The Rizhao Museum is the city's main repository for the extraordinary prehistoric heritage buried under the surrounding countryside. This part of coastal Shandong was the heartland of both the Dawenkou culture (5000–2500 BCE) and its successor the Longshan culture, and excavations across the region have yielded an exceptional collection of Neolithic artifacts.
The standout objects are the Longshan black pottery pieces — ceremonial vessels with walls so thin they are translucent, produced with a technical precision that has not been replicated with ancient methods. The museum also displays jade carvings, oracle bones, and bronze ritual objects that trace the region's cultural continuity from the Neolithic into the early historical period. Admission is free; the collection is not large but the quality of the key pieces is genuine.