Beijing, March 18 (Reporter Sun Zifa) The new discoveries of Chinese archaeology in 2021 were unveiled in Beijing on the 18th, in addition to the 6 selected projects, there are also 6 projects shortlisted for the Neolithic rice field site in Shi'ao, Yuyao City, Zhejiang, the Neolithic site of The Yuantuo River in Zhangjiachuan County, Gansu, the Neolithic Site of JimingCheng in Lixian County, Hunan, the Great Tomb of Jiangcun in Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province, the Site of the Southern Dynasty Buddhist Temple in Xiying Village, Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province, and the Ruins of the Ancient City of Beiting in Jimsar County, Xinjiang.
Ancient rice field at shi'ao site - rice field of late Hemudu culture. Photo courtesy of archaeology forum of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
——Neolithic rice field site in Shi'ao, Yuyao City, Zhejiang Province. The Neolithic rice field site of Shi'ao is located in the valley on the west side of Shi'ao Natural Village, Xianggu Village, Sanqi Town, Yuyao City, Ningbo, Zhejiang Province, about 400 meters southeast of the Tianluo Mountain site. Exploration found that the prehistoric ancient rice field accumulation distribution area is about 80,000 square meters. In order to explore the development and evolution of ancient rice fields from Hemudu culture to Liangzhu culture, from 2020 to 2021, the Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, the Ningbo Cultural Heritage Management Research Institute, and the Yuyao Hemudu Site Museum jointly conducted archaeological excavations.
The excavation revealed large-scale rice fields in the early Hemudu culture, the late Hemudu culture and the Liangzhu culture period, all with fields and irrigation systems. After testing, the accumulation of ancient rice fields contains more remains of rice spike shafts, shells, and associated weeds in rice fields. Phytosilicas analysis shows that the density of rice phytosilicas in rice accumulation is 10,000-20,000 grains/g, which is much higher than the generally recognized standard that more than 5,000 rice phytosilicates containing rice phytosilicates in soil can be judged as paddy fields.
The ancient rice field of the Shi'ao site is the largest, earliest and most well-documented large-scale rice field found in the world, and preliminary drilling has found that the total area of ancient rice fields nearby is about 900,000 square meters. According to the current findings, the rice fields of the ancient rice field site of Shi'ao, especially the Liangzhu culture period, are in the shape of a "well", which is composed of a road network (陳陌) and an irrigation system, showing a relatively complete rice field system. This large-scale rice field, which originated from more than 6500 years ago, has continued to develop, refreshing the academic understanding of the development of prehistoric rice fields and rice farming. The spacing between rice field accumulation and natural silt layer was also found in ancient rice fields, which provided new materials for studying the relationship between man and land at that time.
The discovery of ancient rice fields at the Shi'ao site shows that rice farming is an important economic support for the development of the cultural society from Hemudu culture to Liangzhu culture, the main food growth point for supporting a large number of people, and an extremely important material for comprehensive and in-depth study of the prehistoric socio-economic development and civilization process in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.
Neolithic ruins of the Yuanquan River - large-scale housing sites. Photo courtesy of archaeology forum of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
——Neolithic ruins of The Yuanquan River in Zhangjiachuan County, Gansu. The Neolithic site of the Yuanqu River is located at the confluence of the South River and the Songshu River in Zhangjiachuan County, Gansu Province. In 2021, more than 950 relics of Yangshao culture, Qijia culture, Han Dynasty, Song and Ming dynasties were excavated, including 88 tombs, 598 ash pits, 83 housing sites, 60 stoves, 12 ditches, 3 ring trenches, 6 kiln sites, 75 moving surfaces, and 29 cellars.
The remains of the Yangshao cultural period cover an area of about 160,000 square meters, which extend from the early Yangshao culture to the late Yangshao culture. The large ring trench settlement in the late Banpo type of Yangshao culture is relatively well preserved, with an area of about 80,000 square meters. Excavated artifacts include pottery, stone tools, bone horn tools and so on. Pottery is mainly faience pottery, including pointed bottom bottles, round bottom pots, round bottom bowls, extravagant barrel belly jars, gourd bottles, urns, lids and so on.
The Yangshao cultural settlement is surrounded by Han Dynasty ruins, tombs and Songming tombs, with an area of 5 square kilometers. In 2021, 26 Han tombs will be excavated, mainly large brick chamber tombs, 2-3 are distributed in groups, and there are trenches outside individual combination tombs, and architectural remains on top of individual large tombs. There are 40 tombs in the Song Dynasty, and more than 4-10 are distributed in groups. The investigation found that there was a Han Dynasty city site with a moat outside the city, covering an area of about 100,000 square meters. Han Dynasty tombs unearthed a combination of gray pottery and glazed pottery, with a small number of bronzes; large cylinder tiles, plate tiles and tiles were excavated from the Han Dynasty ruins area. Song Dynasty tombs unearthed porcelain, pottery and so on.
