Qishuyan Weidun Site

　　　　In 1960 and 1961, during an archaeological survey in southern Jiangsu, the Nanjing Museum discovered the site. From 1972 to 1992, the Nanjing Museum, Changzhou Museum, and other institutions conducted five excavations at the site, uncovering a total area of 1,900.25 square meters and clearing 191 burials. Originally an earthen mound protruding above the ground, the site once covered an area of over 100,000 square meters. However, due to years of soil extraction for leveling and construction projects, it has been largely leveled and now lies mostly beneath modern buildings.

　　　　The Weidun Site is a Majiabang culture settlement located in the western part of the Taihu Lake Basin, with relatively rich cultural deposits. Through five archaeological excavations, the cultural remains were primarily identified as belonging to the Majiabang and Songze cultures. The Majiabang culture strata are relatively thick and have a longer duration. Based on the characteristics of unearthed artifacts, they can be divided into early and late phases. The Songze culture strata are thinner, with only burial remains found.

　　　　The unearthed artifacts from the Weidun Site are mainly pottery, supplemented by stone, jade, bone, and wooden tools, with a relatively simple variety. Most of the pottery pieces are fragments, predominantly sandy brown pottery, followed by clay red pottery. The decorations are mostly plain, though some items feature a red slip, often adorned with perforations, string patterns, raised ridges, indentations, appliqués, and rim decorations.

　　　　In the early Majiabang culture remains at Weidun, all pottery was handmade, mainly consisting of pots, jars, and bean-shaped vessels. Typical items include wide, round-bottomed cylindrical pots, double-ring-handled jars, open shallow flat-bottomed thick-walled jars, and deep-bellied beans coated entirely with a red slip. During this phase, wooden and bone/antler tools were used, while stone implements were relatively rare. Wooden tools included arrowheads, hoes, oars, paddles, pins, and spinning-top-like objects; bone/antler tools included awls, arrowheads, knives, needles, and tubes. By the late period, pottery was still mostly handmade, but the variety of vessel types significantly increased, including jars, beans, pots, tripods, cups, ewers, basins, bowls, and plates. Jars came in diverse forms and generally became smaller. The red-slipped pottery beans of the early period disappeared, replaced by clay gray pottery beans with shallower bowls. Pots evolved from having wide rims and deep bellies in the early phase to narrow rims and shallow bellies. Flat-bottomed pots, ring-footed small jars, handled cups, tripod plates, and ring-footed bowls were newly introduced in this period. Stone tools became notably more numerous, with larger production tools such as axes and hammers appearing alongside smaller items like adzes and spinning whorls, whereas wooden and bone/antler tools became relatively less common.

　　　　The primitive hoe-farming at the Weidun Site was primarily focused on growing grain crops, supplemented by hunting, fishing, and gathering wild plants for other necessities. In the early phase, the climate here was warmer and more humid than it is today. The vegetation near the site consisted of evergreen broadleaf forests mixed with deciduous broadleaf trees, and the surrounding area was crisscrossed by lakes and wetlands with abundant rainfall — an ideal natural environment for the growth and reproduction of flora and fauna, as well as for cultivating crops like rice. Animal remains unearthed include mainly pigs, sika deer, elk, river deer, turtles, tortoises, clams, and snails. Coupled with the large number of wooden and bone weapons such as arrowheads, spears, awls, and knives found in the same strata, this evidence indicates that gathering and hunting-fishing played a significant role in the economic life of the time. Charred rice grains excavated from the fifth layer in 1985 suggest that the Weidun inhabitants had mastered basic rice cultivation techniques, with rice becoming one of their staple food sources. Analysis showed that 72.69% of the rice was indica and 27.31% japonica, reflecting a mixed variety dominated by indica — quite different from the uniformity of modern rice varieties, which is characteristic of primitive rice farming. Pollen analysis of the Weidun Site indicated that the majority of plant pollen came from grasses, particularly Poaceae (likely rice). Thus, the layer of carbonized crust resembling burnt rice found at the bottom of some pottery pots was likely leftover residue from cooking.

