Major archaeological Discovery at Dongpan Site of Linshu, Shandong

In order to facilitate the infrastructure development, the Shandong Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology together with the Linyi City Relic Management Office and Linshu County Relic Management Section jointly conducted an archaeological excavation at Dongpan site in Linshu county from 17 September to 23 November 2009. The excavated area was over 1100 sq. meters with rich cultural remains covering a wide range of periods including the remains from the Beixin culture, Longshan culture, Yueshi culture, Western Zhou Dynasty, Spring and Autumn Period, Western Han Dynasty as well as the Eastern Han Dynasty. Among these findings, the discovery of housing remains from the Beixin culture, as well as pits, burials, artifacts and house foundations of the Longshan culture have prominent academic significance. 

Dongpan Site is located 800 meters at the northwestern side of Dongpan Zhongcun in Zhucang Town, Linshu County, Linyi City of Shandong province, on a river terrace. The Dongpan River flows from west to east passing through the southern part of the site. The site measured 150m from east to west and 120m from south to north with an area of 18000 sq. meters. The mid southern part of the site is higher than its surrounding and the thickness of cultural deposit is approximately 0.3-1.5m, and cultural deposit in excavated area is shallower at the east and deeper at the west. The formation of the cultural deposit is relatively clear with abundant features and artifacts.     

Beixin Culture Remains: Main features are ash pits. In addition, large amount of reddish burned clay have been identified within these ash pits. Unearthed artifacts were mainly pottery shreds and most of them were coarse with low firing temperature. These reddish brown colour pottery were unevenly painted and most of them were plain in style. Other decorative styles included incised pattern, rope pattern earth biscuit and etc. Most of them were hand-corded. Identified vessel types include fu, ding, jar with double ears and small mouth, bowl and so forth. Also, small amount of stone tools were unearthed, including axe, knife, grinding dish, grinding stick and etc. The year of cultural deposit belongs to Early Beixin Culture.          
Longshan Culture Remains: Remains unearthed include 42 house foundations, 146 ash pits (including cellars), 13 burials, as well as around 300 pieces of potteries, stone and bone tools. Remnants of houses were above-ground structure with foundation ditches, post holes and paved soil. Most of these house foundations lined from east to west in rectangular shape and a few of them shape in square. Quite few of these foundations faced south, but most of them faced southwest, which are identical to the sun direction during noon. The size of rooms mostly ranged from either 10-15 sq. meters or 5 –10 sq. meters; some of them were 20-25 sq. meters or 15-20 sq. meters. Some exceeded 30 sq. meters and several were below 5 sq. meters. In general, plan of these houses was in regular pattern. Usually a house was constructed at the same location for many times with clear lineation, and the relationship of their stratigraphy is clear. There is a larger number of ash pits from the Longshan Culture, and were mainly in oval and circular shape, whereas some of them are irregular or square with round corner. Shape of certain ash pits is regular with flat base and filled by potash. The stratigraphic sequence is sharp, while pottery can be found at the base of these pits. They scattered around the house remnants and can be regarded as the deposit of the underground caves. More than 10 rectangular round corner cellars share regional characteristics.            

Furthermore, there are 13 burials from the Longshan Culture, six for adults and seven for infants. The burials were rectangular shaft graves orienting to southeast. The adult graves measured 2m in length and 1m in width, while some of them are more than 3m in length. Most of the burials consist of outer and inner coffins. The skeleton was well preserved in prone burial style. The funerary objects were put on the secondary platform near the feet. Some burials have small pottery jar with lid in the right waist and roe deer tusks. One burial contains 9 pairs of pig mandible. Pottery within the funerary included gui, ding, jar, dou stem cup, dish, goblet shaped cup and egg-shell pottery cup with high handle. For infant burials, neither coffin nor funerary can be identified. The shafts are 0.95-1.45m in length and 0.3-0.5m in width; the ages of the buried infants were about 1 – 3 years old.

Abundant artifacts from the Longshan Culture are retrieved, most of which were pottery, followed by stone tools and bone tools. Over 200 vessels can be refitted, and most of them are black pottery followed by coarse pottery. The surface of the vessels are polished and decorated in coil pattern, convex line pattern, incised pattern, mud biscuit and etc. These pottery are manufactured by fast-wheel and the types include yan, gui, ding, jar, dish, plate with foot ring, dou stem cup, cup, eggshell pottery cup with high handle, lid, grinding plate, spindle whorl and net weight. The number of ding, jar, dish, cup and lid are in majority. There are also more than 50 polished stone tools including axe, adze, chisel, hammer, knife, arrowhead, spear and spindle whorl. Among those, adze, arrowhead and knife are in majority. There are around 20 polished bone tools including spade, prick, arrowhead and needle. Arrowhead outnumbered the others. These remains can be dated to the early and mid Longshan Culture period.  

Yueshi Culture: Only two ash pits are identified, together with fragments of yan, dou stem cup and jar.
Western Zhou Remaining: Features are some 10 pits in regular oval shape. Large number of pottery shreds and animal bones are unearthed together with few stone tools and bone tools, and identified typology includes li, dish, and jar. It is believed that they were of Middle to Late Western Zhou period. Also, one ash pit and pottery kiln from Spring and Autumn Period were also identified.
Features from Western Han included 3 ash pits and one water well. While findings from Eastern Han included a ditch and a well.

During the excavation, all soils of the pits dating before the Western Zhou have been sieved for further analysis. The amounts of animal bones, 184 flotation samples and 205 phytoliths samples have been chosen from 90 contexts to acquire archaeological information of the palaeobotany and palaeoenvironment. 

Relics of Beixin Culture can be regarded as the first scientific excavation from site in the area of Southeastern Shandong, which fill the regional gaps in terms of culture and research.  In the past, relics excavated from the Longshan Cultural in the area of Southeastern Shandong were relatively small. The rich findings from this excavation is an important key to study the Longshan Culture near the Shu River area in terms of cultural characteristics, periodizaion and chronology, settlement pattern, burial custom as well as palaeoecology. (Translated by Li Langlin)