Ashan site

Ashan site

Ashan site, located in the east of ashangoumen village, Donghe District, Baotou City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is a primitive village site with an area of about 50000 square meters

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The Ashan site is close to the mountain and faces the water. The platform is more than 80 meters higher than the water surface of the Yellow River

. This site is rich in unearthed cultural relics, mainly stone tools, bone ware and pottery, which is of great value to the study of the history of China's agriculture, textile, ceramics, architecture, tools and aesthetics

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On May 25, 2006, the Ashan site was announced as the Sixth Batch of national key cultural relics protection units by the State Council of the people's Republic of China

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Historical evolution

In the Neolithic age, there were human activities in the Ashan site

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In 1979, the Ashan site was discovered by Baotou cultural relics administration

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In 1980, the Institute of Mongolian history of Inner Mongolia Academy of Social Sciences and Baotou Cultural Relics Management Institute jointly formed an excavation team to excavate the Ashan site

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From June to September 1981, the excavation team composed of the Institute of Mongolian history of the Inner Mongolia Academy of Social Sciences and the Baotou Cultural Relics Management Institute officially excavated the Ashan site, with a total excavation area of 1170 square meters

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Site features

The Ashan site is located in the east of Ashan goumen, which is one kilometer east of Baotou city. It is adjacent to Daqingshan in the north and the Yellow River in the south. The Beijing Baotou railway and the Hubao highway pass between the site and the Yellow River from east to west. The two platforms where the site is located are dongnaobaoliang in the East and xinaobaoliang in the West. Yixizigou passes between the two platforms and reaches the Yellow River from north to south. The two platforms are respectively 100 meters and 81 meters higher than the surface of the Yellow River. The two platforms have irregular topography of long from north to South and narrow from east to west. Along the edge of the residential area of the site, there are traces of stone walls, which are 0.1-0.3 meters higher than the surface. Most of the site area has been turned into cultivated land, and many stone houses on the ground have been exposed on the uncultivated surface of the edge. The site covers an area of more than 50000 square meters

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Cultural relics

The Ashan site belongs to the Neolithic age and contains very few cultural relics of the bronze age and beyond. The cultural layer thickness of the two areas is about 1 meter. The first layer is cultivated soil, 0.1-0.15 meters thick, mixed with stones and various cultural relics of the house wall foundation on the surface. The second layer can be divided into Za and ZC according to the soil color. Za layer, light gray color, soft quality, many left the living surface of the ground house and fire pool ruins. ZC layer is yellow flower soil, hard and massive. ZB layer breaks ZC layer (2B layer is actually red cinnamon soil near the ash pit) with a thickness of 0.3-0.5 m. There are abundant relics and a large number of muddy basket pattern gray pottery pieces. The third layer is dark gray, soft, 0.1-0.2 meters thick, with one or two layers of living surface in the middle. Most of them are gray blue pottery pieces, and most of them are brown. The fourth layer is brown soil, fine and hard, 0.3-0.4m thick, containing pottery pieces, mostly argillaceous grayish brown and argillaceous orange yellow pottery, with a small amount of painted pottery. Below this layer is the raw soil. In it10 and it21, under the living surface of IF10 and IF18, which belong to the fourth layer, there is a layer of black soil with a thickness of 0.2m, which is fine, dense and hard, and contains a small amount of argillaceous red pottery and colored pottery. In a trench outside the stone wall at the south end of area 1, this kind of cultural layer can be seen under the cultivated soil layer, in which there are muddy red pottery and brown pottery with sand. This cultural layer can be regarded as the fifth layer of zone I

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The Ashan site is rich in unearthed cultural relics, mainly stone tools, bone ware and pottery

Four walls were dissected and 24 houses were found. There are 220 pits. There are 3 tombs and more than 1600 relics unearthed. Many animal bones, stone, bone needles and charcoal were also unearthed, with the longest of 10.5 cm and the shortest of 3.8 cm (remnant). The bone needle is made of fine animal bones and can be divided into two kinds: round and flat. Sharp tip, smooth surface and clear pinhole. The bone needle tube is 15.3 cm long. The bone needle tube is used to cut a section of animal limb bone, and then finely grind it into a regular shape. The body of the bone needle has no ornamentation and is polished smooth

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Research value

The Ashan site is of great value to the study of the Neolithic cultural features, social forms and the cultural relations between the neighboring areas in northern China, and it also adds materials to the archaeological study of Chinese prehistoric culture

It provides a stratigraphic basis of cultural pedigree for the Neolithic sites of a single culture

It is valuable to study the history of Chinese agriculture, textile, ceramics, architecture, tools and aesthetics

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protective measures

On May 25, 2006, the Ashan site was announced as the Sixth Batch of national key cultural relics protection units by the State Council of the people's Republic of China

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In 2018, the people's Government of Donghe District, in accordance with the working principle of "protection first, rescue first, rational utilization and strengthened management", strengthened the inspection of cultural relics and expanded the scope of cultural relics protection

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History and culture

According to research, Ashan people have been able to engage in grinding stone tools, building houses, altars, farming, storage, fishing and hunting, weaving, domesticating wild animals and other activities. The cultural age of Ashan site is slightly later than that of Yangshao culture, which can be roughly divided into three periods

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Ashan phase I Culture

The first phase of Ashan culture, due to its poor preservation, has not been found. Production tools include stone grinding plate, stone grinding rod, stone ball, grinding stone, chopper, etc. Most of the pottery is clay red pottery, which has been washed, followed by sand pottery and low fire climate. There are many kinds of utensils, such as pottery, basin, jar, heavy lip jar, etc

 

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The second phase of Ashan culture

The houses of the second phase of Ashan culture are half crypt type, mostly square; the living surface is made of brown soil and baked by fire, hard and smooth. The pits near the house are mostly square, rounded and straight walled. The unearthed tools include stone axes, stone axes, rectangular or arc-shaped stone knives, stone shovels, plate-shaped tools, hammers, grinding plates, grinding rods, stone arrowheads, etc. There are clay pottery and sand pottery; there are not many colored pottery, such as folding bowl, curved belly bowl, small mouth double ear jar, etc

 

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The third phase of Ashan culture

The houses of the third phase of Ashan culture are divided into two types: half cavern type and trench structure. The plane is a rectangle with depth greater than the width of the room. The living surface is plastered with grass mixed mud and then slightly barbecued. The walls are coated with grass mixed mud. The pits near the house are mostly square and round, with inclined walls and covered with buckets. The unearthed tools include grinding stone axe, beating stone axe, rectangular stone knife with hole, single hole stone shovel, long willow shaped stone arrowhead and bone knife with stone blade. The clay gray basket shaped pottery and polished pottery are the most distinctive

 

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Tourism information

geographical position

The Ashan site is located in the east of Ashan goumen village, Donghe District, Baotou City, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region

 

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admission ticket

Admission to Ashan site is free.

Opening Hours

The Ashan site is open all day.

transport line

Baotou City - Beijing Yinchuan line - Guyang Avenue - Gucha line - Fuyang Avenue - Guyang interchange - S211 - Wulanchabu road - x092 - Ashan site.

Address: East Gexigou village, ashangoumen village, Jiuyuan District, Baotou City

Longitude: 110.213821

Latitude: 40.597745

Chinese PinYin : A Shan Yi Zhi