　　　　Notably, the widespread use of wooden tools is a prominent feature of the early Majiabang culture phase at the Weidun Site. Judging by their uses, wooden tools were extensively applied in agriculture, hunting, fishing, transportation, and daily life, becoming indispensable instruments. Woodworking techniques were also quite advanced, with smoothly cut surfaces, neatly bored holes with smooth walls. Navigational tools such as oars and paddles closely resembled their modern counterparts in form and function, indicating that wooden tool-making had reached a relatively mature stage. Additionally, three fragmentary wooden artifacts possibly coated with black lacquer were unearthed at the Weidun Site, suggesting the emergence of primitive lacquerware — further evidence that techniques for preserving and utilizing wood had advanced considerably under the conditions of the time.

　　　　The burial customs of the Weidun inhabitants indicate that from the early stages of the cultural remains, clans had their own communal burial grounds. Across the entire excavation area, these grounds served as clan cemeteries throughout, covering a total area of at least 20,000 square meters. In high-density burial zones, 25 graves were found within a 20-square-meter area (from the first excavation in 1972). The orientation of the graves was fairly consistent, with heads mostly facing north. Early graves generally had head orientations between 5° and 36°, slightly east of due north; in the later phase, orientations shifted to due north or northwest. Most graves lacked distinct pits, although a single shallow rectangular pit was found during the fifth excavation. It is likely that the dead were commonly laid on the ground and covered with earth. Early burials were predominantly single inhumations in a prone position with straight limbs, with few accompanying grave goods. Burials were arranged in an orderly fashion, reflecting relatively uniform funeral customs. In the later phase, supine burials with straight limbs appeared, distributed more sparsely. Grave goods increased significantly, including both tools and everyday items, and male graves began featuring production tools and animal bones, indicating changes in the social status of men in production and daily life.

　　　　The Songze culture burials at the Weidun Site had relatively poorly preserved human skeletons, but the grave goods were abundant, including production tools, household items, and ornaments. Tomb M122 alone contained as many as 33 grave goods.

　　　　The human skeletons unearthed from the Majiabang culture burials at the Weidun Site were better preserved, providing physical evidence for the study of ancient anthropology in the Taihu Lake Basin. Moreover, based on intact skulls, it was common practice to extract certain teeth — typically the central and lateral incisors. For example, in one excavation unit during the third dig, seven out of ten skeletons had their central and lateral incisors removed, indicating that tooth extraction was a widespread custom and adding valuable material for the study of prehistoric tooth-extraction practices in China.

　　　　The residents of the Weidun Neolithic Site were part of the ancient inhabitants of the Taihu Lake Basin. Archaeological excavations show that the early phase was still in the matrilineal clan society stage, gradually transitioning to the patrilineal clan society stage in the later phase. Analysis of carbon-14 dating data shows that the earliest sample from the early Majiabang culture phase at Weidun, from Layer ③ of T7801 in the third excavation (tree-ring calibrated to 6,210±180 years ago), is the oldest recorded value — though not from the lowest stratum, it approximates the upper limit of the early phase. The lower limit of the late phase is close to Layer T1310 from the second excavation (tree-ring calibrated to 5,940±135 years ago), estimated to be around 5,900 years ago. Therefore, the time span of the Majiabang culture remains at the Weidun Site is approximately 6,200 to 5,900 years ago.

　　　　The typical artifacts and combinations found in the Songze culture burials at the Weidun Site are comparable to those in the middle layer of the Songze Site in Qingpu, Shanghai. Carbon-14 dating of human bones from tombs M87 and M90 at the Shanghai Songze Site indicates an absolute age of 5,100 to 5,800 years ago. Therefore, the Songze culture at the Weidun Site is estimated to date back to around 5,100 years ago.

　　　　Based on stratigraphic deposits and dating data, the Neolithic inhabitants of Weidun lived in this area for about a thousand years. During the same period, similar Neolithic cultures existed around Taihu Lake, such as in Jiaxing and Wuxing in Zhejiang, Qingpu and Wujiang in Shanghai, Wuxian and Wujiang in Suzhou, and other parts of Changzhou. These are archaeologically referred to as the “Majiabang Culture” and “Songze Culture.” The Weidun Site, located in the northwest of the Taihu Lake Basin, marks the western edge of this archaeological cultural zone. Compared to similar Majiabang culture remains, it shows certain regional differences. Thus, the Weidun Site provides valuable physical evidence for the in-depth study of primitive cultures in the Taihu Lake Basin and for establishing the chronology and developmental sequence of the Neolithic cultures in the Changzhou region.