Archaeologists working in the dusty fields of Yirang village, Yangquan, in North China's Shanxi province, have uncovered a major discovery that offers fresh insight into the region's Neolithic past.

In March, a small team of researchers used traditional Luoyang spades — long-handled tools designed to extract soil samples -to probe the earth. Among the soil layers, they recovered fragments of painted pottery, weathered but clearly marked with distinctive red grid patterns.

According to Han Lizhong, director of the Yangquan Archaeological Research Center, these fragments date to the late Yangshao culture, a Neolithic civilization that flourished along the middle reaches of the Yellow River roughly 7,000 to 5,000 years ago. The culture is famous for its painted pottery, often decorated with geometric motifs and occasional human or animal figures.

This marks the first confirmed discovery of a Yangshao culture site in Yangquan.

"It fills a gap in the region's Middle Neolithic cultural record, expands the known distribution of the Yangshao culture, and demonstrates close cultural exchanges between Yangquan and areas that are now Jinzhong in Shanxi as well as parts of Henan," says Han.

The site lies on the northern bank of the Taohe River, where local farmers had previously uncovered ancient stone axes. "Our ancestors would have found this spot ideal for settlement," Han adds.