Jade is made and sold, drinking wine and eating meat, and dressing up exquisitely
5,000 years ago, there was such a happy daily life, dare you think?
Nanyang City, Henan Province, Huangshan Neolithic ruins on the top of the mountain to explore the fang Xinhua News Agency
The Huangshan site reflects the social complexity and civilization process of the cultural exchange and integration of the north and the south at that time, and is a key site to explore the origin and cultural development of civilization in the Nanyang Basin and the Jianghan Plain. Li Boqian, chief scientist of China's Xia-Shang-Zhou Dynasty Project, once commented that the Huangshan site is "a treasure of China, once in a thousand years".
Recently, the Huangshan site in Nanyang, Henan Province, was selected as one of the "Top Ten New Archaeological Discoveries in China in 2021". This is another "annual award" of the archaeological community after being selected as one of the six major projects of "Henan Top Five Archaeological New Discoveries in 2021" and "New Archaeological Discoveries in China in 2021".
According to the results of archaeological findings, it can be determined that the Huangshan site is a central site of neolithic Yangshao culture, Qujialing culture and Shijiahe culture involving the nature of jade tool making, reflecting the social complexity and civilization process of the cultural exchange and integration of the north and south at that time, and is a key site to explore the origin and cultural development of civilization in the Nanyang Basin and Jianghan Plain. Li Boqian, chief scientist of China's Xia-Shang-Zhou Dynasty Project, once commented that the Huangshan site is "a treasure of China, once in a thousand years".
The Huangshan site not only unearthed a large number of important remains, but also the relevant scientific and technological archaeological achievements are also very prominent, and important achievements have been made in dating, plant, human bone DNA, jade lithology analysis and other aspects. Through modern technology, we may be able to get a glimpse of the lives of the local people in the Yangshao period.
It can be called a large-scale prehistoric jade production base
Nanyang has been famous for its Dushan jade since ancient times. Located on the banks of Nanyang Dushan, the Huangshan ruins are even more stunning with jade, which can be called "prehistoric large-scale jade production base".
According to incomplete statistics, among the jade materials excavated from the Huangshan site, there are more than 23,000 pieces of sandstone jade tools, 116 pieces of jade, more than 500 pieces of semi-finished or wasted dushan jade, 3,518 pieces of jade pieces, more than 4,500 pieces of jade, and a large number of jade, stone tools, pottery and a small amount of jade preserved in situ. According to the identification, these jade materials are mainly Dushan jade, and the types of jade are 耜, axe, shovel, hammer, chisel, huang, bead, etc., with rich types and amazing quantities.
"There was a saying in the academic circles before, called 'the collapse of the Central Plains jade culture'. Excavations at the Huangshan site have overturned this concept, refreshed people's understanding of the jade culture of the Central Plains, and filled the gap in the Neolithic jade handicraft system in the Central Plains and the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. Ma Juncai, the leader of the archaeological excavation team at the Huangshan site and director of the Public Archaeology and Foreign Exchange Office of the Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, told the Science and Technology Daily reporter.
Excavation studies have shown that a considerable number of people living in the Huangshan ruins belonged to "professional jade craftsmen", who were not only highly skilled, but also made a living from it.
At the excavation site, archaeologist Cheng Yonggang pointed to a site and said: "This is the most important Yangshao period number F1, F2 site and workshop site we found in 2018, all of which are rectangular multi-unit foundations, showing the layout of the front and rear dwellings." He pointed to the other side of the site to introduce: "In addition to the residential life function, the main grinding and production of jade stone tools here, there are many sandstone pulp residues on the ground, after composition analysis, most of them are a mixture of Dushan jade and sandstone grinding stone powder, which provides key evidence for the characterization of jade workshops." ”
Among the newly excavated house ruins of the Yangshao period numbered F16, F30 and F37, sliding doorways, wooden bone mud walls, and red-burnt earth are typical architectural features of this period. The furnace, workbench and scattered stone drills, orthoping stones, grinding stone piers and stone mounds in the room vividly reproduce the production process of jade tools.
Ma Juncai told reporters that during the excavation, they had found that the level of funerary products in the tomb of a jade craftsman group was extremely high, and it was basically certain that this was a group of "people who rely on jade to eat".
5,000 years ago, "Huangshan jade" was widely sold
Jade artifacts can not only be produced, but also sold. On the west side of the Huangshan site, archaeologists have discovered an artificial canal of Yangshao and Qujialing cultures, as well as a wharf. This artificial canal is 27 meters wide, 7 meters deep and about 500 meters long, connecting the natural river leading to Dushan, and together with other rivers, it forms a waterway transportation system, and completes the jade resource supply system of Dushan and Pushan to the site. "This is the first prehistoric wharf nature of the relics found in the Central Plains, which together with natural rivers, artificial rivers and ring moats constitute a waterway transportation system, reflecting the ancients' attention to and ability to use water resources." Ma Juncai said.
Not only that, but the cultural relics unearthed in many places seem to confirm that about 5,000 years ago, "Huangshan jade" has been widely sold. "Dushan jade has a strong uniqueness and identity. Lingbao Xipo Cemetery, Gongyi Shuanghuai Tree Ruins, Hubei Baokang Mulintou Ruins, Shayangchenghe Ruins, Huaibin Sand Tomb Ruins, Nanyang Basin and its surrounding Xixia Old Tombs, Zhejiang Chuanxiazhai Ruins, Zhen'an Guocheng Ruins and other sites excavated a number of Dushan jade artifacts similar to the Huangshan Ruins, suspected of being 'Huangshan-made'. Ma Juncai said that this reflects that the jade tools produced at the site have left the Nanyang Basin and reached a vast area in western Henan, southeastern Henan, and the north bank of the Yangtze River.
"The Huangshan ruins are a birthplace of the Jade Civilization in the Central Plains." He Yujian, deputy director of the Nanyang Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, said that combined with the characteristics of the Huangshan ruins presented by the Two Mountains of Dushan Pushan and the interconnection of the Baihe Artificial River, it proves that it was a place where jade production and trading converged for a considerable period of time.
Some Qujialing people or immigrants
The hundreds of Tombs of the Qujialing Period excavated from the Huangshan site are currently the highest-grade tomb groups in this period in southwest Henan and even in the upper reaches of the Han River, with their heads resting on the White River and foot pedaling dushan, arranged in an orderly and strict manner. The remains of human bones in tombs are almost always well preserved, which is very rare. Ma Juncai said that this is due to the soil environment around Huangshan Mountain. These remains also provide first-hand information for multidisciplinary research.
Human bone DNA sampling tests conducted in collaboration with Peking University showed that the individuals in tomb number M44 had a significant relationship with the ancient populations in the Yellow River Basin. "Whether the individuals in the M44 tomb migrated, traded, or were responsible for war from the north remains to be further studied." Ma Juncai said that the successful analysis of the DNA of human bones in the huangshan site is a major breakthrough in the study of the source flow of civilization. At present, human bone DNA collection is still in progress.
Drinking alcohol and eating meat puts their average life expectancy at over 55 years
In Tomb M77, double jade, ivory comb, jade, bow and arrow, bone hammer and more than 400 pig mandibles were unearthed. These mandibles are arranged from small to large and arranged in layers. "These things should be the standard for chieftain-level tombs, who are directly in charge of the production and processing of jade in this area." Ma Juncai said that among the funerary products in the tomb area of the Huangshan site, the pig mandible, as a symbol of wealth, is the most distinctive, with a total of more than 1600, which is the largest neolithic site and is still being excavated.
"A pig's mandible means eating a pig. This shows that the living conditions of people at that time were relatively superior. In the tomb, we also found a suspected wine glass, which after composition analysis, it is likely that there are remains of alcohol. At that time, people drank wine and ate meat, which was very pompous. Ma Juncai said.
According to reports, the archaeological team found through bone pathological analysis of the excavated remains that the average life expectancy of people at that time was more than 55 years old, which is also another proof of the relatively good nutritional status of the group.
Life is exquisite and loves to dress up and also has artistic cells
In the M171 female tomb at the Huangshan site, the skull of the remains has a row of small bone pieces, each bone piece is about 1 centimeter long, and the ends are polished and smooth, Cheng Yonggang speculated that these are strung together crown ornaments. An exquisite talc earring also appeared in the tomb, which shows that the owner of the tomb is a woman who lives exquisitely and loves to dress.
Some elaborate small clay pots have also been unearthed from the tomb. "We suspect that it may be containers for cosmetics, spices and the like, and we are relying on technological means for analysis." Ma Juncai said.
Tomb M172, also a female tomb, unearthed a suspected ivory knitting needle that should have a weaving function. Archaeologists further cleaned the tombs and perhaps found woven materials that provided important materials for the prehistoric textile archaeology of the continent.
Sophistication is not only reflected in women. The three gravel stones excavated from the Huangshan site are painted with maroon characters labor, lying pigs, and orchid grass writing intentions, which is even more amazing. "We initially dug it out and thought it was an ordinary stone, but after cleaning it, we found that "this is a color painting, a trinity of people, animals, and plants, and at that time, the level of art was extremely high." Ma Juncai said.
Source: Science and Technology Daily