| Chapter 1: | Introduction |
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Eastern Guangdong Province
In comparison to the previous period, the research of Neolithic archaeology in eastern Guangdong Province made little progress since the 1980s. Our understanding of the Neolithic cultures is still based on a few Late Neolithic sites. Archaeological surveys were conducted in several counties, and hundreds of Neolithic sites were found (Qiu, Zeng, & Zhang, 1998). However, only two sites were excavated. The Hutoupu site (GPM; SW, & PM, 1984) and the Houshan site (GWK & PM, 1998), both located in Puning County, were excavated in the early 1980s, and the assemblage of the material cultures probably represents two stages of the late Neolithic in this area. Fifteen kilns were found at the Hutoupu site, and ten burials were found at the Houshan site. Unfortunately, no dating samples were produced at these two sites. The date of the Houshan site was estimated as 3500–3000 B.P. based on pottery typology in comparison to the later Fubin Culture, a Bronze Age culture that has been dated to 3000–2500 B.P. The date of the Hutoupu site was speculated to be earlier than the Houshan site.
Southern Zhejiang Province
During the 1980s and the 1990s, archaeological surveys were conducted at a number of counties in southern Zhejiang Province, and many Neolithic sites were found (Haiming Wang, 1999). However, only three inland sites have been excavated. We still do not have excavated materials from the coastal area.
In 1997, the Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Archaeology and Antiquity carried out excavations at three sites: the Shizigang site and the Niutougang site in Taishun County (ZWKY et al., 1999), and the Haochuan site in Suichang County (ZWKY & SW, 2001). These are the first well-controlled archaeological excavations of Neolithic sites in southern Zhejiang, and the discovered materials are significant for studying the connections between the inland and the coastal areas during the late Neolithic period (see Chapter Three).