HOHHOT — Archaeologists have unearthed a relic site dating back 4,000 years in North China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region.

The site, which contains relics from the ancient Zhukaigou culture, is located in the city of Ordos and covers an area of 500,000 square meters, according to the regional institute of cultural relics and archaeology.

In 2021, the institute carried out a rescue excavation at the site, discovering eight housing sites, 30 pits and ditches, 31 tombs, as well as over 150 items of pottery, stone tools and jade, among other articles.

Experts noted that a large number of the jade articles and shellfish ornaments were not local products, but came from distant locations, indicating that people who lived here had close cultural and trading exchanges with those in other areas.

They added that the bronzes collected at ground level and the smelting sintered blocks indicate the likelihood that bronze was smelted, cast and used at the site.