, dogs, wolves, pigs, and deer, some of which show signs of roasting and cutting.

The discovery of the Nanzhuangtou Site fills a gap in the archaeological record between the Cishan and Peiligang Neolithic cultures and the late Paleolithic period in northern China, making it of significant academic value. Additionally, it provides a valuable stratigraphic profile for studying climate and environmental changes during the Holocene in northern China. Moreover, the abundant artifacts unearthed at the site offer crucial materials for researching the cultural characteristics of early Neolithic cultures in northern China, as well as the origins of agriculture, animal husbandry, and pottery making. (National Cultural Heritage Administration)

Further Reading:

· Third Batch of Hebei Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Fifth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units