Jiangzhai

Jiangzhai (Template:Zh) is a Banpo phase Yangshao culture archaeological site in the east of Xi'an, where the earliest copper artifacts in China were found.

Site

The Jiangzhai site is located on the east bank of the Lin River in Lintong District, Xi'an, Shaanxi, only east of the Banpo site and about from the center of Xi'an. Excavated between 1972 and 1979, it is a prehistoric settlement site of the Neolithic period in the Yellow River basin. The Jiangzhai site was founded around 4700 BC and contains the remains of five different cultural phases of the Neolithic Yangshao culture, such as the Hanpo type, Shijia type, Miaodigou type, Xiwangcun type, and KeShanZhuang II type of the Longshan culture. It is the largest and most complete Neolithic village site discovered so far in the Yellow River basin. Of the site, 16,580 m² has been excavated, resulting in the discovery of 600 tombs and 10,000 objects of interest, most of them being utensils such as pottery and bone utensils. Some brass artifacts were also found, the oldest copper artifacts found in China. The total area of the site is estimated at 50,000 m², and consisted of a village with 100 homes.

Brass

File:Brass artifacts excavated from Lintong Jiangzhai 臨潼姜寨, Shaanxi province. Site dated to ca. 4700–ca. 4000 BCE. Top, sheet. Dia. 4.8cm T. 0.1cm zinc content 25.56%. Bottom tube in two pieces 5 cm zinc content 31%.jpg

Brass artifacts excavated from Jiangzhai. Dated to ca. 4700–ca. 4000 BCE

The brass found in Jiangzhai is the oldest arsenical copper ever found, dated at 4700-4000 BC. However, the brass found at the site has many impurities, and although the fragments discovered resemble fabricated objects, their possible uses are unknown. This uncertainty, and the fact that these items have not been followed up by brass from descendant cultures, leads archeologists to believe that the Jiangzhai culture only created brass by accident and not systematically.

In 1996, the Jiangzhai site was designated by the State Council as one of national key cultural relics protection sites. since September 2013Template:Dated maintenance category (articles), the Jiangzhai site was still in a mediocre state of protection, with only a concrete plaque above the ground identifying the National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit, and the modern buildings above the ground being demolished.

See also

• Chalcolithic (Copper age)