A total of 94 cultural relics from Shanxi province are currently on display at an exhibition of archaeological achievements in Sanmenxia, Henan province, which opened on Oct 17. The relics are from the Yangshao Culture core area which covers parts of Henan, Shanxi, and Shaanxi provinces. 

This year marks the centenary of the discovery of the Yangshao site, which dates back over 5,000 years, in Yangshao village, Henan. That milestone excavation in 1921, led by Swedish scholar Johan Gunnar Andersson, is generally seen as the beginning of modern archaeology in China.

Yangshao Culture, which dates back 5,000 to 7,000 years and is mainly distributed in the Yellow River basin, was the longest-lasting culture from China's prehistoric period to leave evidence of its existence.

There are numerous Yangshao relics and ruins, including large central settlements distributed throughout western Henan, southern Shanxi and central Shaanxi – areas that later gave birth to Chinese civilization.  

The exhibition, co-sponsored by Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Heritage and Archaeology, Shaanxi Academy of Archaeology, and Shanxi Institute of Archaeology, displays 300 cultural relics related to Yangshao Culture from the three provinces.

Shanxi's exhibits, including pottery, stone tools, bronzeware, and jade ware, are from seven Yangshao Culture-related relics sites in Yicheng, Ruicheng, Xiaxian, and Yuanqu counties, Yaodu district in Linfen city, and Lishi district in Lyuliang city. They reflect the production methods, life, culture and beliefs of people living at the time.