An academic forum is set to be held in Hanshan county, Anhui province, from Dec 1 to 3. The forum will explore and attempt to achieve a consensus on the connotation and value of Lingjiatan culture as well as how to protect and utilize it, the organizing committee announced at a briefing on Tuesday.

Lingjiatan is an archaeological site discovered in 1985 located in Tongzha township of Hanshan county. It covers an area of 1.6 million square meters and dates back to the late Neolithic Age 5,800-5,300 years ago. During the last five excavations since 1987, ruins were unearthed which brought to surface altars, tombs, red pottery clay squares and wells. In addition, 2,000-odd cultural relics, including some 1,100 pieces of jadeware, were excavated from the ruins.

The forum is jointly sponsored by the Chinese Society of Archaeology, Chinese Cultural Relic Society, Chinese Society of Historical Period Preceding the Qin Dynasty, the Department of Culture of Anhui Province, and the Ma'anshan municipal government.

The event will include a cultural relic exhibition, an opening ceremony for Lingjiatan Museum, the ground-breaking ceremony of Lingjiatan National Archaeological Park, an academic forum and a news conference to promote the achievements of the forum.

Up to 60 experts will attend the forum, including Shan Jixiang, head of the Chinese Cultural Relic Society and the Palace Museum, and Zhang Zhongpei, who is in charge of Chinese Society of Archaeology and the former chief of the Palace Museum.

The archaeological site was recognized as a key unit of cultural relics under national protection in 2001 and was involved in a general plan for the protection of 100 great archaeological sites in China six years ago.

（english.anhuinews.com）