The Shanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeological Research announced the archaeological excavation progress of the Xinyi relics site in Lyuliang city in North China's Shanxi province on May 30. 

The site in Xinyi village of Lishi district, with an area of about 400,000 square meters, is believed to have served as the central settlement of the area from the middle Yangshao Culture period (5,000 to 3,000 BC) in northern China to the late Longshan Culture period (2,500 to 2,000 BC). 

In June 2020, the Shanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeological Research, together with the Institute of Cultural Heritage at Shandong University and the Lyuliang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, jointly conducted excavation work to retrieve more relics from the Xinyi site. 

Archaeologists cleaned five ash pits, one pottery kiln and 13 house sites, and excavated pottery, jade, bone, horn, and mussel ware. 

The 12 cave-type houses discovered were earthen caves with a rounded square base and an upper dome-like structure, and were naturally distributed in rows. 

Zhao Hui, the leader of the archaeological excavation, said that this form of earthen cave-style dwelling is different from the popular stone buildings in the Hetao area. 

He believes the Xinyi site, which lies at the intersection of northern China and the core area of the Central Plains, offers new information in terms of exploring the cultural exchanges and interactions between the two regions, as well as the spatial distribution of different architectural modes in the prehistoric period.