Containing mainly remains of the Songze and Liangzhu cultures, the Yaojiaquan site in Songjiang county of Shanghai provides important data for studying the transitional stage between the two cultural complexes. The first phase of the site comprises remains typical of the Songze culture. The second phase shows close linkage with the first, constitutes the direct continuation of the latter, and belongs to the transitional stage from the Songze to the Liangzhu culture. Remains of the same stage have also been discovered on the middle Yuecheng site and the Tangmiaocun, Fuquanshan, Shuangqiao, Longnan and Caoxieshan sites. Exploration of the sites around the Taihu Lake and study into the ancient environmental conditions in this area indicate that there was very close relationship between environmental changes on the one hand and man's living and social development on the other. The interruption of cultural deposits on the Yaojiaquan and other sites, as well as the emergence, development and decline of the Neolithic in this area, especially the Liangzhu culture, were all concerned with changes of natural environments.
