2019 "Top Ten New Archaeological Discoveries in China" Announced
Xinjiang's "Sule City" Qinghai Tubo Tomb Selected
A few days ago, the top ten new archaeological discoveries in the country were announced in 2019. The Paleolithic cave ruins of the Liaodong cave in Nanzheng, Shaanxi, the Xiaonanshan ruins of the Raohe River in Heilongjiang, and the Huangchengtai project of the Shimu ruins in Shaanxi were selected.
Song Xinchao, deputy director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, said that each new archaeological discovery has deepened our understanding of an academic field, and also proposed new clues and research directions that require continuous attention.
What archaeological gaps have these projects filled? What new clues were put forward ... Ten archaeological offices and related experts interpreted it (in order of chronology).
① Palaeolithic cave ruins of the scabies cave in Nanzheng, Shaanxi
The Scabies Cave Site is a rare cave site in China's Paleolithic era that preserves human fossils and rich cultural relics from 100,000 to 15,000 years ago. It is a new breakthrough in Paleolithic archaeology in China in recent years.
The site not only unearthed modern human fossils about 30,000 years ago, but also found rich and clear symbiotic relationships with small stone piece industrial system stone tools, which provided the theory that the early modern people in China and even East Asia evolved from the local ancient people. Important archaeological evidence. At the same time, it fills the gap of human cave type settlements in the late Paleolithic period of the Hanzhong Basin, and provides important information for the study of the two types of settlement forms and livelihood methods of early human caves and wilderness terraces.
②Heilongjiang Raohe Xiaonanshan Ruins
The Xiaonanshan site is located on the left bank of the Wusuli River in Raohe County, Heilongjiang Province. The cultural relics found in the site for many consecutive periods spanning more than 15,000 years are of great significance to the construction of the archaeological cultural sequence in the lower reaches of Heilongjiang and even the coastal areas. In recent years, more than 120 pieces of jade have been unearthed at the Xiaonanshan site, plus a total of more than 200 pieces found in the past. The types include jade jade, rings, etc., which constitute the earliest known jade culture combination in China, especially the jade ornaments, jade tubes, etc., which have a huge impact on the East Asian jade culture. These jade wares often have curved strip marks left by sand rope cutting technology. This is the earliest discovery in the world at present, which is more than 6000 years earlier than similar technologies in Central America.
③Huangchengtai, Shimu site, Shenmu, Shaanxi
The Shimao site is located in Gaojiabao Town, Shenmu City, Shaanxi Province. It is centered on the "Huangchengtai", and the inner and outer cities are surrounded by stone masonry walls as the perimeter. The structure is clear, and it is a very large area in the late Longshan era in northern China Central settlements and regional government centers.
9 consecutive years of systematic archaeological work shows that as the core area of the Shimao site, Huangcheng Terrace may already possess the early “Miyagi” nature. It is currently the best preserved and largest early Miyagi architecture in East Asia, showing the loess The ultimate splendor of the capital city of a mysterious kingdom on the plateau. The archaeological achievements at the Shimao site have constantly refreshed the academic community's awareness of the early Chinese civilization.
④Huaiyang Pingliangtai City Site, Henan
The site of Pingliangtai is located in the southwest of Dazhuzhuang Village, Dalian Township, Huaiyang District, Zhoukou City, Henan Province. It is one of the earliest confirmed Neolithic city sites in China. From 2014 to 2019, the relevant archaeological team conducted systematic exploration, investigation and excavation of the city site.
New discoveries and research results in the past 6 years show that the square, square and symmetrical characteristics of the Pingliangtai city site are undoubtedly the source of ancient Chinese urban planning ideas; the earliest and most complete ceramic water pipe drainage system was also used to study the water of early cities The resource management provided excellent materials; various relics unearthed at the site of Pingliangtai, which showed the inclusive nature of the Longshan culture in the Central Plains, were a concentrated expression of the convergence and integration of regional civilizations in the late Neolithic era.
⑤ Xiwubi Ruins in Jiang County, Shanxi
The site of Xiwubi is located in the south of Xiwubi Village, Gujiang Town, Jiang County, Shanxi Province, and contains the remains of Yangshao, Longshan, Erlitou, Erligang and many other historical periods.
