The archaeological ruins of Shuomen ancient port in Wenzhou, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/66wz.com]
In the months since the archaeological ruins of Shuomen ancient port in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province were unearthed, the site has offered the public a look into its history.
A sloping wharf at the site, which is believed to have been buried in the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), was deduced by archaeologists to have once been the site of an over-100-square-meter bathhouse. It was comprised of locker rooms and bathrooms, and a large bathing pool, and had pillar stones standing in the south and north.
The barbican entrance to the archaeological ruins, which is located at the southwest corner of the site, was discovered to have remains of roads from three periods. A straight road paved by black bricks is believed to have been built in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). The cambered brick roads that followed the shape of the barbican entrance were dated back to the Southern Song and Yuan dynasties (1127-1368), while the roads paved with boulder strips were believed to be built during the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911) and in modern times.
The inscription on a piece of lacquerware unearthed is believed by archaeologists to be an ad written by local merchants. It indicates the rise of Wenzhou's lacquerware industry, as ancient documents once stated that the coastal city was not suitable for lacquerware production due to geographical reasons.
