The Yangquan Archaeological Research Center has discovered a Yangshao culture site in Yirang village, Pingding county. This marks the first confirmed site and relic from this period in Yangquan city, filling a gap in the region's mid-Neolithic history and providing crucial evidence for studying early civilization exchanges along the western foothills of the Taihang Mountains.

The Yirang site is situated on an alluvial fan terrace on the north bank of the Taohe River, covering an area of around 129,000 square meters.

Shell knives and painted pottery shards from the Yangshao culture period are unearthed in Yirang village. [Photo/Yellow River News Network]

Artifacts unearthed primarily include pottery, stone tools, and bone and shell implements. The pottery fragments are mostly fine clay, with some sand-tempered pieces. A significant proportion is painted pottery, featuring red grid and stripe patterned designs. Identifiable vessel types include bowls, jars, and basins.

Comparative analysis with surrounding cultural regions reveals that the grid-patterned painted pottery closely resembles the Yijing cultural relics in Taiyuan, while other painted pottery pieces share characteristics with the Chaizhuang site in Xingtai, Hebei province. Based on these comparisons, the Yirang site is preliminarily dated to the late Yangshao culture period.

The unearthed grid-patterned painted pottery shards. [Photo/Yellow River News Network]

This discovery is of great significance, not only in terms of expanding the distribution range of Yangshao culture in eastern Shanxi but also strongly confirming that by the late Yangshao period, Yangquan had established close cultural exchanges with the central Shanxi and southern Hebei regions.