Yangshao culture banpo type ring trench settlement area of about 80,000 square meters, the absolute age of 6200-5600 years ago, is the Yellow River Basin found the most complete preservation, the richest connotation of the Early Yangshao culture settlements, is the Longxi Loess Plateau after the Dadiwan site after another important archaeological discovery, represents a key period in the development of Yangshao culture, confirmed that the area and Guanzhong and the Central Plains region is the same as the Yangshao culture of another center, in the process of the origin of Chinese civilization has a very important position. The large Han tombs excavated at this site and the Han Dynasty ruins and tomb groups distributed around the Taiyuan city site near the discovery site are of great significance to the discussion of the location of the Liangzhou Thorn History Department in the Area of LongXian county in the Han Dynasty.
Neolithic ruins of The City of Chickens - The Expansion Process of the Walled Moat (Top) and the Large House Site (Bottom). Photo courtesy of archaeology forum of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
——Neolithic ruins of Jimingcheng, Lixian County, Hunan. Located in Jimingcheng Village, Linan Town, Changde City, Hunan Province, the Neolithic ruins of Jimingcheng are one of the four known prehistoric city sites in Hunan, and are the central settlement of the late Neolithic period in Liyang Plain.
As a key project of "Exploring the Source of Chinese Civilization" and "Archaeology in China", from 2018 to 2021, the Hunan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and the College of Archaeology and Archaeology of Sichuan University jointly carried out archaeological work on the site, and the important achievements of archaeological work in 2021 included clarifying the evolution process of the settlement, discovering a number of Qujialing cultural wooden architectural remains, exposing the huge accumulation of grain bran, and discovering rice fields in the Shijiahe cultural period.
The archaeological discoveries of the Site of JimingCheng are of great value, with a long age span and rich cultural connotations. From the ring trench settlement in the Youziling cultural period to the large-scale city site of the Qujialing culture and the Shijiahe culture period, it is a microcosm of the prehistoric civilization process in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. The settlement structure of the triple ring trench is the first discovery in the Yangtze River Basin, which is of great value for the study of prehistoric settlement morphology. The largest, most complete and clearest large-scale wooden building discovered so far is the first time in China's century-old archaeological history, which is a splendid material achievement created by ancient Chinese civilization, which confirms the ancient origin of China's wooden architecture tradition and is a valuable new material for the study of Chinese architectural history. The discovery of triple ring moats, large wooden structures, massive rice husks, and rice paddies reconstructs the complete process of rice farming and social evolution in this region. The excavation of the site of Jimingcheng has provided important information for the study of the origin of Chinese civilization and the formation of early states.
Clay figurines were unearthed from a pit outside the Jiangcun Tomb. Photo courtesy of archaeology forum of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
——Jiangcun Tomb in Xi'an, Shaanxi. Jiangcun Tomb is located on the eastern outskirts of Xi'an City, on the Bailu Plain, about 2,000 meters north of the "Phoenix Mouth" that is the tomb of Emperor Wen of Han, and 800 meters east of the Mausoleum of Empress Dou. Since 2006, archaeologists have conducted many surveys, explorations and test excavations in the Area of Jiangcun Tomb, and found that the shape of Jiangcun Tomb is "sub" shaped, and the ground is not sealed. The side of the tomb is 72 meters long, surrounded by 115 outer pits, and the surrounding area is formed by a "stone boundary" and a gate to form a cemetery. A variety of techniques were also used to probe the "Phoenix Mouth", confirming that there were only more than 10 stone tablets from the Ming and Qing dynasties here, and no tomb remains were found.
This archaeological work negates the traditional understanding that the "Phoenix Mouth" is a baling tomb, and confirms that the Jiangcun Tomb is the tomb of the Han Wen Emperor. The double mausoleum, the center of the imperial tomb, and the distribution of the outer pit symbolizing the underground official office around the mausoleum are the first time that the Western Han Emperor's Mausoleum has appeared, reflecting the emperor-centered imperial tomb planning ideology, reflecting the political change trend of the Western Han Empire from the early local decentralization, the co-rule of kings and subjects to the centralization of power in the middle period, and the emperor's exclusive respect. The gold and silver ornaments with exotic cultural styles unearthed from the Outer Tibetan Pit of Nanling are of great significance to the study of cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries before the opening of the Silk Road.
Relics from the ruins of the Nanchao Buddhist Temple in Xiying Village, Nanjing. Photo courtesy of archaeology forum of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
——The ruins of the Nanchao Buddhist Temple in Xiying Village, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province. The site is located in the southwest of Nanjing City, which is on the verge of the Yangtze River before the east bank of the Tang and Song Dynasties moved west, and the main part of the ruins of the Southern Dynasty Buddhist Temple discovered this time was completely covered by the remains of the Southern Tang kiln industry. Excavations have shown that the site of the Nanchao Buddhist Temple in Xiying Village is a Buddhist temple centered on the pagoda and arranged in the layout of the "front pagoda and rear hall". Direction 230 degrees. From south to north, there are mainly 5 foundation sites and supporting brick paved floors, central axis roads, drainage facilities and other relics on the central axis. The existing Buddhist temple in the plot covers an area of about 7,000 square meters. Fragments of Buddhist statues, lotus-patterned tiles, barrel tiles, and large stone pillar foundations have been excavated from the site, which have typical Southern Dynasty characteristics.
