The State Administration of Cultural Heritage releases latest research progress on archaeology of salt industry.

On the 25th, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage held a work meeting in Beijing on the important progress of the "Archaeology China" major project, focusing on the latest research progress in salt industry archaeology. They announced four archaeological research results: the discovery of salt industry sites in the Zhoushan Islands of Zhejiang, new discoveries of salt industry archaeology in the eastern coastal area of Jiangsu, the Pengshui Zhongbao Salt Industry Site in Chongqing, and new progress in salt industry archaeology on the southern coast of Bohai in Shandong. The discovery of salt industry sites in the Zhoushan Islands of Zhejiang reveals salt production remains from different periods dating back approximately 4800 to 2500 years ago, making it the largest known site in China for sea salt production in terms of scale and earliest starting date confirmed by recent archaeological investigations. The discovery of a series of salt industry sites from the late Neolithic to the Han Dynasty in the eastern coastal area of Jiangsu fills the gaps in both time and space in salt industry archaeology in the region. It is the first time that a complete salt production chain from the Han Dynasty has been discovered domestically, confirming the location of the salt-production center in the Han Dynasty. Since the 1990s, Chongqing has been conducting ongoing research on salt industry archaeology. The recent discovery of the Pengshui Zhongbao Salt Industry Site has revealed remains related to brine salt production from the Warring States period to the modern era, presenting a complete overview of the development of brine salt production in China over two thousand years. For the first time, the discovery of salt industry remains dating back to the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and the Jin and Yuan periods on the southern coast of Bohai in Shandong has clarified the time and space framework of salt industry development in the region, providing evidence for the continuation of the traditional "brine extraction and salt boiling" production model around the Bohai Sea for more than two thousand years. It is reported that the State Administration of Cultural Heritage will uphold the concept of "large-scale archaeology," establish a "large-scale protection" pattern, continue to promote the "Archaeology China" major project, coordinate various forces, refine and plan major research topics, and promote the high-quality development of archaeological work.