At the archaeological finding seminar of the Shijiaoshan ancient city site on Dec 12 in Quzhou, the latest findings were revealed.

Located in Chechang village, Yunxi township, Qujiang district, Quzhou, the site dates from the late Liangzhu Culture to the Shang (c.16th century-11th century BC) and Zhou (c.11th century-256 BC) dynasties, spanning from approximately 4800 to 2800 years ago. It is the first ancient city site from the Shang and Zhou dynasties found in West Zhejiang so far.

A part of the Shijiaoshan ancient city site in Quzhou. [Photo/Tide News]

According to Zhang Sen, leader of the archaeological team, initial signs of moats and terraces were discovered between 2020 and 2021. Three years of archaeological work have since uncovered 57 relics, including city sites, moats, and river channels, and thousands of pottery and stone artifacts.

The findings revealed that the Shijiaoshan ancient city site has a complex internal structure, with a core small city in the north and another small city to the south. The entire outer platform covers about 1.2 million square meters and is surrounded by ancient river channels.

Xu Lianggao, a researcher from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' Institute of Archaeology, stated that this discovery marks a major breakthrough in Zhejiang's archaeological history and holds significant implications for the study of Southeast China's archaeology and Yue culture.