Site of Ashan

The site of Ashan is a cultural relic site in the city of Baotou in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region that dates back to the Neolithic era.

Ashan, which means “oasis” in Mongolian, is adjacent to Qingshan Mountain to its north and the Yellow River to its south.

The site was discovered in 1979 and received joint excavations and archeological studies by the Baotou cultural relic administration center and Inner Mongolia Academy of Social Science in 1980 and 1981.

The two-year excavation discovered 24 houses, 240 cellars and more than 1,600 cultural relics on a 1,070-square-meter site. Also unearthed were the remnants of a 2,200-meter-long wall surrounding the primitive village and a large sacrificial altar, which was excavated in 1983.

Some of the relics are now housed in the nearby Baotou Museum for preservation.

The cultural relics found at the site have allowed archaeologists to trace its history of human activity back over 6,000 years to the Neolithic era.

The total area of the site is now over 50,000 sq m. Cultural relics from four different eras are preserved there, three belonging to the Neolithic era and one to the Bronze Age.