| Abstract: |
The Xinguang site is a newly found Neolithic site in the western Yunnan province and is located in the western section of Bonan Road of Yongping county seat, Yunnan province. To coordinate archaeological work with road construction, the Yunnan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, in cooperation with other institutions, carried out excavation on this site in December 1993 to March 1994. Altogether 1,000 sq m was exposed and a great wealth of cultural deposits was brought to light. Of them the Neolithic deposits can be divided into 10 layers.The discovered vestiges include houses, ash-pits, fireplaces and trenches. The houses can be divided into subterranean and surface structures. The stone artifacts consist of delicately polished axes, adzes, spears, arrowheads, chisels, cutters, sickles, awls and spindle whorls. The pottery objects include guan jars, hu pots, bo bowls, pan dishes and gang vats, largely decorated with carved and stamped designs, some of which are filled with painted pattern in colors. The Xinguang site can be divided into four stages, which represent a continuous development of an archaeological culture. According to radioactive carbon-14 dating, its date is 4,000 - 3,700 BP. A preliminary research suggests that the Xinguang site represents a new archaeological culture
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