Machangyuan Site

Machangyuan Site

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

The Machangyuan Site is located in Minhe County, Qinghai Province.

The Machangyuan Site is a site of the late Neolithic Majiayao Culture from the upper reaches of the Yellow River in China. In the autumn of 1924, two tombs were first discovered and excavated. Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the archaeological team of the Qinghai Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau has conducted multiple surveys of the site. The Machang type of the Majiayao Culture was named after this site. According to carbon-14 dating, the Machang type dates back to approximately 2200–2000 BCE.

The two tombs discovered in 1924 yielded four painted pottery artifacts. Among them was a small-mouthed, wide-shouldered jar with two handles decorated with four large circular patterns, two double-handled jars adorned with parallel horizontal and vertical lines, and a pottery bowl with colored thunder patterns painted on the inside. By that time, the tomb site had already been severely damaged. Numerous pottery fragments collected from the site shared a style largely consistent with those found in the two tombs.

The pottery of the Machang type is relatively coarse in texture, featuring bold stripes in red and black or black-bordered red bands, though monochromatic designs are more common. Other frequently seen motifs include stylized frog patterns, spiral patterns, diamond patterns, and woven textures. Subsequently, any pottery found with a similar style has been referred to as “Machang-style pottery,” and any site yielding such pottery has been classified as a Machang-type site. (National Cultural Heritage Administration)

Further Reading:

· Third Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units