The Jiaojia Site of the Neolithic Age in Zhangqiu District, Jinan

Abstract

In 2016 and 2017, rich remains of the mid and late phases of the Dawenkou Culture were found at the Jiaojia Site in Zhangqiu District, including rammed-earth walls, ditches (moats), burials, house foundations and a pottery kiln, from which pottery wares, jades, turtle shell objects and so on were unearthed. The discoveries of the rammed-earth walls, the ditches surrounding the walls and a set of high-ranking burials, plus large quantity of high-quality artifacts – jades, white pottery and color-painted pottery wares indicated that during the mid and late phases of the Dawenkou Culture, the Jiaojia Site was a large-scale settlement with the properties of the political, economic and cultural centers in the ancient Ji River valley in northern Shandong; the systematic examination and interpretation to this site will be significantly meaningful for the complete understandings to the cultural connotation, regional relationship and social nature of the Dawenkou Culture.