The whole ruins, except the east part (damaged at an earlier time), have been excavated. The excavation was of great importance to research the early history of Tibet and the Sino-Tibet relationship. Because of the importance of the ruins to scientific research, Kanuo Ruins was ranked the municipality-level relics site by government organs. 

 

Location: in Kanuo Village, 12 kilometers southeast to the Chamdo county town, the Ruins are at longitude 97°2′east, latitude 31°1′north, with an altitude of 3,100 meters.

Two rivers, Lantsang River and Kanuo(卡诺Kă’nuò) River, dissect the place into terraces of different elevation. Located at the fourth terrace at the west bank of the Lantsang River, the ruins are close to Kanuo river to the south, Zilongla Mountain to the north, and Kanuo village to the west.

Discovered in 1977, the Ruins were first excavated from May to August, 1978. An area of 1,800 sq. meters was unearthed. The remains found were 26 ruins of houses, together with many culture relics, mainly including stone tools, such as shovels, hoes, cutters, tossing tools, cutting and smashing tools, striking and smashing tools, scraping tools, grinding tools, axes, stone digging tools. Adornments such as loops, beads and bracelets as well as fictile, corns and animal bones were also found.

Archeologists’work shows that the Ruins constitute New Stone Age sites, which date back 4000 to 5000 years. The ruins reveal that the ancient people were engaged in farming and livestock breeding, and they used rough tools as early as above 4000 years ago.

Kanuo Ruins was named after the village Kanuo, which refers to “castle” in Tibetan language. As the legend goes, in Yuan Dynasty, Tibetans built castles to resist the Yuan General Dorda. Though they were defeated and the castles were destroyed, the name Kanuo continued to be used as the village name.