Excavation Report on the Neolithic site----Qiuchengdun, at the Northwest of Tai Lake

Compiled by Nanjing Museum, Jiangsu Provincial institute of archaeology and Cultural Relics,

                    Xishan district Administration Commission of Cultural Heritage in Wuxi city 

Abstract:
The Qiuchengdun site is located at the northeast to Hongshan Town, Wuxi City, with coordinate of 120°30’ 16.8’’ E and 31°29’ 38.6’’ N.
The alluvial plain from which the site was excavated, sitting on northern bank of the Tai Lake, is characteristic of the typical watery region in southern China whose circumstance is full of rivers and lakes with average altitude around 1 – 4 m, and the highest about 5 – 6 m. the pollen analysis shows that the environment before the site formatted had gotten the geographical features of everglade which was strewn thick with lands, rivers, lakes and swamps.
From Feb. to May of 2005, an archaeological group composed of the Jiangsu Provincial Archaeological Institute and the Cultural Relics Administrative Committee of Xishan, Wuxi City, carried out a rescue excavation, and 2015 m2 of the Qiuchengdun Neolithic site have been dug up.
A study on the strata deposits and the unearthed artifacts, the features as well suggests that this Neolithic site could be divided into three stages.
Stage I: the stratum 5 and 12 burials, M12 – M23, broken though the stratum 5; and 2 house features (F1, F2).
Stage II: the stratum 4 and the sacrificed features, JS1 and JS2, overlapped on the stratum 4.
Stage III: the stratum 3 and the burials broken though the stratum 3, i.e. the high terrace made of earth though which the 10 burials, M2 – M11, broken.
The artifacts belong to the stage I are much less than that from other stages, including mainly pottery such as dou, guan, stone tools like adzes and huang. The stage I could be dated back to c. 4100 BC, corresponding to the late Majiabang Culture.
There are much plenty of artifacts and features discovered from the stage II, such as pots, cups, jars, yan, dou of pottery category, beats, bracelets, ear pendants of jade category, and sickles, adzes, knives, axes of stone tools. Age of the stage II presumably corresponds to the transition from the Songze Culture to the Liangzhu Culture, whose age is of c. 3300 BC.
The staple features of the stage III are of the high terrace made of earth and burials. The grave goods from burials are quite affluent in pottery lake tripods (ding), pot with erect ears, cups with wide handles, jars and gui, in jades lake cong, bi, yue, huang, bracelets, ear pendants, axes, and in stone tools such as adzes, axes, knives.
Moreover, the stage III can be again partitioned to the early phase and the late phase. The early phase comprises the high terrace made of earth and M7, M8, M9, whose age corresponds to the early Liangzhu Culture, c. 3300 BC to c. 3000 BC. The late phase consists of M2, M3, M4, M5, M6, M10 and M11, whose age corresponds to the middle Liangzhu Culture, c. 2400 BC.
The Qiuchengdun Neolithic site should taken as a continued and important discovery on the Liangzhu Culture after many cemeteries had been found from the sites such as Fuquanshan in Shanghai, Caoxieshan in Wu County, Zhaolingshan in Kunshan, Sidun in Wujin County, Luodun in Changshu Town, Gaochengdun in Jiangyin County, and the others.
During the time of the Majiabang Culture, the Songze Culture, and the Liangzhu Culture, the Qiuchengdun Neolithic site formatted its geographic deposits which respectively correspond to these three cultures.
The features JS1 and feature JS2 of the stage II are considered as sacrificed features. The feature JS1 was constructed in a complicated way whose bottom was built as a foundation, and, from stratum 3 to the top, a earth cube with different colors are probably left as remains of sacrifice. At the top of the feature there are two jars which both were transected from middle with the upper parts in state of being inverted. Around the jars, there is some sporadic burnt earth with small artifacts made of jade on. This new discovery of the sacrificed features provides us with the latest evidences for understanding the society and the ceremony of the Liangzhu period.
From the high terrace made of earth, 4 burials, of 3 kept in intact state, and many grave goods have been discovered, 64 grave goods, of 3 jade cong, 7 bi and 1 yue from M3, 54 grave goods, of 2 jade cond, 9 bi and 3 yue from M5, 51 grave goods, of 6 jade bi and 2 yue from M11.
Some special artifacts made of jade such as a pipe with design of human mask, pendants in shape of gourd superinduce a new category to the jade of the Liangzhu Culture. The 4 burials from the high terrace made of earth were disposed in a regular way which provides a new information for the study of the cemeteries buried in the high terrace made of earth of the Liangzhu Culture.