Daxinzhuang

Daxinzhuang is a Chinese archaeological site located near Daxinzhuang village in <a href="/facts/Licheng%2c_Jinan/7gwTCLHQ">Licheng, Jinan</a>, <a href="/facts/Shandong/7IyuMEdW">Shandong</a>. Although early occupation in the vicinity has been dated to the Neolithic <a href="/facts/Longshan_culture/qlXW2uLJ">Longshan</a> (c. 3000 – c. 1900 BCE) and <a href="/facts/Yueshi_culture/eEmSwd7h">Yueshi culture</a> (c. 1900 – c. 1500 BCE), the site became an urban center during the late <a href="/facts/Erligang_culture/3ytN5Q5m">Erligang</a> (early 13th century BCE), corresponding to a period of political and military expansion from the heartland of Henan into Shandong. It became the <a href="/facts/Type_site/GmpVEq2Q">type site</a> of the Daxinzhuang type, a <a href="/facts/Material_culture/nbka4wGL">material culture</a> type shared by other settlements along the <a href="/facts/Ji_River/5drXGKzY">Ji River</a>. 
Daxinzhuang continued to grow during the <a href="/facts/Late_Shang/nupSx5Bg">Late Shang</a>, and became one of the largest <a href="/facts/Shang_dynasty/6JYKH4wP">Shang</a> settlements outside of the <a href="/facts/Zhongyuan/Q1uxstQ0">Central Plains</a>. Strategically located along major transportation routes between Henan and Shandong, Daxinzhuang was likely a trade hub for marine goods collected at <a href="/facts/Bohai_Bay/pr6YGwnV">Bohai Bay</a>. Pottery recovered from the site shows significant influence from the native <a href="/facts/Yueshi_culture/eEmSwd7h">Yueshi culture</a> which was gradually assimilated. Also found at the site were a number of <a href="/facts/Oracle_bone/x1dbSl7D">oracle bones</a>, including inscribed examples showing a regional variety of the <a href="/facts/Oracle_bone_script/xj9TSlNq">oracle bone script</a>, the earliest known form of <a href="/facts/Chinese_characters/5pn1PFvj">Chinese characters</a>.
The settlement was rediscovered in 1933 by sinologist <a href="/facts/Frederick_Seguier_Drake/xvTDxyBe">Fredrick S. Drake</a> during surveys along the adjacent <a href="/facts/Qingdao%25E2%2580%2593Jinan_railway/FcHJlwjN">Qingdao–Jinan railway</a>. <a href="/facts/Shandong_University/p5q1u9p3">Shandong University</a> conducted various surveys and test excavations from the 1950s to 1980s. A 1955 test excavation was the first to discover Erligang artifacts in Shandong. Larger excavations were conducted in 1984, followed by a regional survey beginning in 2002, which noted later <a href="/facts/Zhou_dynasty/70beuGpa">Zhou</a> and <a href="/facts/Han_dynasty/hanfxS9D">Han</a> occupation of the area.

Daxinzhuang open-in-new

Daxinzhuang