Moshan Site

Moshan Site

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

Moshan Site

Dating back to the Neolithic Age, the site is located in Piaoshajing Township, Zhuzhou County, Hunan Province. It is one of the best-preserved and richest-in-cultural-content Daxi Culture sites in the region south of Dongting Lake.

The site was discovered during the 1986 cultural relics survey, and trial excavations covering 96 square meters were conducted in August 1987.

The Moshan Site dates back to around seven thousand years ago. Covering an area of 30,000 square meters, the cultural layer is about 1 meter thick, with cultural deposits consisting of artifacts from the Daxi and Longshan cultures. Shang and Zhou dynasty artifacts are only found on the surface. The lower layer of the site yielded tube-shaped belly tripods, ding (tripod cauldrons), and stamped-pattern white pottery, all with distinct cultural characteristics and clear chronological continuity. Before the appearance of stamped-pattern white pottery, tube-shaped belly tripods and ding feet coexisted; after its emergence, tube-shaped tripods became rare while ding feet appeared in large numbers. This phenomenon serves as a key reference point for understanding the cultural changes within the Moshan type of the Daxi Culture—a culture mainly characterized by the particularly developed ding.

On May 19, 2002, the People's Government of Hunan Province designated it as a Provincial-Level Cultural Relics Protection Unit, with the serial number 109-3.

In 2019, the Moshan Site was included in the eighth batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Source: Overview of Cultural Relics in Hunan

Further Reading:

· Eighth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units