FILE PHOTO: Pottery vessels unearthed from the Siwa Site in Lintao County, Gansu Province

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On Feb. 19, 2025, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) Archaeology Forum: New Archaeological Discoveries of 2024 in China was held in Beijing. The forum unveiled six newly recognized archaeological discoveries of 2024: the Dadong Paleolithic Site in Helong City, Jilin Province; the Xiatang Neolithic Site in Xianju County, Zhejiang Province; the Majiayao Cultural Settlement from the Siwa Site in Lintao County, Gansu Province; the Zhouyuan Site in Baoji City, Shaanxi Province; the Wuwangdun No.1 tomb from the late Warring States Period (475–221 BCE) in Huainan City, Anhui Province; and the porcelain making site complex from the Yuan (1271–1368), Ming (1368–1644), and Qing (1644–1911) dynasties in Jingdezhen City, Jiangxi Province.

Gao Xiang, president of CASS and director of the Chinese Academy of History under CASS, noted in his speech at the forum that China made significant archaeological strides in 2024, with new discoveries and notable progress in field excavations spanning various historical periods. These achievements have yielded a wealth of detailed materials for major research projects on the origins and development of Chinese civilization, as well as inter-civilizational exchanges and mutual learning.

Among the new archaeological discoveries of 2024, the Dadong Paleolithic Site, covering over 4 square kilometers, is the largest and most culturally rich late Paleolithic open-air site discovered in Northeast Asia. With abundant cultural remains, it holds great significance for exploring key academic issues such as the evolution and interaction of prehistoric cultures in the region, population migration, and environmental adaptation, and the origins of microblade technology. The site is considered a major world-class discovery in Northeast Asian Paleolithic archaeology.

The Xiatang Site spans the entire Neolithic period, containing cultural remains from the Shangshan, Kuahuqiao, Hemudu, and Haochuan cultures. It serves as an important source of evidence for China’s 10,000-year cultural history and provides continuous new materials for studying regional cultural evolution and the history of rice agriculture, also spanning over 10,000 years.

The Majiayao Cultural Settlement from the Siwa Site showcases the degree of social and civilizational development on the western Loess Plateau 5,000 years ago, filling a key gap in the research on the origins of Chinese civilization in the upper reaches of the Yellow River in this key period. Based on agricultural production, the Majiayao Culture was distinguished by sophisticated and professional pottery production, exchange, and trade, opening channels for early East-West communication and demonstrating the profundity and continuity of Chinese civilization.

The discovery of a large rammed-earth complex predating the Zhou Dynasty (c. 11th century–256 BCE) at the Zhouyuan Site provides key evidence for determining that the site was a pre-Zhou urban center before the fall of the Shang Dynasty (c. 16th century–11th century BCE). The finding of the triple city walls of the palace city, small city, and large city from the Western Zhou period (c. 11th century–771 BCE), particularly the excavation of the southern gate of the palace city and the eastern gate of the large city, not only advances our understanding of the form and nature of the Zhouyuan settlement but also provides indispensable research materials for the history of urban development in China.

The Wuwangdun mausoleum is a large, vertical earth-pit tomb with a layout resembling the Chinese character “甲.” Based on historical records and unearthed textual materials, preliminary analysis suggests that the tomb’s occupant was likely Xiong Yuan, King Kaolie of Chu, as documented in the “Hereditary House of Chu” in Shi Ji, or Records of the Grand Historian. This tomb provides systematic archaeological data for the study of the Chu’s high-level tomb system in the late Warring States Period as well as the historical and cultural developments following the state’s eastward migration.

In 2024, excavations at the porcelain making site complex in Jingdezhen covered 14 individual sites, unearthing material remains related to various aspects of ceramic production, including porcelain clay extraction, manufacturing processes, social structures, and even religious beliefs. The findings confirmed the economic and industrial specialization that shaped the development of Jingdezhen’s ceramic industry during the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties, highlighting the city’s unique cultural heritage value.

The forum was hosted by CASS and organized by the Institute of Archaeology at CASS.

Edited by CHEN MIRONG