Haogang Shell Mound Site

Haogang Shell Mound Site

The Haogang Shell Mound Site is a protected cultural heritage site under Guangdong Provincial Government.

The Haogang Shell Mound Site is located in Haogang Village, Shenghe, Nancheng District. As a late Neolithic shell mound site dating back approximately 5,000 years, it is one of the earliest prehistoric cultural sites discovered in Dongguan so far. With a preserved area of over 650 square meters, it is also quite rare across China as an intact Neolithic site found in an urban center.

During archaeological excavations, a number of broken Neolithic artifacts were unearthed, including pottery, stone tools, bone tools, and shell implements. Important remains such as red-fired earth activity surfaces, houses, burials, ash pits, and ditches were also discovered. Two of the most well-preserved ancient human skeletons found in the Pearl River Delta to date were unearthed from the burial sites, which led experts to hail the Haogang Shell Mound Site as the “First Village of the Pearl River Delta.”

The preserved area of the Haogang Site is about 650 square meters. Experts speculate that the Pearl River Delta has gradually formed over the past 10,000 years, and the site was likely an island at the time. There was originally a river flowing northwest in the western part of the site, which could have provided fresh drinking water for the early inhabitants.

According to local elderly residents, before the 1980s, piles of shells accumulated like mountains here. The production team once spent over a year digging shells here to burn into lime for fertilizer. Today, most of the fields and hills have been replaced by dense residential buildings or commercial properties.

Experts found traces of square-shaped ditches and burial sites at the Haogang Site, as well as stone mills. This indicates that ancient humans had already built houses and settled here. The large piles of shells, numerous fish bones, and the predominance of fishing and hunting tools suggest that the economy of the Haogang villagers—and their ancestors in the Pearl River Delta—was primarily based on coastal fishing and hunting. They had learned to dig drainage ditches between their houses, and they caught large quantities of shellfish and fish from the sea daily. Alongside seafood, they also used stone mills to grind wild rice, taro, and similar foods. At that time, they had not yet developed agriculture but may have gathered wild rice, edible tubers, wild fruits, and traded with other groups.

In 2008, it was designated as part of the fifth batch of Guangdong Provincial Cultural Heritage Protection Units by the People's Government of Guangdong Province.

Further Reading:

· Fifth Batch of Guangdong Provincial Cultural Heritage Protection Units

· China’s National Third-Class Museums

· Seventh Batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level