As the first emperor who unified China, Qinshihuang of the Qin Dynasty (221-207 B.C.) is renowned for his monumental legacy, which includes the Terracotta Army, the standardized script and the Great Wall. While historical texts like historian and writer Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian, China's first comprehensive historical work, have long shaped our understanding of the emperor's reign and ambitions, recent archaeological discoveries are providing evidence of his administration of the coastal frontier.

On the coast of the Yellow Sea in Qingdao City of Shandong Province, archaeologists have conclusively identified the Langyatai site as the grand terrace ordered and built by Qinshihuang during his eastern tour in 219 B.C. This monumental structure, once known only from Sima Qian's texts, has emerged from the earth as a powerful testament to Qinshihuang's achievements.

"Langyatai is the earliest and largest Qin-era engineering project discovered in east China so far," Lu Kai, an associate researcher with the Shandong Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, told newspaper Guangming Daily. "It served as a political landmark for the Qin and Han (206 B.C.-A.D. 220) dynasties, asserting their coastal authority and imperial vision."

At the Langyatai site, years of excavation have revealed a vast, multi-level architectural complex centered on a majestic T-shaped rammed-earth platform covering 45,000 square meters. The discovery of specialized brick kilns nearby, which produced high-grade tiles and hollow bricks adorned with dragon and other patterns that are similar to the patterns of unearthed tombs of top Qin officials, confirms the site's status as a state-sponsored project of the highest order.

Social stratification 

Beyond its symbolic power, the Langyatai site is an ancient engineering marvel. An integrated drainage system, which combines underground ceramic pipes, surface channels and filtration units, showcases a sophisticated understanding of hydrology and landscape management. Beneath the Qin-era layer, traces of earlier Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.) structures suggest the site's strategic importance predates China's unification.

This grand discovery at Langyatai is just one of the discoveries selected by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences as China's top archaeological new discoveries in 2025, announced in February. From coastal imperial terraces to highland ritual complexes, the top findings span epochs and geographies, yet collectively deepen our understanding of how ancient societies organized and expressed themselves.

In the fertile lowlands of Jiangsu Province, the Doushan Site is quietly revolutionizing the narrative of China's prehistoric urbanization. The discovery of a fortified settlement dating back 6,000 years has pushed the timeline of city-building in the lower Yangtze region centuries back than previously established.

But it is not just the settlement itself that is captivating researchers. Recent excavations within its walls have unearthed a group of high-level tombs from the Songze Culture period, offering a glimpse into the lives of those who called the settlement home. The Songze Culture was a Neolithic culture centered in the Taihu Lake region of Jiangsu around 3800-3300 B.C., known for its jadework, elaborate burials and social stratification.

"Archaeological new discoveries and new research outcomes do not always coincide," Liu Baoshan, Director of the Wuxi Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, told newspaper Wuxi Daily. "This is because not every new discovery leads to new research findings, nor does every new research finding necessarily stem from a new archaeological discovery. In the case of Doushan, we are fortunate to have both—the essential new finding and the fresh understanding it generates. This is what makes it special."

The tombs tell a story of emerging differences between social classes. Individual large-scale burials, some exceeding 3 meters in length, stand in stark contrast to ordinary graves. Accompanied by jade axes, ritual pottery and structured architectural remains that likely demarcated sacred spaces, these burials are evidence of a society already negotiating power, status and ritual authority.

"This is key evidence of early social differentiation in human society," Liu continued. "These findings provide crucial new support for studying the early stages of ancient states in the lower Yangtze region and their influence on the later Liangzhu civilization." The Liangzhu civilization (3300-2300 B.C.) was a highly complex Neolithic society famed for its vast city, water management systems and exquisite jade artifacts.

Ancient artistry 

While sites like Langyatai provide insights into grand state projects, other discoveries made in 2025 offer intimate portraits of daily life, spiritual belief and technological ingenuity.

At the Peiligang Site, discovered in Xinzheng, Henan Province, in 1977, evidence of brewing has emerged. Analysis of residue on 8,000-year-old pottery has revealed the use of red yeast to ferment rice, the earliest known evidence of fermentation technology discovered in central China.

