Location Hebei Abandoned 11,300 BP Region North China Plain | Founded 12,600 BP Periods Neolithic China | |
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Nanzhuangtou Ruins 12,600–11,300 bp cal (before present) or 11,500–11,000 bp cal (before present) or roughly 9500–9000 BC was a Neolithic Yellow River site near Lake Baiyangdian in Xushui County, Hebei, China. The site was discovered under a peat bog. Over forty-seven pieces of pottery were discovered at the site. Nanzhuangtou is also the earliest Neolithic site yet discovered in northern China. There is evidence that the people at Nanzhuangtou domesticated the dog. Stone grinding slabs and rollers and bone artifacts were also discovered at the site. It is one of the earliest site showing evidence of millet cultivation dating to 10,500 BP. Pottery can also be dated to 10,200 BP.
The site was discovered in 1986, when a cultural layer of unearthed animal bones, charcoal, and stone tools was discovered. The layer was 180 centimeters below the ground, which is covered with lake deposits such as thick black and gray silt clay. Three archeological excavations have been carried out so far by institutions such as the Department of Archaeology in Peking University, the Department of History in Hebei University, the Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and other cultural institutions in the city and county level.