In September through October 1990, the Heilongjiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology along with other institution excavated three house-foundations of the Bohai peroid at Xiaodiying in Dongning County. These vestiges are the remains of semi-subterranean houses, each having a fireplace at the center and measuring 42-53sq m. They belonged to common people of the early and middle Bohai period. The unearthed objects include pottery, iron, bone and horn wares, all coming from the deposits within the houses. The excavation of the site enriched the further study of the Bohai culture in eastern Heilongjiang Province.
About one hundred city-sites of the Jin period have been discovered in the Heilongjiang area. Most of them are medium-or small-sized, but previously they were not excavated in a real sense. During the excavation under discussion, archaeologists revealed city-walls, city-gates, moat sections and suburban activity areas of the Chejiachengzi city-site. These findings reflect rather clearly the shape and stucture of the city and provide new information about the then medium-and small-sized cities. The ruined house and the tomb excavated this time yielded more than 100 objects. According to the History of the Jin《金史》 and other literary records, the city was an early Jin period courier station on the road to the Central Plains.
