Group sites of the Neolithic Age
Location: Tianmen, Hubei Province
Period: 3,000-2,000 BC
Excavated from 1954 to the present

Significance: The findings serve as a major breakthrough in exploring the origin of civilization in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River.

Painter pottery pot with long stem: food container (up, height 16.1 cm); Jade human head: ritual object or ornament (bottom, height 3.7 cm)

Introduction

Group Sites at Shijiahe belongs to the late Neolithic Age, with an area of about 8 square kilometers and consisting of dozens of cultural ruins like the Sanfangwan Site and the Tanjialing Site. The formation of Shijiahe Culture, named after the Group Sites at Shijiahe, came through a successive developing process from Daxi Culture to Qujialing Culture, and finally Shijiahe Culture.

In the center of the Group Sites is the Ancient Shijiahe City surrounded by city walls and moats. Among the unearthed relics, pottery and jade crafts are the most distinguished. Apart from the long-used stone tools, copper discovered in the site is the best proof that human beings were beginning to use copper in daily life in the Shijiahe Culture, which is a big step forward in human development.