On a 538 square site east of Xi'an city, on the bank of the Chanhe River, are the remains of the ancient settlement of Banpo, dating from about 5,000 BC. The remains were discovered in 1953 by workers laying the foundations for a factory. Today, they are considered the most complete example of an agricultural Neolithic settlement in the world. The site contains the ruins of more than 40 homes, 200 storage pots, a collection of pottery and tools, a pottery-making center and more than 250 graves belonging to a matriarchal community of the Yangshao culture. There is an on-site museum, built in 1958, which is constructed over the excavation site with two smaller exhibition halls displaying the archaeological artifacts that have been unearthed at the site.
