Beijing, April 29, 2026 – Ten archaeological discoveries across China have been recognized as the nation’s most significant of 2025, offering new insights into the country’s rich history, from the Paleolithic era to the Qing Dynasty. The announcement was made in Beijing on Tuesday, highlighting sites that have advanced understanding of ancient cultures and civilizations.
Among the discoveries are the Jilin Dongchangba Mountain Paleolithic site cluster, and the Pei Ligang site in Henan province. The Pei Ligang site, a landmark in Chinese archaeology, has been undergoing systematic excavation since 2018 in a joint effort by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Zhengzhou Municipal Archaeological Research Institute. Recent work has clarified the layout of the settlement and provided key materials for understanding the transition from the Old Stone Age to the New, and for demonstrating the unique characteristics of Chinese civilization.
According to project leader Li Yongqiang of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the excavations at Pei Ligang have yielded seven key breakthroughs, including establishing a chronological framework for late Paleolithic sites in central China and clarifying the settlement patterns of the Pei Ligang phase. The work has also included the discovery of pit dwellings, tombs, and kiln sites, providing a more complete picture of life in the settlement.
Further excavations in the southern cemetery area have roughly defined the southern boundary of the site, while new tombs discovered in the western cemetery area, densely packed and with complex overlapping relationships, reveal social differentiation through variations in accompanying artifacts. The latest round of excavations also confirmed the presence of a rich and continuous late Paleolithic cultural layer beneath the site, and yielded new insights into the Pei Ligang cultural phase.
The Zhengzhou Shang City site, also in Henan province, was also recognized. Other sites honored include the Zhengjiagou site in Hebei province, the Nanzuo site in Gansu province, the Xiyang Zhongcun site in Shanxi province, the Changchun site in Shaanxi province, the Langyatai site in Qingdao, Shandong province, the Yueguo Capital and Han Six Dynasties Kuaiji County site in Shaoxing, Zhejiang province, and the Helan Suyukou Porcelain Kiln site in Ningxia.
The Langyatai site in Shandong province, for example, provides archaeological evidence supporting historical accounts of Emperor Qin Shi Huang’s eastern tour and the construction of the Langyatai platform. The discovery of the Nanzuo site in Gansu province revealed high-level courtyards, representing the best-preserved and largest palace-style architecture from 5,000 years ago, and establishing a precedent for the layout of ancient Chinese palaces. These findings underscore the ongoing efforts to uncover and understand China’s complex and layered past.
