At the foot of Mount Tai in east China’s Shangdong province, archaeologists are peeling back layers of earth to reveal traces of a Neolithic civilization that thrived between 6,100 and 4,600 years ago in China.
The ongoing excavation at the Dawenkou site, one of China’s most significant archaeological locations, is offering new insight into the roots of Chinese society.
Launched in 2024 and continuing through 2028, the project is led by the Dawenkou Cultural Heritage Preservation Center. Director Zhang Baowei said the effort aims to better understand how early communities lived, worked, and structured their societies.
Among the most striking discoveries is an 85-meter-wide trench, believed to have served a protective purpose. Zhang said the trench could signal early efforts at social organization or even state formation.
Mount Tai, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of China’s most sacred mountains, has long symbolized cultural and spiritual tradition. Today, its foothills are revealing the physical remains of an ancient people who once flourished there.
The Dawenkou Culture predates the better-known Longshan Culture and once spanned over 200,000 square kilometers in what is now Shandong Province. The site was first uncovered in the 1950s during railway construction.
Since then, thousands of artifacts have been recovered, including pottery, jade items, graves, and dwellings. Some objects bear symbols that researchers believe may be early forms of Chinese script.
People visit the Dawenkou Site Museum in #Taian, East China’s #Shandong province, on May 20.
The 2,600-square-meter museum shows the origin, development, connotation and importance of the Dawenkou Culture (4000 BC-2600 BC), a culture of the late Neolithic Age, to the public… pic.twitter.com/Bl3HNyVsnw
— Taian of China (@AmazingTaian) May 23, 2025
Archaeologist Liu Yunlong said red patches of burnt earth discovered at the site likely mark the remains of house walls. The structures may have been intentionally fired to strengthen them—a process that required managing extremely high temperatures.
Modern attempts to replicate the technique by heating similar structures for four days at 800°C (1472° Fahrenheit) failed to produce the same results. “Our Neolithic ancestors were far more advanced than we imagined,” Liu said, adding that the layout of the homes also reflected sophisticated planning.
Findings indicate that the Dawenkou people engaged in barter trade and practiced early forms of brewing, pottery-making, and textile production.
Burial sites suggest a clear social structure, with some graves containing valuable goods—evidence of property ownership and emerging class divisions.
The arrangement of these burials points to organized rituals regulating social relationships, an early version of what later became known in Chinese tradition as Li.
Zhang said this ritual system likely influenced neighboring cultures and shaped practices in the Shang and Zhou dynasties. Confucius eventually formalized these customs and they remain central to Chinese culture today.
The excavation is part of a broader national effort to trace the origins of Chinese civilization. Other early cultures such as Liangzhu also developed across China around the same period, creating a diverse but interconnected cultural foundation.
At the foot of Mount Tai in east #China, archaeologists work carefully in fields abloom with flowers, gently brushing soil from exposed ruins. The remnants are vestiges of a once-great civilization that prospered approximately 6,100 to 4,600 years ago pic.twitter.com/Ebbcf7CPlY
— Tang Rui (@CGTangRui) May 29, 2025
Archaeological evidence has since confirmed the existence of the Xia Dynasty, considered China’s first dynasty, established in the 21st century BC.
Former Palace Museum curator Shan Jixiang has said that discoveries at Dawenkou push back the timeline of Chinese civilization by 2,000 to 3,000 years.
In 2016, the Dawenkou National Archaeological Site Park was established to support education and tourism. It now welcomes nearly 100,000 visitors annually.
Local leaders have also promoted development projects, including an industrial park and high-yield farming, which have raised incomes and strengthened community ties.
At the foot of Mount Tai, the legacy of ancient culture continues to inspire. Taishang Polygonatum Biotech Co., Ltd. produces health products using polygonatum, a traditional herb, and has helped lift more than 40,000 farmers out of poverty.
“What our ancestors left us is more than physical nourishment; it is a spiritual and civilizational legacy,” said Wang Qian, the company’s executive vice general manager.
