Hemudu Archaeological Site
Hemudu Neolithic Village · Hemudu culture site
Hemudu culture 5500–3300 BCE·Hemudu (Hangzhou Bay maritime rice farmers)·🇨🇳 Zhejiang Province, Ningbo City, Yuyao District, Hemudu Town, Langshuqiao Village, north bank of Yao River, Hangzhou Bay south, China
About
About Hemudu Archaeological Site
Waterlogged neolithic pile-dwelling settlement (5500–3300 BCE) on Yao River coastal plain, type-site of Hemudu culture famous for earliest Chinese rice cultivation (paddy with wooden plough), stilt-houses (ganlan) 23 m long with mortise-tenon carpentry without nails, lacquered wood bowls and jade tools. Preserved in black peat with rich organic remains — boat paddles, loom parts and woven reedy textiles — key to south-China rice-domestication centre contemporary with north-China millet Banpo.
Why it mattersDefinitive proof of independent southern China rice domestication (vs millet north); earliest carpentry joint proves Neolithic wood technology; waterlogged textiles earliest fine reedy fabric.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Rice — wild vs domestic at 5000 BCE?
- 02Stilt adaptation to tide vs flood?
Theories
- 01North-millet vs south-rice dual origin model
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.5500–3300 BCE (Hemudu I–IV)
- Period
- Hemudu culture 5500–3300 BCE
- Culture
- Hemudu (Hangzhou Bay maritime rice farmers)
- Builders
- Hemudu rice cultivators / carpenters
- Purpose
- Coastal paddy stilt-village above tidal swamp
- Abandoned
- c.3300 BCE after marine transgression salinity
- Rediscovered
- 1973 farmers dredging; excavated 1973–78 Zhejiang Museum
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
1973
Mud dredging reveals pile posts and rice husks
1973–78
Two-season excavation exposes stilt houses and 7000+ artefacts
On the ground
Structures & features
29.9670° N · 121.3470° E · 5 m · 1 mapped feature
Pile-house platform (ganlan)
stilt houseMortise-tenon stilt row 23 m with pillars
29.9672° N · 121.3472° E
Gallery