About 7,000 years ago there lived a tribe called the Shaohao in what is today the Lianyungang region. The tribe believed its ancestors to be birds, and so made the bird their totem. The latest research indicates that the site of the General Cliff rock carvings is where the Shaohao worshiped heaven.
They are carved on black rock that measures twenty-two meters long and fifteen meters wide, and can be divided into three groups. The first depicts the sun, moon and constellations resembling the Milky Way. Three short lines divide them into four parts. In this group there are three suns that are linked at their centers to form a right triangle, which possibly were meant to portray the summer and winter solstices. A line pointing to the central sacrificial altar runs parallel to the meridian line. According to archaeologists, this is China's earliest star atlas, a major discovery in ancient astronomy. Rubbings of the carving are on display at the Beijing Ancient Observatory, and a replica was also exhibited at the World Astronomical Exhibition held in Belgium.
Other images depict types of farm and fishing tools, while others are of animals and birds. There are also numbers, which perhaps represented prayers for better crops recited at sacrificial ceremonies.
