Fuhéugoumen Site

Fuhéugoumen Site

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

A late Neolithic site in northern China. Located on the eastern bank of the Wuliji Muren River in Bairin Left Banner, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, it covers an area of approximately 60,000 square meters. Excavated in 1962 by the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, radiocarbon dating and calibration place its age at around 3350 BCE. The excavation of this site led to the establishment of the Fuhéu Culture. This was a significant effort in distinguishing different archaeological cultures from the broadly termed "microlithic culture."

Period: Neolithic

Fuhéugoumen is located on the eastern bank of the Wuliji Muren River, 70 kilometers north of Lindong Town, Bairin Left Banner. The Fuhéu River flows from the northeast and joins the Wuliji Muren River west of the village. The Fuhéu cultural site is situated halfway up the hills north of the village. In the summer of 1962, the Inner Mongolia Work Team of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences conducted excavations here, discovering and unearthing 37 square pit-style dwellings from ancient times, along with a large number of pottery, stone, bone, and microlithic tools. Radiocarbon dating (C14) indicates that the site dates back 5,400 years.

The Fuhéugoumen Site, in terms of both the shapes and decorations of the pottery, as well as the shapes and crafting techniques of the stone tools, shows that it is a distinctive collection of artifacts, possessing the elements of a new type of archaeological culture. It was named the "Fuhéu Culture" after its first excavation at Fuhéugoumen in Bairin Left Banner. People at the time led a relatively stable settled life, relying mainly on fishing, hunting, and gathering for sustenance, supplemented by primitive agriculture and animal husbandry. Notably, the people of the Fuhéu Culture had divination practices; oracle bones were discovered at the site, which are the earliest oracle bones found in China to date. In May 2013, it was designated and announced by the State Council as part of the seventh batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units.

Further Reading:

· Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units