| Chapter 1: | Introduction |
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Figure 5. Excavation of the Huangguashan Site in 1989
Excavations were also conducted in northwestern Fujian, an inland mountainous area where no Neolithic site was excavated until the late 1980s. The Niubishan site (FPM, 1996) and the Doumishan site (FPM, 2001) are the two major Neolithic sites that were extensively excavated by the Fujian Provincial Museum during this period. The information retrieved from these two sites not only filled the gap of our knowledge of the inland Neolithic cultures, they also provided materials for studying the connections between inland areas and the coast (see Chapter Three).
A number of Neolithic sites were also reported from southern Fujian. Surveys of the Damaoshan site in Dongshan County, the Lazhoushan site in Zhao‘an County, and the Fuchuanshan site in Zhangzhou City were conducted (Fan, 1991). However, no effort was made to excavate these Neolithic sites. As will be elaborated in the following section, these early investigations provided clues for and inspired my excavation at the Damaoshan site in 2002.
The Neolithic sites in the Lower Reaches of the Min River continued receiving attention from Fujian archaeologists. From 1982 to 1984, the Fujian Provincial Museum conducted two extensive excavations at the Zhuangbianshan site, exposing 2804 m2 (DPM, 1998). Major discoveries include 63 burials, 72 pits, and a large number of pottery, stone, bone, and shell tools. These materials further enhanced the understanding of the Tanshishan Culture (see Chapter Three).