As we all know, the Shang Zhou period was the Bronze Age, and the large number of bronzes unearthed has proved this. But the Shang Zhou period was not the beginning of the Bronze Age, and the discovery of a bronze knife pushed the mainland bronze age forward by at least a thousand years.
At a glance, the shape of the knife is simple and rusty, but it has been mentioned repeatedly and is known as "China's first knife". This knife is now collected in the National Museum, named the Bronze Knife of the Lin Family Site. As the name suggests, the knife was found at the lin family site, hence the name.
Located in the north of Linjia Village, Dongyuan Township, Dongxiang Autonomous County, Linxia City, southwest of Gansu Province, the Linjia Ruins are cultural relics of the early, middle and late Majiayao types, with a history of 5,000 years. In the 1970s, archaeologists excavated the Lin family site, and due to the large scale of the site, the archaeological team hired local villagers to participate in the excavation for a hundred years.
According to the villagers who dug up the knife, "The knife was placed in a corner of the house ruins, and this corner was located just below the probe we excavated. When it was first discovered, the knife was covered in rust, as if its owner had forgotten it, so that it could survive. ”
Experts further research, found that this bronze knife using two pieces of fan casting, the back of the knife thickness is uniform, the surface is flat, there is dark gray-green rust, short handle long blade, the tip of the knife is round and blunt, slightly upturned, arc back, the front end of the blade is concave due to use, the handle is short and narrow, and it is obvious that there are traces of wooden handle inlay.
The size of the knife is also not large, 12.5 cm long, 2.4 cm wide, flat body long bar, the handle is short and the blade is long, the back of the knife and the back of the handle are connected, there is a clear curve, is a veritable knife. However, the knife is recognized as a twist and turn.
Some experts believe that bronzes only appeared in the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, but only 3,000 years ago, and the Lin family site is a primitive Stone Age, and bronzes are unlikely to appear. More well-known experts believe that this is archaeologists falsifying this to obtain ulterior secrets.
In 1981, the metallurgical research of Beijing Iron and Steel Institute conducted a metal composition test on the knife, and the test results showed that the knife was a mixture of copper and tin, that is, bronze. Since then, this knife has been identified as the earliest bronze artifact of the era found in China so far.
Later, experts conducted carbon dating of the remains of the Majiayao culture at the Linjia site and concluded that the culture existed between 3280 BC and 2740 BC. Bronze refers to the artifacts cast from alloys such as copper and tin, and its appearance in human history has epoch-making significance, indicating the imminent arrival of ancient civilization and society. The appearance of this knife is also a further confirmation that China was one of the first countries in the world to abandon stone tools and use metal tools instead.
Reference: Bronze Knife of the National Museum