Entity
Ang'angxi Site Archaeological Hut
Qiqihar, Heilongjiang, China
Seven thousand years ago, the inhabitants of the Nenjiang River basin built their homes on the elevated sand ridges above the sprawling wetlands. To protect themselves from the biting winds of the northern steppe, they dug into the earth. The resulting semi-subterranean huts formed the foundation of the Ang'angxi settlement. Builders excavated rectangular and circular pits into the firm soil, raised wooden frames above the ground, and covered the roofs with thick layers of reeds and mud.
In 1928, a Russian railway worker named Lukashkin noticed ancient fragments in the soil. Two years later, the pioneering Chinese archaeologist Liang Siyong arrived to conduct the first scientific excavation in the Ang'angxi Site Archaeological Hut. Liang carefully unearthed the ash pits, cellars, and primitive tools, publishing findings that formally established the Ang'angxi Culture. His work proved that the northern grasslands supported a highly developed Neolithic civilization.