Guo Dashun

Guo Dashun (Chinese: 郭大顺; pinyin: Guō Dàshùn; born November 1938) is a Chinese archaeologist known for his research on the Hongshan culture (c. 4700–2900 BCE) of Northeast China. As director of the first large‑scale excavations at Niuheliang, he revealed a ritual landscape, including the so‑called “Goddess Temple,” stone altars, and cairn burials, that reshaped understanding of early Chinese civilisation. Guo’s subsequent theories on animal totems, the origin of the Chinese dragon, and the independent development of a “Liaohe civilisation” challenged the once‑dominant Central Plains paradigm and helped establish the multi‑regional (多元一体) model of Chinese origins.