Ancient settlement site unearthed in East China

A well-preserved Neolithic settlement site has been discovered in east China's Shandong province, local archaeological authorities said.

The provincial cultural heritage administration said the site was found near Ximengzhuang Village in the city of Tengzhou, and an excavation of the site has been launched.

Archaeologists said the settlement was part of the Longshan Culture, a late Neolithic civilization in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River.

Covering an area of 6,000 square meters, the site was badly damaged due to human activities since the 1970s. Fortunately, the bottom of the site was well-preserved.

So far, two foundation trenches of walls, 15 housing sites, 21 pits, one tomb and a low-lying area have been found. Archaeologists believe that those pits were built in the middle of the Longshan Culture period and the rest of the findings were built during earlier part of the period.

"Most of our knowledge about Longshan Culture's social organization was learned from large-scale city settlements. The discovery is of great significance to the study of the grassroots settlement and social structure," said Zheng Tongxiu, director of the provincial cultural relics and archaeology research institute.