Zhongzipu Site

Zhongzipu Site

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

The Zhongzipu Microlithic Site is located on Yingpanliang in Zhongzi Town, northeast of Chaotian District, Guangyuan City, Sichuan Province. It sits along National Highway 108 and the ancient Jinniu Road, 10 kilometers from the border of Ningqiang County in Shaanxi Province and 25 kilometers from downtown Chaotian. Zhongzi Town has historically been a key passage for troops entering Sichuan from the Qin State. Military camps were often set up on this hill, hence the name Yingpanliang (Camp Plateau).

Yingpanliang is situated in the middle reaches of Qianxi River, a tributary of the Jialing River. It forms part of a relatively narrow river valley terrace at an elevation of 660 meters. Yingpanliang is an independent rocky hill about 60 meters high, covering a surface area of over 13,000 square meters. The Qianxi River flows around this hill to the south and into the Jialing River. The surrounding valley is flanked by high mountains ranging from 1,100 to 1,600 meters in altitude. The Qianxi River Valley served as a secondary route of the ancient Jinniu Road. From Zhongzipu, one could climb over Nan'yakou, cross Meiziya via the Da’an River, and reach Xindianzi, connecting to the main Jinniu Road leading to Guangyuan. Thus, Zhongzi Town has historically been a key passage for troops entering Sichuan from the Qin State, with military camps frequently established on this hill, hence called Yingpanliang.

Site Excavation

In April 1990 and October 1991, the Sichuan Working Team of the Institute of Archaeology at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences conducted large-scale excavations at Yingpanliang, Zhongzipu. A total of over 20,000 artifacts were unearthed, including stone cores, flakes, adzes, chips, pillars, and scrapers. Among them, there were more than 1,400 microlithic specimens and over 500 microlithic samples for observation. Radiocarbon dating indicated that the site dates back between 4,000 and 7,000 years. The excavators suggested that the Zhongzipu Site contains cultural remains from both early and late periods, with microliths representing the main content, roughly dating back 6,000 to 7,000 years. They proposed naming it the “Zhongzipu Culture.”

Microliths excavated or collected from the Zhongzipu Microlithic Site were mostly made from black flint, with a small amount of quartzite. Flake and blade production mainly used indirect methods—though direct flaking techniques were also applied. Microlithic core types include wedge-shaped, conical, funnel-shaped, and columnar cores, with the latter slightly more numerous than the former. Wedge-shaped cores notably feature base edges resembling blades, differing from typical wedge-shaped cores in northern China, which mostly have side-edged blades. The microlith flakes from Zhongzipu are quite typical, predominantly produced using indirect methods, featuring parallel sides with distal ends often curving inward, and backs with one to three longitudinal ridges. They come in pointed-tail and flat-tail forms. Microlith tool types are mainly arc-edged scrapers, strip-pointed scrapers, straight-edged long scrapers, and core-type scrapers, with a smaller number of points. There are also numerous small blade fragments with sharp edges. Coexisting with the microliths were cord-marked, sandy red-brown pottery fragments. These pottery pieces were low-fired, loosely tempered, and primarily included jars, bowls, and small tripod vessels—showing some characteristics of early Neolithic cultures.

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

Protected Area: Extends beyond the site boundaries to the natural soil ridges around the top of the Yingpanliang rocky hill, with an area of approximately 1.3 hectares.

Construction Control Zone: Extends beyond the protected area to the foot of Yingpanliang Hill.

Further Reading:

· Eighth Batch of Sichuan Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Eighth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units