The ruins of the Southern Dynasty Buddhist Temple are the earliest, best-preserved and most complete mountain-type Buddhist temple sites found in Nanjing and even in the southern region. The single building of the Temple is large, and the large stone pillar foundation is only found in the ruins of Jiankang City of the Six Dynasties of Nanjing. The preserved positioning mapping relics reflect superb construction techniques. The stupa should be a pure wooden pagoda building, which is of great significance for the study of the shape and structure of the whole wooden pagoda in East Asia during the Southern Dynasty period. The first discovery of the rectangular vertical cavity soil "underground palace" with steps in the center of the tower and the layered sealing of rammed earth shows the new construction method of the fistula burial relic, which provides new information for the study of the burial method and connotation of the relics in the Six Dynasties period. The excavated lotus tiles are diverse in shape, enriching the six dynasties tile system. Buddha statues embody the characteristics of molding imaging, glazing, makeup and other processes, providing new research materials for the study of Southern Dynasty Buddha statues. The excavated relics of glass beads, agate beads, glassware, amber ware and other relics, after testing, are all extraterritorial products, showing the regional style of South Asia, reflecting the close trade and cultural exchanges between the Jiankang region and the Silk Road countries during the Southern Dynasty.
Nanjing (Jiankang), as the capital of the Six Dynasties and the center of Buddhism, had a great influence on the culture of East Asia. The site of the Nan dynasty Buddhist Temple in Xiying Village discovered this time has great typical and representative Buddhist temple layout, architectural regulations, pagoda shape system and relics burial method, which is of great significance for the study of Buddhist monasteries in East Asia from the 5th to the 7th centuries.
North Gate (East and West) outside the Old City of Beiting. Photo courtesy of archaeology forum of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
——The ruins of the ancient city of Beiting in Jimsar County, Xinjiang. The ruins of the Ancient City of Beiting are located 12 kilometers east-north of Jimsar County in Xinjiang, covering an area of 1.5 square kilometers in the south of the Tianshan Mountains and the grasslands in the north. Its outer city is about 1.5 kilometers long from north to south and about 1 kilometer wide from east to west, and is roughly divided into two cities, inside and outside. The inner and outer walls have moats, horse faces, enemy platforms and corner towers. Beiting Ancient City has successively been the Tang Dynasty Tingzhou and Beiting Capital Protectorate (Yibei Tingjiedu), Gaochang Uighur Xiadu, Yuan Dynasty Marshal's Palace and Bei lost Bali Xuanwei Division station, is the Tang to Yuan Dynasty Silk Road Tianshan Northern Foothills political, military and cultural center, is also the most complete and largest preserved ancient city site in the northern foothills of the Tianshan Mountains, is the ancient Silk Road North Road must pass through the place, is of great significance to the prosperity and stability of the ancient Western Regions and the smooth flow of the Ancient Silk Road.
In 2016, 2018-2021, the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, together with the Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, the Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture Culture and Tourism Bureau, the Jimsar County Culture and Tourism Bureau, and the Beiting Research Institute, after five years of field archaeological excavations of nearly 10,000 square meters, completed the archaeological excavation tasks of the South Gate of the Outer City, the North Gate of the Outer City, the West Gate of the Inner City, the North Gate of the Inner City, the No. 6 Buddhist Temple Site, the No. 8 Architectural Site, the No. 10 and no. 11 sites, and the archaeology of the Beiting Ancient City has achieved important results as planned.
From May to October 2021, the archaeological team excavated sites No. 10 and 11 in the southwest of the sub-city. An important discovery in 2021 is the fragment of the inscription "Miseda-ji Temple". Another piece of red sandstone was found, possibly an inscription, and three characters remain, two of which are recognizable, as "□ Yuhui". On a piece of clay pot, there are two words in ink, "Daojing", which may be the name of a monk. In addition to written materials, a large number of architectural fragments were found in 2021, such as tiles, plate tiles, barrel tiles, square floor tiles, rectangular wall tiles, ridge bricks, dragon body remnant stone carvings, etc., in addition to some repairable pottery. These artifacts are close to those from the Chang'an Ximing Temple and the Qinglong Temple. In addition, there are Kaiyuan Tongbao, iron armor and so on.
Archaeology proves that the Beiting Ancient City was basically built by the Central Dynasty of the Tang Dynasty through the institutions represented by Tingzhou and Beiting Duhufu for more than 150 years, and the changes in the size of the two sets of walls should reflect the development and evolution history of the Ancient City from Tingzhou to Beiting Duhufu and Yibei Tingjie. The Gaochang Uighur and Mongolian Yuan dynasties basically followed the layout of the Tang Dynasty's Beiting Dynasty, and only made partial repairs and changes.
The ruins of the Beiting Ancient City are a testimony to history, and the archaeology of Beiting proves in kind that the Tang dynasty to the Song and Yuan dynasties, especially the Tang Dynasty Central Plains Dynasty, effectively administered Xinjiang and prospered the Silk Road, and later still played an important role under the management of the Gaochang Uighurs (including Liao and Western Liao) and the Yuan Dynasty. (End)