Hunan Guo Site

Hunan Guo Site

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

Hunan Guo Site

The site is located on a small terrace to the south of Hunan Guo Village in Houji Township, with a hill known as Dagang situated to the south. To the east and south of Dagang are the remnants of an ancient river channel, while the northeast section of this former waterway is now called Huihe, also known as Pei Wang Grain Transport River. The northern part of the site lies beneath the village. Investigations show that the site is oval in shape, covering a total area of 150,000 square meters. The terrain gradually descends from west to east toward the Huihe riverbank, and many ash pits with diameters of about three to five meters can be seen on the surface. These pits contain gray soil mixed with animal bones, pottery fragments, and red burned earth. In the late 1960s, the central part of the site was excavated by villagers to create an earthen pit, unearthing fired clay blocks and other cultural relics.

This caused severe damage to the site, exposing large areas of the cultural layer. The unearthed artifacts were mainly pottery, including red pottery, painted pottery, and black pottery. The methods of production were mostly coiling and hand-molding, while the black pottery was wheel-made. The fine red pottery was mostly plain. The painted pottery came in red, white, and black, with patterns including net designs, white-background soy-sauce colored celestial motifs, and decorations identical to those found on painted pottery unearthed at Agang Temple in Wuyang and Dahecun in Zhengzhou. The pottery ding vessels were mostly made of coarse red pottery, larger in size, often with round bottoms, no handles, collars, flared rims, and duck-bill shaped feet.

In 1957, Guo Haitang discovered two perforated jade shovels—one was not donated to the state, while the other was handed over to the county museum. It is yellow with a flesh-red tint. Other finds include stone axes, stone adzes, stone arrowheads, stone sickles, and bone needles.

The pottery unearthed at the Hunan Guo Site has a unique style. It resembles the Xiaji culture of southern Hubei in the south and the Hougang culture of Anyang in the north. There are also typical examples of shiny black pottery and coastal cultural types. The cultural content is mainly characterized by Yangshao and Longshan cultures. The site’s age ranges from the Peiligang period at its earliest to the Longshan culture at its latest, making it a cultural relic that integrates features from various historical periods. It is listed as part of the second batch of cultural heritage protection units of Henan Province.

Further Reading:

· Second Batch of Cultural Heritage Protection Units in Henan Province