On April 24, China’s top 10 new archaeological discoveries of 2024 were announced in Beijing. The new laureates are: the Mengxihe Paleolithic sites group dating from 80,000 to 60,000 years ago in Ziyang, Sichuan Province; the Xiatang site in Xianju County, Zhejiang Province, from 10,000 to 4,000 years ago; the Siwa site in Lintao County, Gansu Province, from nearly 5,000 years ago; the Mabu Tsho site in Khangmar County, Xizang Autonomous Region, from 4,000 years ago; the Panlongcheng site in Huangpi District, Wuhan, Hubei Province, from the Xia (c. 21st century–16th century BCE) and Shang (c. 16th century–11th century BCE) dynasties; the Zhouyuan site in Baoji, Shaanxi Province, from the Shang and Zhou (c. 11th century–256 BCE) periods; the Liulihe site in Fangshan District, Beijing, from the Western Zhou Dynasty (c. 11th century–771 BCE); the Wuwangdun No. 1 tomb in Huainan, Anhui Province, from late Warring States Period (475–221 BCE); the Hebosuo site in Jinning, Yunnan Province, from the Shang and Zhou dynasties to the Han (206 BCE–220 CE) and Jin (265–420) eras; and the Mo’er Temple site in Kashgar, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, from the 3rd to the 10th century.

At the press conference, Qiao Yunfei, deputy director of the National Cultural Heritage Administration (NCHA), reported that the agency approved 1,740 archaeological excavation projects in 2024. Among them, 18 belong to the “Archaeology of China” program, and are already well underway. The fifth phase of the project tracing the origins of Chinese civilization is nearing completion, and a new research initiative on the Xia and Shang civilizations has officially begun.

The selected projects represent the most outstanding achievements in field archaeology over the past year, Qiao said. They span a wide range of research areas, including human origins, the formation and early development of Chinese civilization, the archaeology of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties, the historical development of a unified multi-ethnic nation, and the archaeology of Buddhism. According to Qiao, the findings provide further evidence of the [five] prominent features of Chinese civilization [continuity, innovativeness, unity, inclusiveness, and peaceful nature].

Wang Wei, a Member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), highlighted the diversity and breadth of the new discoveries, which range from prehistoric times to the Han and Tang (618–907) dynasties, and include both the Central Plains and the borderlands. The 10 sites are spread across 10 different provinces, signaling notable progress in archaeological work nationwide.

Wang also noted that many of the selected sites—such as Panlongcheng, Zhouyuan, and Liulihe—have either completed or are developing archaeological site parks, which will increase public access and engagement. He added that multidisciplinary collaboration and the adoption of new technologies are bringing fresh momentum to the field. For example, research at the Mabu Tsho site has addressed longstanding gaps in understanding how Neolithic communities adapted to life at high altitudes. Likewise, recent advances at sites like Zhouyuan reflect the deepening application of theories on capital city archaeology.

The 2024 selection was overseen by the NCHA and jointly organized by China Cultural Relics Newspaper and the Society for Chinese Archaeology. A total of 30 candidate projects advanced through preliminary and final rounds of evaluation. Expert judges were randomly selected from the judging committee’s expert pool, and the final panel consisted of 21 specialists from institutions including the Institute of Archaeology at CASS, the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Peking University.