Ancient site · Settlement
Shangshan
Also known as Shangshan site
Shangshan, beside the Puyang River in Pujiang County, Zhejiang, is the type site of the Shangshan culture, with more than 20 related sites in the lower Yangtze region. Its oldest layers, dated about 11,400 to 8,600 years ago, contain house remains, pits, possible burials, stone tools and pottery tempered with rice husks.
Studies of the pots suggest people processed acorns, cooked food and may have fermented rice. Shangshan is described as the earliest Holocene site in China where houses, pottery and plant processing all appear together, an early step towards rice farming.
- Dates
- c. 9400–6600 BCE (11,400–8600 cal BP)
- Still standing
- No, or only traces
- Location
- 29.47° N, 119.97° E
How we know
No writing existed; the site is dated by radiocarbon on its oldest layers, excavated in 2001–2006.
Nearby sites
- Liangzhu City c. 3300–2300 BCE
- Hemudu c. 5500–3300 BCE
- Xianrendong Cave pottery c. 18,000 BCE (20,000–19,000 years ago); used to c. 8000 BCE
- Mawangdui burials c. 186–160s BCE
- Jiahu c. 7000–5700 BCE
- Pengtoushan c. 7500–6100 BCE
Related
- Shangshan culture archaeological culture