Shazhong Site

Shazhong Site

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

The Shazhong Site is located in Xiaonan Village, Xiaoying Village, Mali Township, approximately 30 kilometers northwest of Huai Bin County. A small stream runs from west to east around the northern end of the site. The site sits on a broad alluvial plain, facing the territory of Cai County in Zhumadian Region across the Honghe River, a tributary of the Huai River.

The site is a flat, elongated platform that is wider in the north and narrower in the south, measuring 80 meters from north to south and an average of 20 meters from east to west. It stands about 5 meters above the surrounding ground, with a cultural layer approximately 5 meters thick. Locals named it “Shazhong” (Sand Mound) because the earthen platform is loose like sand and rises abruptly from the flat land.

The soil of the site is grayish and extremely loose. It contains rich archaeological materials, including the post holes of house foundations, ash pits, and tombs from the Neolithic Age. Artifacts unearthed include stone axes, adzes, sickles, arrowheads, awls, bone drills, bone awls, bone needles, as well as large quantities of clam shells, deer antlers, and animal bones. Pottery is predominantly gray pottery and black pottery with sand tempering, with red pottery in smaller amounts. Vessel types include ding (tripods), li (tripod cauldrons), guan (jars), pans, dou (stemmed bowls), cups, bowls, red pottery birds, and pottery balls. Decorative patterns feature cord marks, rope impressions, incised lines, stamped designs, string patterns, and added coil decorations.

In October 1979, the Huai Bin Cultural Center, in collaboration with the regional cultural relics management authority, conducted a survey and trial excavation at the site. A 3×10-meter test trench was dug at the northwest corner of the site. The site was found to have ten strata, with the cultural deposit layer reaching up to 3.1 meters. Nearly a thousand pieces of broken pottery, stone tools, and bone tools were unearthed. At the bottom of the test trench, a late Neolithic tomb was excavated. The tomb measured 2.7 meters in length (east-west), 1.5 meters in width (north-south), and 0.6 meters in depth. Burial objects included one animal tooth, ten pig jawbones, five jade necklaces, and nineteen pieces of pottery. Most of the pottery was polished black pottery with perforations, and some pieces were inscribed with symbolic characters. (For the excavation report, see Archaeology, Issue 1, 1981.) The site has distinct local characteristics and is an early Longshan Culture site. It holds significant value for studying human activities in the Neolithic Age in the Huai River basin.

The site was discovered during the 1979 cultural relics survey, designated as a county-level key cultural heritage site by the Huai Bin County People’s Government in 1982, and marked with an explanatory sign. Its protected area was defined in 1989, and in September 2000, it was announced as a provincial-level cultural heritage site by the Henan Provincial People’s Government. The site remains well preserved today.

Address: Xiaoying Village, Mali Township, approximately 30 kilometers northwest of Huai Bin County, Xinyang City, Henan Province

Further Reading:

· Third Batch of Henan Provincial Cultural Heritage Sites