Late Neolithic Settlement Excavated in Southern China

GUANGZHOU, CHINA—Xinhua reports that a Neolithic site dated to between 4,600 and 4,300 years ago has been discovered in southern China. Zhang Qianglu of the Guangzhou Municipal Cultural Relics and Archaeology Institute said that 143 tombs, 140 ash pits or cellars, 125 postholes, and more than 340 artifacts have been unearthed at the Gancaoling site. “This provides important physical materials for constructing the archaeological cultural lineage from the Late Neolithic period to the early Western Han Dynasty (202 B.C.–A.D. 25) in Guangzhou and even the Pearl River Delta region,” Zhang explained. To read about another Neolithic site in northern China, go to “Neolithic City of Shimao,” one of ARCHAEOLOGY’s Top 10 Discoveries of the Decade.