Yuxi Site

Yuxi Site

The Yuxi Site is a cultural relic protection unit of Chongqing Municipality.

Era: Neolithic Age

Type: Ancient Site

Region: Fengdu County, Chongqing

Batch: First Batch

The Yuxi Site is located on the first-level terrace on the right bank of the Yangtze River in Berlin Group, Chuangzu Road Neighborhood Committee, Gaojia Town, Fengdu County, Chongqing. It lies adjacent to the Yangtze River to the north and borders Yuxi Gully to the northeast. The site covers an area of 80,000 square meters. Its periods include the Neolithic Age, the Warring States Period, the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, the Han to the Six Dynasties, the Tang and Song Dynasties, and the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The cultural layer is up to 6 meters thick, consisting of over 50 layers. It was discovered during the 1992 cultural relics survey in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area, and was re-examined multiple times in 1993 and 1994. A trial excavation was conducted in 1994, digging a test trench that was 4 meters long and 2 meters wide, unearthing a large number of animal bones, bone fragments, carbon debris, red burned soil, chipped stone flakes, and red and brown pottery shards with sand inclusions. From 1999 to 2001, the Chongqing Cultural Relics and Archaeology Institute carried out multiple excavations here, covering nearly 5,000 square meters. The unearthed Neolithic remains included a large quantity of animal bones (such as fish, snails, deer, sheep, water buffalo, wolves, and other species), stone artifacts (over ten thousand pieces, most of which were chipped, with only a few showing signs of grinding on the cutting edge. The artifacts are relatively large, mostly consisting of rough fragments and broken pieces, with few finished tools, indicating the characteristics of a workshop site), along with a small number of pottery shards from the Chengbeixi Culture (mostly red-brown pottery with sand inclusions, decorated only with faint, shallow cord marks, coarse in texture, low firing temperature, and all made using the clay-sheet lamination technique. Recognizable vessel types include ring-footed basins with flared rims, straight-walled ring-footed bowls, open-mouthed ring-footed basins, round-bottomed bowls, and flat-bottomed cups), as well as pottery shards bearing features of the Shaopengzui Culture and the Daxi Culture. Artifacts from the Warring States Period include collared round-bottomed jars, collared cauldrons, plain-rimmed jars, pointed-bottom cups, and bronze spears. A large-scale housing foundation from the Tang Dynasty was also discovered in the southwestern part of the site, comprising a main building and auxiliary structures. Additionally, ceramic fragments from the Han, Song, and Ming-Qing periods were unearthed. This site is notable for its early dating, long time span, excellent preservation, large distribution area, and thick cultural deposits, providing valuable physical materials for the study of the origin and development of Ba culture, the ancient cultural history of the Three Gorges region, and ancient residential customs. In September 2009, it was designated as a municipal-level cultural relic protection unit by the Chongqing Municipal People’s Government, and is currently under application to be listed as a “National Key Site Protection Unit.”

Gaojia Town: A town under the jurisdiction of Fengdu County. In 1952, the Gaojia Township was established separately, and in 1984, Gaojia merged into Gaojia Town. In 1992, Jianguo and Taiyun Townships were incorporated. Located in the northeastern part of the county, it is 15 kilometers from the county seat. The area covers 157.7 square kilometers with a population of 35,000. Transportation mainly relies on Yangtze River shipping, with ferry services to Chongqing and Yichang, and the highways from Shizhu to Gaojia Town and from Jinzhutan to Gaojia Town terminating here. It administers four neighborhood committees—Heping, Shengli, Jiefang, and Xinhua—and villages including Xiangjiazhuang, Guantiangou, Heyan, Guihua, Dawan, Wenxi, Tongzi, Jingang, Houchiba, Banqiaogou, Jinfengling, Longshentang, … More details about Gaojia Town++