Dating back approximately 8,000 years, the Peiligang Period, named after the site, is a significant early phase of China's Neolithic Age. The culture that emerged during this era, known as the Peiligang Culture, is one of the early agricultural civilizations in the Yellow River Basin. Serving as a bridge between the late Paleolithic and early Neolithic cultures, the Peiligang Culture laid the groundwork for the subsequent, renowned Yangshao Culture.

"The emergence of alcohol likely stimulated demand for stable agricultural output, potentially acting as a driver for rice cultivation. It also provides an indication for how alcohol became an essential funeral and burial item," Li Yongqiang, an associate researcher with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told newspaper Henan Daily.

But Peiligang's inhabitants were not solely concerned with alcohol. The same site has yielded an array of exquisite pottery figurines. Human faces on the pottery were rendered with striking, almost theatrical features, including some with bared fangs, possibly wearing early ritual masks or spiritual icons.

"These artifacts are crucial for understanding the aesthetic and symbolic world of early communities," Zhang Jian, an associate professor with the School of Archaeology and Cultural Heritage at Zhengzhou University, told Henan Daily. "They may represent the artistic precursors to the deity and animal motifs that flourished in later Chinese culture."

Similarly, in the foothills of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, archaeologists recently uncovered a stone scepter from a 3,500-year-old tomb at the Husta Site, a large Bronze Age settlement complex in Bortala Mongolian Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Mounted on the scepter, a human-like face stares back through millennia with eyes once inlaid with bronze.

"It's strikingly realistic, almost portrait-like, and has the look of ancient Mongolians," Han Jianye, a professor at the School of History of Renmin University of China, told Guangming Daily. "Such finds are rare. They speak of power, identity and artistry in a way texts never could."

Cultural currents

The flow of people, ideas and artifacts across ancient China is illustrated by two sites in particular.

In the highlands of Hebei Province, the Zhengjiagou Site has dramatically expanded the known sphere of the Hongshan Culture, a sophisticated Neolithic society famed for its jade craftsmanship and ritual architecture, first discovered in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, in the early 2000s. The nine stone mound tombs discovered in Hebei, previously unknown, include artifacts like a vividly painted clay bear's head that stylistically mirrors finds from the Hongshan Culture's heartland over 500 km away.

"The stylistic and technological parallels are unmistakable," Gong Zhanqing, a researcher with the Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, told Guangming Daily. "This indicates sustained cultural exchanges, and likely population movement and expansion, extending Hongshan's influence into new territories."

Providing rich insights into ancient exchanges between peoples, the Badamu Cemetery, in use from the Jin Dynasty (266-420) to the Tang Dynasty (618-907), tells a story of cultural integration along the Silk Road. Unearthed in Turpan, Xinjiang, the tombs of Tang Dynasty officials stationed in the western part of its territory were found adhering to central Chinese burial customs, such as placing coins in the mouth of the deceased. Yet, the same graves also contained coins from Byzantium and Persia, and ceramics showing Hellenistic influences.

"These finds materialize the dual identity of these frontier communities," Guo Wu, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told Guangming Daily. "They were administratively and culturally part of the Tang, while simultaneously engaged in vibrant exchange with Eurasia. It also reflects Tang's openness."

Excavation to education 

The journey of these discoveries does not end at the edge of the excavation and academic research. Across China, there is a growing emphasis on transforming archaeological sites into spaces for long-term research, conservation and public engagement.

At the Doushan Site, plans are underway to develop an archaeological park that will protect the site while making its stories accessible. The authorities also plan to establish long-term mechanisms for the protection, research and public display of the site. These mechanisms will include facilities such as on-site workstations and data archiving centers. Similarly, Langyatai is being integrated into local history education and image building.

"The popularity of archaeology is growing across society," Liu said. "Our responsibility now is to ensure these links to our past are preserved, studied and shared in the future. They are not just academic data; they are foundational chapters in our collective story."

Copyedited by G.P. Wilson 

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