Zhukaigou Site

　　The Zhukaigou Site is situated in Zhukaigou Village, Nalinta Township, Yijinhuoluo Banner (Arxan Town), in the eastern part of Ordos City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Covering an area of approximately 500,000 square meters, the site contains cultural remains from the late Longshan period to the early Shang Dynasty.

　　From 1984 to 1997, archaeologists conducted four excavations in this area, and in 1988, the site was officially named the “Zhukaigou Culture.” The total excavation area reached about 4,000 square meters, uncovering 83 housing foundations, 207 ash pits (or storage pits), 329 graves, and 19 urn burials from different periods. Among the findings were around 510 restorable pottery items, 270 stone tools, over 420 bone artifacts, and more than 50 bronze objects.

　　A large number of animal bones—such as those from pigs, cattle, and sheep—unearthed at the Zhukaigou Site indicate the presence of a well-developed animal husbandry industry. The discovery of numerous pottery drinking vessels, including ?-shaped cups, small square cups, round cups, and triangular cups, proves that brewing techniques had reached a high level of maturity. This suggests that primitive agricultural production, which supported both livestock farming and brewing, was thriving.

　　In addition, the Zhukaigou cultural site yielded a wide variety of pottery utensils used for cooking, eating, drinking, storing, and serving. These items featured complex and diverse shapes and demonstrated sophisticated craftsmanship, indicating that specialized pottery production had become established. The advanced pottery firing techniques naturally laid a solid foundation and created favorable conditions for the subsequent rise of bronze smelting and casting.

　　Archaeological finds show that from the middle period of the Zhukaigou Culture onward, bronze ornaments and small tools such as earrings, rings, armlets, bangles, needles, and awls had already appeared. By the late period, bronze weapons and tools—including ge daggers, short swords, knives, arrowheads, and armor plates—were also present, demonstrating the development of bronze casting technology.

　　The main relics at the Zhukaigou Site span a period of about 800 years. The discovery and confirmation of the Zhukaigou Culture have greatly advanced research on the prehistoric history of central and southern Inner Mongolia and the history of ancient northern ethnic groups in China. The culture of China’s northern nomadic peoples, represented by the “Ordos Bronzes,” gradually developed on the foundation of the Zhukaigou Culture. The Zhukaigou Culture also provides the most valuable information for exploring the origins and development of animal husbandry economies in northern China.

　　In May 2006, the Zhukaigou Site was designated as part of the sixth group of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level by the State Council.