The Shandong Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism held a press conference on March 1 to announce Shandong’s top five new archaeological discoveries in 2022, including the Zhaojiaxuyao site in Linzi, Zibo. It dates back approximately 13,200 years and is among the sites where the earliest pottery items were unearthed in northern China. It also tops East Asia in terms of the number of early pottery shards unearthed.

Among the relics discovered, there are more than 200 pottery shards, including two recoverable pottery vessels. All the pottery shards are red carbonaceous pottery, and the recognizable parts include edges, bellies, and round bottoms. According to a preliminary judgment, the pottery vessels are round-bottomed basins. There are 21 edge items of square-lipped, round-lipped, and undulated shapes; 14 near-bottom pottery shards; and five perforated pottery shards.

The carbonaceous pottery discovered at the Zhaojiaxuyao site in Linzi reflects that it is one of the sites that had the most mature pottery-making techniques in the early times of China. It will have a far-reaching influence on the study of early pottery in China. The discovery of the site has filled the gap in prehistoric human ruins in Shandong, providing key evidence for the significant transition from the Paleolithic Age to the Neolithic Age in northern China, especially in Shandong.