Wu Weihong, a professor in the Department of the History of Science and Scientific Archaeology at the University of Science and Technology of China, presented research on the Lingjiatan (凌家滩) site during a lecture at the Bao'an 1990 Theater in Shenzhen's Bao'an District on August 22. Wu previously led excavations at the site.
Lingjiatan, in Hanshan County, Anhui Province, is one of the largest Neolithic settlements known in the lower Yangtze River valley. The site covers about 1.4 million square meters. Occupation began more than 5,700 years ago and reached its height between about 5,500 and 5,300 years ago. The exceptional quality of the jade recovered from its graves has made the site central to discussions of how early Chinese ritual systems took shape.
The site was found by chance. In the winter of 1985, a villager burying his mother at Lingjiatan unearthed a group of unfamiliar objects, which passed through several hands before reaching local cultural authorities and drawing archaeologists to the area. Excavations the following year yielded jade human figures, jade turtles, jade plaques and large ceremonial stone axes. From Tomb 4 alone, more than 140 objects, over 100 of them jade, were excavated. And from Tomb 23, excavated in 2007, spanning about seven square meters, more than 340 objects, including 209 pieces of jade, were unearthed. The person buried there wore 10 bracelets on each arm.
Drilling was the key operation that defined the limits of their technical capabilities, Wu said, comparing its role to that of chip fabrication in modern electronics. Bao'an is a major center of semiconductor and electronics manufacturing in Shenzhen.
"Ordinary tools, exquisite craftsmanship," Wu said.
The placement of objects in the graves follows clear patterns. Axes lie along the sides of the body or across the chest, while arc-shaped huang (璜) pendants are worn on the chest and some graves contain matched sets. The reconstruction of Tomb 23 points to a burial sequence of considerable complexity.
"These jade and stone objects had already taken on a ritual character," Wu said. Jade at Lingjiatan moved from an ornament to a marker of rank and then to a component of a full funerary rite, making it a key to understanding the social structure and hierarchy of the period.
The lecture was the 21st session of Bao'an Academy under the Chinese Civilization Origins Project. More than 200 people attended in person, while about 37,000 viewers watched online. Some 50 residents took part in a workshop afterward, carving replicas of Lingjiatan jade eagles.
Author | Wang Yue
