Minquan Ligang Site

Minquan Ligang Site

The Minquan Ligang Site is a protected cultural heritage site of Henan Province.

The Ligang Site is a Neolithic cultural heritage site that features stratified layers from multiple periods, beginning with the Longshan Culture and including the Yueshi Culture, Pre-Shang Culture, Early Shang Culture, and Late Shang Culture. Due to its winding, dragon-like shape, the site is locally referred to as Dragon-Shaped Hill.

Archaeological investigations at the Ligang Site began in the 1950s, with researchers conducting multiple surveys and subsequently designating the site as a county-level and then city-level protected cultural heritage site. In 1977, archaeologists from the Henan Second Team of the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, along with experts from the Shangqiu Regional Cultural Relics Management Committee, revisited the Ligang area. The goal of this archaeological survey and excavation was to study issues related to the late primitive society and early Shang Dynasty culture in eastern Henan. The investigation revealed that this was a site of Longshan and Shang cultures (from "1977 Eastern Henan Archaeological Summary"). By 1986, the Ligang Site had been designated as a key cultural heritage site under the protection of Henan Province.

The Longshan Culture relics found at the Ligang Site include pottery categorized into two types: sand-tempered pottery and clay pottery. Clay pottery is more common than sand-tempered pottery, with gray pottery being the most prevalent, followed by black pottery. There are also very small amounts of red pottery, brown pottery, and tan pottery. The main decorative patterns are checkered designs, followed by basket weave patterns, corded patterns, as well as a small number of incised lines, appliqué ridges, and chicken-head ears. Plain and polished pottery also make up a significant proportion. Checkered and corded patterns are mostly found on sand-tempered pottery, while basket weave patterns are mainly on clay pottery. The pottery was predominantly wheel-made, with a few items hand-crafted. The main vessel types include deep-bellied jars, wide-mouth jars, clay small jars, high-necked urns, basins, bowls, bean-shaped vessels, tripods, steamers, cauldrons, and goblets. The prevalence of wheel-made pottery indicates that the ancient inhabitants living in this area had mastered advanced pottery-making techniques and enjoyed a relatively high standard of living.

In addition to the artifacts unearthed during excavations, villagers from Ligang have also discovered stone knives, stone shovels, stone sickles, stone axes, and fragments of pottery spinning wheels while digging soil on the northern part of the hill. Fossils such as young deer antlers, horse teeth, and animal bones have also been found (from the 1995 edition of the Minquan County Annals – Cultural Relics section). The stone knife (also known as a stone claw sickle) was a primary harvesting tool during the Longshan Culture period, typically rectangular in shape and mainly used for cutting grain spikes.

Further reading:

· Second Batch of Protected Cultural Heritage Sites of Henan Province