Top 6 archaeological discoveries of 2024 released

2. The Xiatang Site in Xianju county, Zhejiang province

Located in Xiatang village, Xianju county, Zhejiang province, the site is situated on a platform, elevated 1 to 2 meters above the surrounding farmland. Covering an area of approximately 30,000 square meters, the Xiatang site history spans the entire Neolithic period, serving as important evidence in China's cultural history of thousands of years. It provides continuous new materials for studying regional cultural evolution and the millennia-long history of rice agriculture. The site showcases a novel settlement pattern and social organizational structure during the Shangshan Cultural period (a Neolithic culture from 11,000 to 8,500 years ago in the middle and western part of Zhejiang), making it one of the most complete and well-structured settled villages among early Neolithic sites in China. It offers an extremely important sample for studying the formation of early rice agricultural societies in southern China.