Relics Found Along the Three Gorges

The first relics of an iron casting workshop have been found along the Yangtze River, dating back to the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770 BC-256 BC) and the Qin Dynasty (221 BC-207 BC). The relics were unearthed at a highway construction site in Yaojiawan in Qiantang village of Xishui county, in central China'sHubei province. The soil layer with numerous red pottery pieces ranges between 150 and 250 centimeters in thickness, containing debris such as molds, red soil furnace walls, cinders, burnt chars and various forms of casting tools, according to Wu Xiaosong, curator of the Huanggang Municipal Museum in the province's Huanggang city on Tuesday.

Ancient iron products are rarely found in archeological field work, It is the first of its kind along the Yangtze River. It might disclosed where the plentiful ore resources in the area finally went and the iron products might have been shipped through the Yangtze to other parts of China.

In addition, four ancient city relics were discovered in the Three Gorges reservoir area.
It is estimated that the four ancient cities were established during 33 A.D. to 36 A.D. They are the City of White Emperor of the Han Dynasty, LiujinCity of the Three Kingdoms' Period, KuizhouCity of the Tang Dynasty and YuanshanCity of the Song Dynasty. The last one is the largest ancient city relic being discovered in the Three Gorge area with the highest degree that is kept best.