A bird's-eye view of the archaeological site (in the red frame). [Photo/WeChat account: tlfabu]

The Shenjiafan archaeological site in Tonglu, Hangzhou, was recently recognized as one of the 10 most significant archaeological discoveries in Zhejiang for 2023.

The site is located in Shenjiafan village, Fenshui town, Tonglu county, at a concave bank accumulation site formed by the U-shaped bend of the Fenshui River, a tributary of the Fuchun River.

In March 2022, a site primarily associated with Liangzhu Culture was discovered, covering roughly 40,000 square meters. Subsequently, from November 2022 to November 2023, a joint archaeological team comprising the Hangzhou Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and the Tonglu County Museum conducted excavations over an area of 1,500 sq m.

A bird's-eye view of the archaeological site. [Photo/WeChat account: tlfabu]

Dating back over 5,000 years, the Shenjiafan site once functioned as a stone tool processing factory, and was potentially the birthplace of the first-ever jade business in the Yangtze River Delta, along the banks of the Fenshui River.

"Based on stratigraphy and excavated artifacts, the site can be divided into four periods: the Liangzhu Culture period, the Song-Yuan dynasties (960-1368), the Ming-Qing dynasties (1368-1911), and the modern era, with the highest portion of remains belonging to the Neolithic era," said an archaeologist from the Hangzhou Institute of Archaeology.

A total of over 200 locations were excavated, including ash pits, tombs, post holes, and stone tool deposits. More than 37,000 artifacts were unearthed, predominantly stone artifacts from the Neolithic era, including finished products, semi-finished products, blanks, flakes, and raw materials and anvils used in the production of stone tools.

The substantial collection of artifacts related to stone tool processing discovered at the Shenjiafan site represents a crucial prehistoric archaeological discovery, filling gaps in the prehistoric stone tool production chain in the Yangtze River Basin.

Some excavated artifacts. [Photo/WeChat account: tlfabu]