Dahekou II — Yellow River East Bank Baiyin Petroglyphs
大河口东崖岩画 · Dahekou East · Baiyin East Bank
Neolithic to Bronze Age·Majiayao, Qijia, Xindian·🇨🇳 Gansu Province, Baiyin City, Pingchuan District, Yellow River east bank, Yuwanquan Village, China
About
About Dahekou II — Yellow River East Bank Baiyin Petroglyphs
Second major concentration 2 km SE of Yuwanquan Village on the east bank of the Yellow River in Pingchuan, Baiyin, complementing the 2025-discovered west-bank Dahekou paintings. The 6-group, 16-painting frieze discovered March 13, 2025 (Xinhua) at 1450 m shows a 1-sq-m spotted deer 3 m high, ibex herds and archers in red ochre/hematite on southeast-facing valley schist, dated 3000–4000 yr via Gansu rock-art chronology (Liu Zaicong, Northwest Normal University).
Part of 72 Gansu rock-art sites (mostly Yellow River, late Palaeolithic to Qin-Han) digitally archived 2023 by Dunhuang Academy. East bank preserves better varnished pecked ibex beneath painted deer, showing paint-peck palimpsest rare in Yellow River culture. Baiyin museum 15 km.
Why it mattersNew Yellow River rock-art showing Gansu late Neolithic to Bronze transition and paint-peck technique coexistence.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Deer species and domestication
- 02Chronology via varnish microlamination
Theories
- 01Yellow River ford ritual before Qin-Han canalization
- 02Hunting magic at river bottleneck
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.2000–1000 BCE (Early Bronze) with 2025 discovery
- Period
- Neolithic to Bronze Age
- Culture
- Majiayao, Qijia, Xindian
- Builders
- Yellow River upper-reach agropastoralists (Gansu corridor)
- Purpose
- River gorge ritual marking at Yellow River ford and hunting-magic gallery
- Abandoned
- c.500 BCE
- Rediscovered
- 2025-03-13 Pingchuan cultural relics team; 2023 Dunhuang digital archiving 72 sites
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.1500 BCE
Spotted deer hematite painting
2023
Dunhuang Academy digital archiving start
2025-03-13
Xinhua-reported discovery 2 paintings 3000–4000 yr
On the ground
Structures & features
35.8500° N · 103.1500° E · 1450 m · 2 mapped features
East Bank — Spotted Deer Panel (1 sq m)
pictograph panel3-m high schist with 1-m overlooking spotted deer (Cervus) painting, 3000 BCE hematite
35.8510° N · 103.1510° EEast Bank — Ibex Procession Frieze
petroglyph panel6-group SE-facing valley bottom rock with ibex and hunter archers, pecked and painted palimpsest
35.8490° N · 103.1490° E