Visitors explore the Liangzhu and Ancient China: The 5,000-Year Civilization Demonstrated by Jades exhibition at the Palace Museum on Tuesday. Photo: Liu Zhongyin/GT

 
Archaeologists in East China's Zhejiang Province have verified that a Neolithic site that dates back to roughly 4,500-4,800 years ago was once a jade workshop complex, according to the Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology.

The complex in Deqing county, known as the Zhongchuming site, is about 18 kilometers away from the ancient Liangzhu Ruins.

It is the largest discovered jade workshop complex from the Liangzhu culture, best known for its exquisite jade carvings.

Between 2017 and 2019, archaeologists discovered about 3,000 pieces of jade materials and semi-finished jade wares at the Zhongchuming site. Jade processing tools, such as whetstones, were also found.

"The Zhongchuming site provides abundant information on the social structure, settlement pattern and handicraft industry in the late Liangzhu culture," explained Fang Xiangming, deputy director of the institute.