Elite Tomb of Early Liangzhu Cultural at Yujiashan Settlement Site in Zhejiang

 
     Recently, over 100 pottery and jade artefacts have been unearthed at Tomb M200 of Yujiashan site in Linping by a joint excavation team of the Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Archaeology and the Yuhang Museum.
     Among the burial artifects from Tomb M200, there are pottery wares such as filters, Ding with steamer, Ding, pots and jars; jade wares including bracelet-style Cong, back part of a crown shaped comb, etched tapered, dagger-shaped implements and a pair of jade chopsticks. Others artifacts also include bracelets, huang and beads.  Among these, etched flattened crown shaped comb back and a pair of jade chopsticks were discovered the first time. Jade dagger was also discovered in the outdoor area. This is the highest class elite burial tomb of Early Liangzhu culture after Fanshan and Yaoshan culture. The burial goods of the female deceased did not have the same quantity as those discovered from Fanshan and Yaoshan culture, but there are greater varieties with exquisite craftsmanship.
     In early March this year, Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Archaeology and the Yuhang Museum have continued their joint survey-cum-excavation at Yujiashan site. So far in this phase, 32 tombs of Liangzhu culture (out of a total of 200) have been excavated.  Excavation at the house foundations located at the northeast corner of the site has begun. In accordance with the proposal to search for the external access, a section was done at the northern extension at the northeast inside a ring trench.  Thus, the northern access at the section is about 9.5m wide and 1.5m deep. Another small site is identified in the western section, which is 30m outside the north passage.  A small trench facing east to west was partially excavated. To the north of the small trench were some piled stone block as well as a small cemetery dated to Late Liangzhu culture.  Currently, one burial in the cemetery has been excavated.
     Through this survey-cum-excavation, the cluster of smaller site distributed to the northwest of Yujiashan forms an elite settlement complex around Yujiashan. The settlements of Yujiashan almost extended throughout the Liangzhu culture. The class of these elite burials among this settlement provided significant understanding to the settlement organization and cultural development of the 20km -wide Yujiashan settlement complex.     (Translated by Li Langlin)