Shizitan Site

Shizitan Site

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

The Shizitan Site dates back 20,000 to 10,000 years ago, spans approximately 10 kilometers from east to west, and covers an area of about 60,000 square meters. It is an important Late Paleolithic site. Discovered and test-excavated in 1980, between 2000 and 2001, 25 new Paleolithic sites and a central site area were newly discovered within a 15-kilometer radius, forming the Shizitan Site Complex. Continuous excavations have been carried out from 2001 to the present, uncovering over 10 new human fire-use remains, tens of thousands of stone artifacts, animal fossils, stone grinding plates, stone grinding rods, and perforated shell ornaments. It is currently the largest, thickest, and richest in content in-situ buried site discovered in China dating back 20,000 to 10,000 years ago.

The cultural remains at the site consist of two parts: stone artifacts and rock paintings. Most of the stone artifacts are made of quartzite, with tool types including scrapers, points, awls, saws, and backed flakes. The rock paintings were found under a “rock shelter” at the southern end of the cliff on the northwest side of the site. Although these two rock paintings have suffered severe weathering over time, the hematite ochre color and the depicted images can still be faintly discerned.

The Shizitan Site is a Late Paleolithic cultural remnant primarily characterized by typical microliths. Although the stone artifacts in its cultural layers are divided into microliths and flake tools, they do not differ significantly from microliths found across North China to Siberia, as well as in Japan and North America. It possesses a style distinctive to western China, representing a unique regional culture widely distributed across the Loess Plateau and the middle reaches of the Yellow River at the end of the Late Paleolithic. It can also be compared with Late Paleolithic cultures in Europe. Furthermore, it is a typical microlithic culture with reliable chronological evidence, where the mature microlithic craftsmanship and technology serve as valuable material for exploring the transition between the Paleolithic and Neolithic periods in northern China.

Opening Hours: 8:30 – 20:00

Admission: Adult Ticket: 20 RMB; Child Ticket: 10 RMB

Address: Ji County, southwestern Linfen City, Shanxi Province

Further Reading:

· Fifth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units