Dameisha Site

Dameisha Site

The Dameisha Site is a cultural heritage site protected by Shenzhen Municipality.

The Dameisha Site is located on the sand ridge of the Qianhai Bay in front of Dameisha Village, Yantian District, Shenzhen. It dates back to the middle Neolithic Age and the Zhou Dynasty. Discovered in 1980, it was excavated twice in 1992 and 1993, covering a total area of 2,405 square meters. Area I (middle part of the sand ridge) belongs to the middle Neolithic Age and has two cultural layers, where hearth remains were found. The unearthed pottery includes both sandy clay and fine clay types, with vessel types such as cauldrons, jars, bowls, bean pots, pedestals, and supports. The decorative patterns are mainly cord marks, along with incised lines, vein patterns, wave patterns, shell prints, fingernail impressions, and added coils. Stone tools include axes, adzes, knives, beaters, and whetstones. The charcoal sample from Layer ③ of T11 was carbon-dated to 6,250 years before present. Area II (southwestern part of the sand ridge) belongs to the Zhou Dynasty. The second cultural layer yielded a large number of geometric patterned pottery pieces, many of which are kui-patterned pottery, as well as some primitive porcelain bean pots. The pottery decorations are mostly composite patterns, such as kui patterns combined with grid patterns, thunder patterns, raised grids, or raised dot patterns. Pottery types include jars, pots, bean pots, bowls, cups, pedestals, and spinning whorls, with many round-bottomed vessels, a few round-concave bottom and ring-footed vessels, and some pottery items bearing incised symbols. Stone tools consist of axes, adzes, chisels, and whetstones. Ten tombs from the same period were excavated, all rectangular vertical earthen pits, typically measuring 2.3 to 4.15 meters in length and 0.8 to 1.71 meters in width, with most oriented northeast. Some tombs had a small pit at the bottom, 0.2 meters in both diameter and depth, but no artifacts were found inside. Six of the tombs contained bronze ware, including short swords, spears, axes, and battle-axes. Bronze arrowheads and halberds were also collected at the site, believed to be tomb offerings.

In 1983, the Shenzhen Municipal People's Government designated it as a cultural heritage site.