Culture
The Lingjiatan Relics Site Museum, located in Ma'anshan City of east China's Anhui Province, will open for trial operations on May 16, which provides the public with a new perspective on the origin, formation, and early development of Chinese civilization, according to the National Cultural Heritage Administration on Friday.
The opening of the museum marks a milestone in the broader initiative to trace the origins of Chinese civilization and in the nationwide efforts to protect and utilize archaeological sites.
The Lingjiatan relics site is a Neolithic settlement site dating back 5,300 to 5,800 years, with a total area of about 1.6 million square meters.
Since it was discovered in 1985, Lingjiatan has been famous for the jade ware unearthed in previous excavations. The findings at Lingjiatan are considered to provide significant materials for in-depth study of the origin, formation, and development of the Chinese civilization.
The museum's exhibition hall spans approximately 4,000 square meters, including one permanent exhibition hall and two temporary exhibition halls, and features around 1,100 cultural relics, including pottery, jade artifacts, stone tools, and bone items.
The National Cultural Heritage Administration has placed great importance on archaeological research at the Lingjiatan site. Since 2020, understanding of both the layout of the burial sacrificial zone and the settlement patterns of the site has been significantly enhanced through systematic excavation.
"The discovery of Liaoji ritual remnants vividly demonstrates that ancient communities placed significant emphasis on divination and sacrifice. It explains the social structure in ancient time, a highly organized society in the ancient era," said Zhang Xiaolei, deputy director of Anhui Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology.