The picture shows the aerial panorama of the Mountaintop Terrace Exploration Area of the Neolithic Ruins of Huangshan Mountain.
Map of the types of stone cultures in the three phases of the Paleolithic site of Pilo. The third stage (small tools and small pointed tools and small stone chips processed on both sides). Phase II (Ashel Technical System). Phase 1 (Gravel Tools: Chopper, Heavy Scraper).
The Guozishan Warring States Tomb unearthed a bronze stomp to sit on the man's head.
Zhengjiahu Warring States Qin Han cemetery unearthed figure painting flat pot.
In the Tang Dynasty, the Tuguhun royal family tomb group unearthed gilt and silver horse harness ornaments.
The Huangshan Neolithic site unearthed the Qujialing culture jade.
Sanxingdui Shang Dynasty site excavated a bronze statue wearing a pointed hat.
The "2021 New Discoveries of Chinese Archaeology" was recently unveiled at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. 6 projects, including the Paleolithic Ruins of Piluo in Daocheng County, Sichuan, the Neolithic Ruins of Huangshan Mountain in Nanyang City, Henan Province, and the Sanxingdui Shang Dynasty Ruins in Guanghan City, Sichuan Province, were selected. This edition features stories related to the site to share with readers.
- Editor
Chinese archaeology has gone through a hundred years, and 2021 has become a "big year of archaeology" in the minds of archaeologists. There are more than 1,700 approved archaeological excavations in various places, and many projects that have been done for many years have also made important breakthroughs, some of which have extended the historical axis, some have enhanced the credibility of history, some have enriched the historical connotation, and some have activated the historical scene.
A few days ago, the "2021 Chinese Archaeological New Discoveries" was announced at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Sichuan Daocheng County Piluo Paleolithic Ruins, Henan Nanyang Huangshan Neolithic Ruins, Sichuan Guanghan City Sanxingdui Shang Dynasty Ruins, Jiangxi Zhangshu City Guozishan Warring States Tombs, Hubei Yunmeng County Zhengjiahu Warring States Qin Han Cemetery, Gansu Wuwei City Tang Dynasty Tuguhun Royal Family Tomb Group 6 projects selected, in addition to Zhejiang Shi'ao Ancient Rice Field, Gansu Zhangjiachuan County Neolithic Ruins, Hunan LiXian Chicken Calling City, Shaanxi Xi'an Jiangcun Tomb, The ruins of the Nanchao Buddhist Temple in Xiying Village, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, and the ruins of the Ancient City of Beiting in Jimsar County, Xinjiang, were shortlisted for 6 projects.
How did the ancestors of 130,000 years ago conquer the Tibetan Plateau? What is the jade "central factory" in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River that has lasted for more than 3,000 years? What other splendors of the ancient Shu civilization are we not aware of? What kind of longitudinal and transverse history was staged in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty's "Wu tou Chuwei"? What grassroots governance experience was left behind in the process of Qin unification? How did the Tuguhun people of the Tang Dynasty imitate Chinese characters to create their own characters? Listen, these sites are telling...
Exquisite stone will "talk"
Among the new archaeological discoveries in China in 2021, many achievements have filled the past research gaps or refreshed existing cognition. The most typical is the Pirro ruins. As the only Paleolithic site in all projects, the discovery of the Pirro site is significant.
The climatic conditions of alpine cold and lack of oxygen pose a severe challenge to the survival of ancient humans, and the conquest and adaptation process of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has always been a hot topic in international scholarship. But the research is fraught with difficulties. The windy plateau, coupled with glacial erosion, leads to severe surface erosion, and the soil is difficult to accumulate. "The sites found in the past are generally only one or two cultural layers, and the information available is limited." Zheng Zhexuan, executive leader of the excavation at the Piluo site, said. The Pirao site has 7 well-preserved cultural layers, which can be divided into 3 phases, constituting a rare Paleolithic cultural "triassic layer". From simple choppers, to delicate hand axes, thin-bladed axes, and to small quartz cores with more complex processing procedures, the evolution sequence of stone tool technology is clearly presented. Among them, the hand axe and thin-bladed axe are currently the highest in the world, and they are also the remnants of the most exquisitely made, most complete and most mature assheel combination in East Asia. The Asheli technique is a representative stage of Paleolithic stone tool technology.
Scholars once believed that the ancestors of the late Paleolithic period tens of thousands of years ago could live on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Preliminary determinations at the Pilo site show that the upper strata formed no later than 130,000 years ago. Among the 7 cultural layers, the yellow soil layer represents the cold period, the red soil layer represents the warm period, and the cold period with harsh environment also has human activity surfaces. This shows that ancient humans more than 100,000 years ago, or even 200,000 years ago, have frequently ascended the plateau. "Its ability to survive and adapt refreshes our perceptions." Gao Xing, a researcher at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said.
Stone, for the Neolithic Huangshan ruins, is also a key word. Relying on the jade resources of Dushan Mountain, the Huangshan ruins have become the "central factory" of jade tools in the Central Plains and the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, which lasted for 3,000 years. It can be seen from the remains of the housing site that the "factory" has also undergone "advancement" - from the "home-style" workshop group in the late Yangshao culture to the "group-style" centralized production mode in the Qujialing period. The "Qianfang and Houju-style" building complex in the Yangshao cultural period is very well preserved, the walls are high, and the internal facilities are complete, vividly reproducing the scenes of the production and life of the ancients. At the Huangshan site, the remains of the nature of the prehistoric docks in the Central Plains were also discovered for the first time.
The exchange and integration of cultures has never stopped
The Guozishan Tomb is another major archaeological discovery in Jiangxi after the tomb of Marquis Hai xiahou. One of the largest tombs is the largest Eastern Zhou tomb excavated in Jiangxi so far. The tomb uses a multi-chamber structure of a double tomb passage, with high burial utensils and complete types of burial varieties, indicating that the tomb owner has a high status. The bronze ge of the two inscription bird and insect books unearthed in the tomb should belong to the prince of Yue Wang Feng and Fei from the inscription, according to which it is speculated that the owner of the tomb may be closely related to the Yue royal family.
The Jiangxi region of "Wutou Chuwei" is a place where multiple cultures coexist. Experts such as Shi Jinsong, deputy director of the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, pointed out that the rafters of the Guozishan tomb are covered with wooden veneer and use of ship-shaped coffins are typical symbols of Yue culture, and the ditches around the tomb groups are similar to the high-grade tombs in the Central Plains. Among a large number of burial items, bronze humanoid upset was more common in Shaoxing, Deqing and Zhenjiang in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, Tiliang Cup and Crank Cup were more common in the Jianghuai region, and lacquered wood ware had significant Chu cultural characteristics, and some patterns on lacquerware belonged to local traditions. In fact, during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, all local cultures reflected the characteristics of inclusiveness.
The most important discovery of the Zhengjiahu Cemetery is the earliest and longest wooden tree seen so far. The Yaowen records a new and unsolicited document of policy and questioning, enriching the political history materials of the late Warring States period and is a precious text for the study of social thought at that time.
Artifacts excavated from the Zhengjiahu Cemetery reflect the integration of Qin and Chu cultures. 14 rare water-filled tombs, excellently preserved, Chu-style and Qin-style utensils coexist in them. The exquisite lacquered musical instruments have unique patterns and concentrated chronology, providing key materials for studying the production and circulation of the time. The wooden panel paintings on a number of burial utensils filled the gap in the materials and types of Qin and Han paintings of the Warring States and were important discoveries in the history of Chinese art.
The Tuguhun royal tomb group in Wuwei, Gansu Province, reflects a mixed system based on the Tang Dynasty burial system. Many precious cultural relics have been excavated from the tomb, such as the earliest wooden hu bed in China, the six-curved screen object, the only Tang Dynasty brush in China, and the best-preserved Set of Weapons and Equipment of the Tang Dynasty in China, of which the iron armor is also the only one at present.
