Ancient site · Temple
Niuheliang
Niuheliang, in western Liaoning, is a ritual and burial landscape of the late Hongshan culture, spread over hilltops covering about 50 square kilometres. Found in 1983, it includes the so-called Goddess Temple, where fragments of clay statues with jade eyes were found, along with stone altars and stone-lined cairn tombs.
Elite graves held carved jades such as 'pig-dragons'. No houses have been found, which suggests it was a sacred centre visited from settlements elsewhere. It shows that complex religion and social ranks existed in northeast China around 3500–3000 BCE.
- Dates
- c. 3500–3000 BCE
- Still standing
- No, or only traces
- Location
- 41.32° N, 119.51° E
How we know
No writing existed; the complex is dated by radiocarbon and by its Hongshan pottery and jades.
Nearby sites
- Yungang Grottoes c. 460–525 CE
- Gwanggaeto Stele erected 414 CE
- Mausoleum of Tangun legendary date 2333 BCE; present monument built 1994
- Yinxu (Anyang) c. 1250–1046 BCE
- Shimao c. 2300–1800 BCE
- Songguk-ri c. 850–300 BCE
Related
- Hongshan culture archaeological culture