Majiabang Culture Museum

Majiabang culture is one of the Neolithic archaeological cultures in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the Taihu Lake area. It was first discovered in Majiabang, Jiaxing, Zhejiang in 1959. Majiabang culture, named after the typical site of Majiabang, is mainly distributed in southern Jiangsu, Shanghai, and northern Zhejiang. Carbon-14 dating shows that it dates back to around 5000–4000 BC. It is known as the "source of Jiangnan culture." The Majiabang cultural site in Zhejiang is located in the southwest of Jiaxing Economic and Technological Development Zone, surrounded by water on three sides, with Majiabang to the south, Jiuli Port to the north, and Fenwu Bang to the west, in a plain area where three rivers intersect. There used to be a high mound on the site, with an altitude of 2.2–3 meters above sea level. The site is 1 km southwest of the Guojie Bridge. The Majiabang cultural site covers an area of 15,000 square meters and is divided into two cultural layers, upper and lower. Pottery, jade, and prone burials are the three characteristics of Majiabang culture. Majiabang culture is mainly based on agricultural production, with rice as the main crop. The japonica rice unearthed at the Luojiajiao site is a relic from 5000 BC, which is also the earliest japonica rice in China. In June 2001, the Majiabang site in Jiaxing was announced by the State Council as the fifth batch of national key cultural relics protection units. In 2009, an archaeological team composed of the Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and the Jiaxing Museum conducted a second archaeological excavation of the site. In 2017, the Majiabang Culture Museum was built. After years of exploration and excavation, a clear understanding of the age, cultural connotation, and settlement structure of the Majiabang site has been obtained. The site is about 150 meters long from east to west, about 100 meters wide from north to south, and covers an area of about 15,000 square meters. It is in the late stage of Majiabang culture. The northern part of the site is a residential area and a burial area, while the southern part is a rice farming area. The biggest harvest of the two excavations at the Majiabang site was the discovery of 110 tombs, which provided rich archaeological data for the study of the burial system and customs of Majiabang culture.