The three tombs discovered from 2019 to 2021 are very consistent with the previous discoveries of the Tuguhun royal tombs of the Wuwei Tang Dynasty, and the owners should have moved into the Wuwei area after 663. At this point, the layout of the Tuguhun royal tomb group in the Wuwei Tang Dynasty was initially clarified.
The Guozishan tomb provides direct evidence for the exploration of the process of pluralistic integration of Chinese civilization in the "Wutou Chuwei" region. The Zhengjiahu Cemetery and the Chu King's City Site and the surrounding Sleeping Tiger Land, Longgang and other cemeteries are all concentrated in the Baiqi Dynasty to the beginning of the Western Han Dynasty, and these tomb owners are witnesses and witnesses of the great unification process of the Qin and Han Empires, vividly showing the historical process of the gradual integration of Qin and Chu culture, unification with Han culture and integration into Chinese civilization. The Tuguhun Royal Family Tomb Group reveals the historical facts of Tuguhun's gradual integration into the Chinese civilization system in the nearly one hundred years after Tuguhun returned to the Tang Dynasty.
Multidisciplinary research is involved throughout the process
In the excavations of these archaeological sites, multidisciplinary research was involved throughout the process. Technological archaeology has played a key role in the conclusion of some important conclusions.
Analysis of the composition of sandstone at the Huangshan site showed that most of them were a mixture of Dushan jade and sandstone grinding stone powder. Ma Juncai, the archaeological leader of the Huangshan site, believes that these analyses provide key evidence for the determination of the nature of the jade workshop at the site. Plant archaeological studies have found large quantities of millet and some rice and millet seeds, but there are fewer weed seeds throughout the site, indicating that the site may not have carried out agricultural production, and food resources were supplied from outside or through trade. This also provides a lateral proof of the hypothesis that the site is an "industrial park".
Sanxingdui, the site of "net red", can be called a model of the new archaeological concept of "subject preset, protection synchronization, multi-disciplinary integration, and multi-unit cooperation". The archaeologists wearing protective clothing and the transparent square cabin with constant temperature and humidity in the live broadcast changed people's traditional impression of archaeology. In addition to the leading co-ordination of the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, another 39 units participated in the archaeology of the Sanxingdui project.
Geology, precipitation, food types... Accurate isotopic contrasts can reveal the secrets of a group of people's living environment. At the Zhengjiahu Cemetery, archaeologists reconstructed the migration behavior and life history of the tomb owners through a variety of isotopic analysis, confirming that most of the tomb owners were indeed from Guanzhong and its surrounding areas. After the Qin people occupied Yunmeng, how did they get along with the local Chu people? How to carry out grassroots social governance? Archaeologist Bai Yunxiang suggested that in the future, the Zhengjiahu Cemetery can be combined with other surrounding sites for research, and the close interaction and population integration between the north and the south during the unification period of the Qin and Han dynasties can be explored in depth.
Team combat and multidisciplinary research have basically become the "standard" for excavations at important sites. "Excavation, conservation, research" has become the new normal. Even if an infrastructure archaeological project like the Zhengjiahu Cemetery is tight in time and heavy in task, it is too late to preset the topic, but it still achieves high-quality excavation and protection under cutting-edge scientific and technological means.
In addition to the 6 selected projects, the 6 shortlisted projects are also of concern. Shi'ao Ancient Rice Field is the largest, oldest and most well-documented rice field site found in the world, dating back to 6,500 years ago, with an area of 900,000 square meters, in the shape of a "well", composed of a water conservancy system. The ruins of the Yuanquan River are another important archaeological discovery on the Loess Plateau in Longxi after the Site of Dadiwan, and are also the early settlements of the Yangshao culture with complete preservation and rich connotations found in the Yellow River Basin.
Research on these sites is still ongoing, and some will also begin the next phase of excavations, with many puzzles yet to be solved. We look forward to the early continuation of the stories they tell.
The pictures are provided by the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Layout design: Zhao Kairu
People's Daily ( 2022-03-26 08 edition)