Excavation of the Jiahu Site in Wuyang County, Henan in 2013

Abstract

The eighth season of excavation at the Jiahu Site in the autumn of 2013 uncovered eight house foundations, 25 ash pits and 97 burials, along with hundreds of artifacts made of pottery, stone, bone and ivory. One of the most intriguing findings was the burial of two adult males underneath the living floor of a house foundation 2013F5 belonging to Phase I. They yielded rich grave goods that included bone flutes, engraved ivory plaque, a set of turtle shells, and other high-ranking artifacts. They are, to date, the first ever in-house burials found in Chinese archaeology. In addition, the other burials also yielded large amount of turquoise ornaments and exquisitely engraved ivory plaques. These findings are significant to the study of the prehistoric funeral practice and social differentiation during the early and middle Neolithic Age of China.