Longshan Culture Site at Chengziya (城子崖遗址)

The Chengziya site lies in Longshan Town, Zhangqiu District, Jinan, Shandong, China, and is the place where the Longshan culture was first identified. It was excavated in 1928 by a team led by Wu Jinding of the Academia Sinica, in one of the first archaeological digs carried out by Chinese scholars themselves. The excavation revealed a thin-walled, highly polished black pottery, often called eggshell pottery, and a rammed-earth town wall, and the culture was named after the nearby town. The Longshan culture dates to about 2500 to 2000 BC in the late Neolithic period, and it is regarded as an important stage in the development of early Chinese states, with evidence of walled settlements, craft specialisation, divination using oracle bones and social ranking. Chengziya later showed layers from the Longshan period, and above them from the Yueshi culture and the Shang and Zhou periods, so it preserves a stratified record of several thousand years. The exposed site shows the outline of a rammed-earth city wall of the Longshan period, and the Yueshi-period layers as well as the later Zhou-era wall. A site museum and display hall present the finds, including reproductions and originals of black pottery vessels, stone and bone tools and jade objects, together with photographs of the 1928 excavation. The interpretation is broadly chronological and thematic, explaining the excavation story and the significance of the pottery. Much of the archaeological ground is protected under cover or reburied, and the site is designated a national key cultural relic protection unit, so visitors should expect partial access and a modest presentation. The visit suits those with an interest in archaeology and the roots of Chinese civilisation. Opening arrangements and prices vary, so it is best to confirm locally before travelling from Jinan.