Panlonggang Site

Panlonggang Site

The Panlonggang Site is a cultural heritage protection unit of Henan Province.

Panlonggang Site - Neolithic Age, Huangchuan

The Panlonggang Ancient Cultural Site is situated in the southeast of Henan Province, at the center of southeastern Henan under the jurisdiction of Xinyang City, 30 kilometers southwest of Huangchuan County in Yao Lou Village, Jiangjiaji Township. The site lies at the northern foot of the Dabie Mountains, nestled within layers of undulating hills, facing the eastern main canal of Huangchuan and a tributary of the Bailu River, and is separated by a river from Yan'gang Village in Shangcheng County.

The Panlonggang Site is divided into two parts by the Jiang-Yao township road, hence in recent years it has also been referred to as the Front Panlonggang and the Rear Panlonggang. The overall site is elliptical in shape, featuring undulations and winding between hills and plains. The higher areas resemble a dragon’s head held high, while the lower parts look like a dragon’s tail swaying, hence the name "Panlonggang" (Coiling Dragon Mound). In the southern part of the site, there are two ash pits containing animal bones, broken pottery shards, and clam shells. In the southwest, polished stone axes, stone chisels, stone arrowheads, tripod legs, and li tripod legs have been unearthed. Local farmers often find round stone pellets after heavy rains, which they regard as dragon eyes, stone chisels as dragon teeth, and pottery spinning whorls as dragon scales—truly a place where dragons and tigers are said to lie hidden.

Through multiple investigations, since being designated as a county-level key cultural heritage protection unit in 1986, the site has largely retained its original appearance under the management of county, township, and village-level protection organizations. It is one of the larger ancient cultural sites in southeastern Henan with relatively rich cultural layers and long-term continuity. Based on collected samples, items such as pottery zun (wine vessels), bowls, jars, and basins are made of gray-bodied clay, fired at low temperatures, loose in texture, and fragile to the touch, decorated with coarse rope patterns, diagonal grid patterns, and dot patterns, mostly plain, with occasional sandy pottery and red pottery unearthed. Near the high platform (Wu Dashan), there were also thin eggshell-like pottery fragments that are pitch black inside and out, smooth and rustic. According to provincial cultural relics archaeology expert Pei Mingxiang: "It is highly possible that this site extends from the Yangshao period to the Longshan period, with remains from the Western Han Dynasty also commonly found."

The discovery of the Panlonggang Ancient Cultural Site provides valuable material for studying the matrilineal society economy of southeastern Henan. Its characteristics extending from the early Yangshao period to the Longshan period also offer archaeological evidence for the study of Neolithic culture. The Huangchuan County People's Government designated it as a county-level cultural heritage protection unit in the Huangzheng (1986) No. 100 document, and in 2000, the Henan Provincial People's Government listed it as a provincial-level cultural heritage protection unit in the Yu Zheng No. 55 document.

Further Reading:

· Third Batch of Henan Provincial Cultural Heritage Protection Units