The excavation of this site revealed for the first time in the Central Plains the Xia Shang Metallurgical copper site of the earliest known time, the largest scale, and the highest level of specialization, making up for the missing smelting link from copper mining to centralized casting and filling China. An important gap in metallurgical archaeology. At the same time, it provides valuable physical information for understanding the relationship between the rise of the Xia and Shang dynasties and the control, development, and utilization of copper mine resources, and has important academic significance.
⑥Gansu Dunhuang Hanxia Jade Mine Site
In recent years, the Gansu Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology has jointly carried out the project of "Archaeological Investigation, Excavation and Research of Early Jade Mine Sites in the Hexi Corridor", and has successively discovered the Baomen Pasture of Maman Mountain Trail, the Hanyaozi Pasture Field and the Hanxia Jade Mine Site .
The Hanxia jade mine site is an important discovery for the early investigation and excavation of the jade mine site in the Hexi Corridor area of Gansu. Relevant experts believe that the discovery of the Hanxia jade mine site has greatly advanced the date when the jade material from the Hexi Corridor entered the Central Plains region. This has important value for revealing the social organization form of early ancestors, the development level of productive forces, the use of rare resources and the process of social complexity.
⑦Suizhou Zaoshulin Hubei Spring and Autumn Zengguo Noble Cemetery
The excavation of three groups of Zenghou tombs and their car pits, horse pits and related noble tombs of different levels by Zeng Gongqiu, Zeng Houbao and Zeng Houde made up for the lack of archaeology in the middle of the Spring and Autumn Period, and constructed the most complete week with archaeological excavation On behalf of the historical materials of the country. The inscriptions on the bronze wares in the Zaoshulin cemetery involve the Zeng nationality, official positions, music, and the political relations between the kings of Zhaozhao Nanxing and the princes in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. The layout of the cemetery is clear, and the combination of funeral products is relatively complete, which is of great significance to the study of Zeng Guo's tomb system in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty.
⑧Qitai Shichengzi Ruins in Xinjiang
The Shichengzi ruins are the only ancient Han ruins discovered in Xinjiang so far that are accurate and reliable, basically intact in shape, well preserved, and distinctive in cultural characteristics. It is also the Han Dynasty military fortress with the largest excavated area in Xinjiang to date. According to the literature, it is basically determined that the Shichengzi site is the old site of "Sule City" where Geng Gong was stationed in the Eastern Han Dynasty. The site is a historical testimony of the effective governance and jurisdiction of the Western Regions of the Central Plains dynasty in the Han Dynasty. Its archaeological achievements have been an inseparable part of the interpretation of Xinjiang since the Han Dynasty. The historical and historical facts of Xinjiang ’s ethnic cultures and the Central Plains cultural exchanges are interlinked and interlinked. Important historical value.
⑨Qinghai Mural Tomb of Wulanquangou Tubo Period
Quangou Mural Tomb is the first tomb mural tomb discovered in the Tibetan Plateau on Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. The painting technique has a strong Tang style influence, and the image content also has the characteristics of nomadic people on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. It is especially important that there are no sealed precedents in sealed tombs in the tombs in the history of archaeology in China and the world. The discovery of the tomb is of great academic value for exploring the process of ancient Han-Tibetan cultural fusion and the cultural exchange of the Qinghai Silk Road.
⑩Guangdong "Nanhai I" South Song Shipwreck Underwater Excavation Project
"South China Sea I" is the best-preserved ancient shipwreck found in China so far. Its sinking is located on the main channel of central Guangdong leading to the maritime traffic in the west, and it is also a must for the ancient Chinese maritime silk road to the western world. place. As a relatively independent and structurally complete underwater relic, it contains extremely rich information in many aspects such as cultural relics, hulls, and social relations. The discovery of huge amounts of exported porcelain, gold, silver and copper currencies shows that the highly developed commodity economy of the Song Dynasty has involved the overseas trading system. Its discovery, salvage and excavation work lasted nearly 30 years, and it is a microcosm of the protection and development of China's underwater cultural heritage.