A rendering of the Qianzhongzitou site, a collection of ancient settlement ruins in Gaomi, Weifang. [Photo/sdu.edu.cn]

The Qianzhongzitou site of ancient settlement ruins in Gaomi, Weifang was named among the top five new archaeological discoveries in Shandong province in 2023.

Shandong University and Shandong Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology jointly launched the second archaeological excavation site in 2023.

The site, situated in Baicheng town in Gaomi, has an area of nearly 160,000 square meters and features a square shape surrounded by at least two moats.

It is believed to have been an ancient settlement, witnessing significant historical and cultural evolution over the course of approximately 3,000 years, spanning from the Dawenkou Culture (4100-2600 BC) to the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220).

According to researchers, the discovery of settlements with multiple moats in ancient times is very rare and has major significance for academic research.

The site was situated on the main north-south and east-west communication route in ancient times. Nearly 174 cultural remains from the late Dawenkou Culture have been discovered, with over 260 relics from the Longshan Period (2500 to 2000 BC).

Several ritualistic platform-type relics in the Eastern Zhou period (770-256 BC) were also discovered, indicating that the settlement may have held a special political and religious status at that time. This provides important research material for studying the functional differentiation of grassroots settlements during the Shang (c.16th century-11th century BC) and Zhou (c. 11th century-256 BC) dynasties.