China News Service, Xi'an, September 24 (Reporter Tian Jin) The Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology revealed on the 24th that the new archaeological discovery of Zhaishan Shicheng, a sub-settlement of Shimao culture, has fully exposed the large-scale cemetery of Shimao culture for the first time.
The temple looks far away.
Photo courtesy of Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology
Fuguzhaishan Site is located in Zhaishan Natural Village, Wangshamao Administrative Village, Tianjiazhai Town, Fugu County, Yulin City, Shaanxi Province, covering an area of about 1 million square meters, at the junction of Shaanxi, Shanxi and Mongolia.
The Zhaishan site is located about 60 kilometers northeast of the Shimao site.
Residential address: White ash surface clay cave dwelling.
Photo courtesy of Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology
According to reports, the Zhaishan site contains an important Longshan era stone city settlement with an area of about 600,000 square meters.
The "high platform base site" found at the temple site in the northern part of the city seems to be similar in nature to the Shimao Huangcheng platform, and may be the "core area" of Zhaishan Rock City.
There are also many relics of white-gray-faced houses, bag-shaped cellars, and vertical cavern earthen pit tombs, suggesting the settlement and functional zoning of Zhaishan Stone City.
The "ash pit" around the tomb.
Photo courtesy of Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology
In view of the close cultural connotation between Zhaishan Stone City and Shimao Site, the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology, together with Yulin Cultural Relics Conservation Research Institute and Fugu County Cultural Management Office, conducted excavations of Zhaishan Stone City and cleaned the outer facade of the southern city wall. , The cleaning length is about 60 meters, and two well-preserved horse faces are found, and the age, structure and masonry method of the Zhaishan city wall are initially understood.
The jade at the mouth of the tomb owner.
Photo courtesy of Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology
Up to now, Zhaishan Stone City has cleaned up 21 Shimao cultural tombs, all of which are rectangular vertical cavern earthen pit tombs, mostly east-west. They can be divided into four categories according to the burial equipment, niches and martyrs.
There are three types of tombs, including wooden coffins, niches, and martyrs.
This type of tomb is the largest, with an area of about 10 square meters.
There are four types of tombs with wooden coffins, niches and no martyrs.
There are three types of tombs, including wooden coffins, no niches, and no martyrs. There are a total of 7 tombs.
The four types of tombs have no wooden coffins, niches, and no martyrs. There are 7 tombs in total.
In addition, the phenomenon of "people buried in ash pits" found around tombs may be related to the sacrifices or funerals in the cemetery.
Jade on the right hand.
Photo courtesy of Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology
The tombs have distinctive features, typical combinations of utensils, and distinct levels. The four types of tombs should represent people of different identities, especially the first type of tombs, which are large in scale, rich in burials, and complex in structure, and can be compared with large-scale Taosi cultural tombs. ratio.
In addition, the phenomenon of female burial, jade burial, half-moon-shaped niche, and stable combination of covered pottery found in the tombs reflects the strong and distinctive characteristics of Shimao cultural tombs, and even affects the large-scale Qijia cultural tombs. Burial system burial custom.
Judging from the current findings, Shicheng is a typical settlement feature of Shimao culture, covering the main distribution area of Shimao culture. The scale of Shimao is very different, ranging from several thousand square meters to 4 million square meters, reflecting the settlement hierarchy within Shimao Kingdom. Differentiation, Zhaishan Shicheng is a secondary (or tertiary) central settlement under Shimao Capital Town, and it is also the central settlement of Shimachuan Basin.
Niches and burial objects.
Photo courtesy of Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology
It is understood that the biggest gain of this Zhaishan archaeology is the first comprehensive exposure of the large-scale Shimao culture cemetery, and it is also the first unearthed Longshan cemetery with distinct grades in the Hetao area.
The excavation of this cemetery has made up for the major shortcomings of the serious robbing of the large-scale cemetery at Shimao site. Together with the previous "sporadic" discoveries at Zhukaigou, Xinhua, Shengeyaoliang, and Shimao sites, it has established the basic foundation of Shimao cultural tombs. The framework and typical features provide valuable tomb archaeological materials for enriching Shimao culture and studying Shimao political system (Shimao Kingdom).
At the same time, the Shimao culture large-scale cemetery represented by the new discoveries in Zhaishan is also an important archaeological material for studying settlements and society in the Hetao area. It reflects the funeral system and hierarchical consciousness in the early state of northern China 4000 years ago. The study of the pattern and process of the origin and development of the early state of China provides important tomb materials.
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