4000-year-old ancient site discovered in central China

Chinese archaeologist discovered an ancient site dating back to 4,000 years ago near Lishan mountain, Suizhou city of central China’s Hubei Province, also the hometown of Emperor Yandi, one of the two legendary ancestors of the Chinese people.

The discovery will provide new information to help study the farming culture in the times of Emperor Yandi, local archaeologists said.

The ancient site is located at Longjiawan of Jishui village, three kilometers away from the Lishan mountain.

“The rectangular site covers an area of more than 20,000 square meters with rich cultural relics, such as pottery.”

As the ancient site is located at a farmland, local farmers often can find some stone implements like stone axe, chisel, coins and pieces of ancient potteries when they are planting and farming.

Archaeologists found many potteries and stone implements of Neolithic period at the site. Later research showed that the site belongs to the Qu Jialing Culture of Neolithic period in Yandi’s age, dating back from 4,500 to 5,100 years ago.

“That underground should be the tombs and buildings of Emperor Yandi’s times. The discovery is important for studying the history of that period.”

Records and archeological studies show that Emperor Yandi was born in Suizhou city. He is widely believed to be an initiator of crop planting and also the pioneer in finding many Chinese herbal medicine in ancient China.

Suizhou has drawn widely attention for discovering a lot of important historical relics. The famous ancient Bronze Chime was unearthed here in 1978. Archaeologists said more than 20 ancient sites in Yandi’s period have been found around Lishan mountain and remained intact.

ANI