Chenghu Ancient City Site

　　The Chenghu Ancient City Site refers to a vast area north of the new town of Chengwu County and within the old city’s protective embankment. This area is about 2.5 meters lower than the land outside the embankment. Due to the low-lying terrain, it used to be waterlogged year-round, generally with a depth of about 1 meter and sometimes over 2 meters, hence the name “City Lake.” Within the lake, there are currently two ancient wells—one is called the Nanjiao Well (also known as the Mud Well), and the other is the Qianjiao Well (also known as the Brick Well). In the spring of 1986, during the excavation of a fishpond in the southern section, a large area of ancient cultural remains was exposed, drawing the attention of archaeologists. Through careful investigation and archaeological drilling, the extent of the site was largely determined: it stretches west from the west side of the Yaochang (kiln factory) in Chengguan Town, east to Xiliulou Village, south to the inner side of the southern protective embankment, and north to the northern protective embankment. In some areas, such as around Zhangwafang, it even crosses the northern embankment. The site spans 3,525 meters from east to west and 1,800 meters from north to south, covering a total area of over 6.325 million square meters. Within the pits, ponds, water channels, and ditches in this area, artifacts with largely consistent cultural features have been collected. The discovery of such a large-scale site is the first of its kind in the Heze region.

　　The ruins and artifacts here are extremely abundant, particularly notable being the pottery wells. Within a fishpond of about 10,000 square meters, there are more than 20 pottery wells. These wells were built by stacking sections of pottery rings, some with blue bricks lining the well mouths, and the pottery rings themselves are relatively well-formed. Most of the artifacts found at the site are pottery fragments, mainly consisting of clay pottery, with sandy clay coming second; gray pottery, gray-brown pottery, and light gray pottery are the most common, red pottery is rare, and black pottery occasionally appears. The decorative patterns are mostly coarse rope patterns, medium rope patterns, and fine shallow rope patterns, with ridged and concave string patterns, tile patterns, and plain surfaces also making up a certain proportion. Nipple nail patterns, diamond grid patterns, and meander patterns are only found on building materials. The most common pottery items include dou (food vessels), yu (shallow bowls), round-bottomed jars, pottery pots, basins, washing basins, cauldrons, vats, jue (wine vessels), and li (tripod cauldrons). Building materials include tubular tiles, flat tiles, roof tiles, pottery pipe elbows, carved bricks, and hollow bricks, as well as copper coins such as “Ban Liang,” “Wu Zhu,” “Kai Yuan,” “Da Guan,” “Xi Ning,” and “Chong Ning.” In 2000, a batch of bronze artifacts including a three-ring bronze pot from the Spring and Autumn Period and dozens of bone shell coins were also unearthed. Analysis of these artifacts indicates they date back to five periods: the Shang Dynasty, the Western Zhou Dynasty, the Spring and Autumn Period, the Warring States Period, and the Han Dynasty.

　　Investigations and explorations have revealed that while remnants from the Shang Dynasty are relatively rich in some parts of the site, the majority of the area shows continuous habitation through the Western Zhou, Spring and Autumn, Warring States, and Han Dynasties. Although there are no historical records of an ancient city being built here, and the layout and facilities of the site have not been excavated, the site’s vast area, numerous ruins, abundant artifacts, and omnipresence of building materials are more than enough to confirm that this is indeed the site of an ancient city. Therefore, we believe this ancient city was likely the capital of the Gao State during the Western Zhou Dynasty.

　　 The discovery and confirmation of the Gao State Ancient City in Chengwu County not only adds new material to urban archaeology and fills a gap in the fortified cities of the Eastern Zhou period in the Heze region but also provides physical evidence for studying the history of the Gao State, especially its economic history, which is of great significance. The site was listed as one of the first batch of county-level cultural heritage protection units by the People’s Government of Chengwu County in 1989, and in 1992, it was designated as a provincial-level cultural heritage protection unit by the People’s Government of Shandong Province.

　　Source: Heze Local Chronicles Office