[Photo: Wu Weihong]

More than 2,000 pieces of pottery from the Late Tang Dynasty (755-907) were excavated at the construction site of a resettlement house on Jiefang Middle Road in Guangzhou, which is the largest number of archaeological excavations in the city since 1949, Guangzhou Daily reported on Wednesday.

Yi Xibing, the deputy director of Guangdong Antique Archaeology Institute, said that it could be judged that it was a dense living area in Guangzhou in the Late Tang Dynasty (755-907). This archaeological discovery provides an important archaeological basis for the exploration of the human life and business appearance, the historical, geographical environment, especially the urban development and functional layout of Guangzhou in Tang and Song (960–1279) Dynasties.

A batch of Late Tang Dynasty relics were unearthed in Guangzhou on July 10, 2019. [Photo: Wu Weihong]

It is reported that the archaeological site of Jiefang Middle Road resettlement housing project is the largest urban archaeological excavation area in Guangzhou in recent years. Since August 2018, Guangdong Antique Archaeology Institute has carried out rescue archaeological excavations in the construction area of the project. Cultural relics in the Tang (618-907), Song (960–1279), Ming (1368–1644), and Qing (1636–1912) Dynasties have been found in the excavation site of 800 square meters.

According to the cultural layers at the archaeological site, experts concluded that the area where the site is located had been a river stream or lake for a long time in history, which is likely to be within the Zhujiang waterway.

A batch of Late Tang Dynasty relics were unearthed in Guangzhou on July 10, 2019. [Photo: Wu Weihong]

In this archaeological work in Guangzhou, the number of relics unearthed in the Late Tang Dynasty (755-907) is second only to the Site of Nanyue Kingdom Palace. At present, it is has been judged that the unearthed pottery and porcelain come from many famous kilns. Also, the number of wooden clogs unearthed at the site is the highest in the history of Guangzhou archaeology, among which many pieces are well preserved and quite rare.