Excavated by:：Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology of Henan

Excavation team leader:：Li Suting

Guandimiao site is located to the southwest of Guandimiao Village in Yulong Town, Xingyang City (Henan). The extant area of the site measures 10,000 square meters. When preparing for the middle-route construction for the project of the Nan Shui Bei Diao (Diverting Water from the South to the North), Henan Provincial Institute of Archaeology conducted large-scale excavation at the site, lasting from July, 2006 through December, 2007 and exposing an area measuring 18,000 square meters.

The site displays a wealth of cultural remains, including those from the late Yangshao Culture, late Shang, Western Zhou, Eastern Zhou, Han, Tang, Song, and Qing and with particularly rich material remains from the Shang dynasty. More than 1620 pits, 230 tombs, 12 ditches, 20 house foundations, 26 wells, 22 kilns, 3 hearths, and 17 sacrificial pits have been excavated, wherein close to a thousand objects have been unearthed. The objects are made of bronze, pottery, stone, animal bones, and horns.

Guandimiao is the first settlement site from the late Shang to have been excavated on such a scale and that displays such a clear layout in mapping the residential area, the graves, and the sacrificial area. Discovery of this relatively well-preserved site is significant in Shang archaeology. It provides information on large-scale late Shang settlements regarding the function and form of such settlements. It will, furthermore, contribute to our understanding of the social structure and social formation during the late Shang. The extensive archaeological samples related to geography, topology, animals, plants, human bones, stone tools, together with varied sorts of soil samples that were collected during the excavation will also constitute the foundational materials for future studies such as settlement archaeology, ancient environment, ancient agriculture, and human behaviors.