Author: reporter Ma Rongrui
The pictures in this article are provided by the Anhui team of the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences
Recently, the reporter learned from the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences that since 2017, the Anhui team of the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences has made breakthroughs in the settlement archaeological research at the Yuhui Village site in Bengbu, Anhui.
Archaeological excavations confirmed that humans settled at the Yuhui Village site during the Shuangdun Culture period more than 7,000 years ago. During the Longshan Culture period more than 4,000 years ago, the Yuhui settlements had increased sharply, and the trend of population concentration was obvious. Large-scale city sites with a scale of at least 180,000 square meters were discovered in the core distribution area of Longshan Culture. According to the judgment of domestic authoritative experts, the newly discovered city site at the Yuhui Village site is currently the largest Longshan cultural city site in the middle reaches of the Huaihe River. At the same time, this new archaeological discovery also provides new materials for archaeological research in the era of ancient history legends such as "Da Yu governing water" and "Yu Hui Tushan".
Looking south from the Yuhui Village site
Where to find the place of Yuhui
"Yu met the princes in Tushan, and the master of jade and silk is the world."
According to ancient legends, Tushan in the Yuhui District of Bengbu, Anhui Province, was the base of Dayu's treatment of the Huaihe River and the place where Yu married his wife.
About 4,000 years ago, Dayu led the people to "cut the mountains and guide the Huai River", leaving behind the legend of "three times the door but not entering".
The site of Yuhui Village is located in Yuhui Village, Yuhui District, at the southern foot of Tushan Mountain in the western suburbs of Bengbu City, Anhui Province. It is named after the historical legend of "Yuhui vassals on Tushan Mountain".
Tushan Mountain and Jingshan Mountain sandwich the Huaihe River, and the Huaihe River forms a large S-shaped bend in the meandering, and the landscape is unique.
Ancient legends gave the Yuhui Village site a mysterious historical mark, among which the Tushan clan who lived around Tushan played an important role.
"Lu Shi Chun Qiu" records: Yu married the Tu Shan daughter, not privately harming the public, from Xin to Jia four days, back and forth to control the water.
Therefore, in Jianghuai custom, Xinrenguijia is the wedding day.
Yuxu is in the southwest of Shanxi, and the county is its land.
Sima Qian also spoke highly of Yu Hui Tushan in "Historical Records" as a landmark political practice-"Xia Zhixing to Tushan" ("Historical Family").
Nowadays, the old names of "Yu Chen Gang," "Yu Hui Ancient Terrace", "Yu Emperor Xing Temple" and "Yu Emperor Temple" are still circulating in Yuhui Village.
However, historical memory does not always correspond to historical truth.
In the long historical process, there have been a lot of differences and disputes about the specific geographic location of Tushan.
During the Han Dynasty, there was a legend that Dayu was born in Wenchuan, Sichuan. During the Tang Dynasty, there were four places where Tushan was called Tushan, and there were constant disputes: "One is in Kuaiji (Zhejiang Shaoxing), and the two is Yuzhou (Chongqing), three Haozhou (Northeast of Shouchun), Xuanzhou (Dangtu, Anhui)".
After the Tang and Song Dynasties, the specific location of "Yu Hui Tushan" has become a mystery that has plagued historians for a thousand years and is unknown to the world.
Pottery specimens from the late Dawenkou culture to the early Longshan culture
The site of the grand city reveals its truth
Since 2017, after serious investigation and study by archaeologists, and meticulous exploration and excavation, the settlement pattern and historical evolution of the Yuhui Village site have gradually become clear, especially the large-scale Longshan cultural city site has been revealed.
According to Dr. Zhang Dong, the leader of the Anhui team from the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, archaeologists have discovered a large city site in the Longshan Cultural Core Distribution Area in the south of the site.
Current archaeological work shows that the large-scale ceremonial building "sacrifice platform" found in Yuhui Village from 2007 to 2010 is part of the northeast corner of the Longshan Cultural City Site.
The "sacrifice platform", the two foundations discovered in 2017 and several anatomical points form a closed wall.
Among them, the west wall and the south wall are eroded by the Huai River. The existing length of the north wall is about 300 meters, and the existing length of the east wall is about 600 meters. According to the direction of the city wall, the original size of the city site is at least 180,000 square meters.
In 2020, the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences will anatomy the newly-discovered Longshan Cultural City Site of Yuhui Village, and the dissection area will be mainly around the northeast corner of the city site.
Archaeologists have discovered that the accumulation structure of the eastern and northern walls is similar.
People used the higher natural terrain to build the foundation of the city wall layer by layer, and low-lying trenches were formed by borrowing soil on both sides of the city wall.
After the foundation was roughly completed, relatively pure gray-white soil was laid, and the parts were relatively pure. Broken pottery pieces, burnt soil and charcoal were found on the gray-white soil surface. It is speculated that there are human activities on this level.
After that, the city walls have been piled up several times. Humans live on the inside of the city walls. A large number of damaged pottery has been found in the black silt of the inner city trenches.
The north wall was also found to widen to the north, covering the early outer trenches.
By exposing the eastern and northern sections of the Longshan Cultural Core Area in the south of the site, archaeologists further confirmed the existence of the Longshan Cultural City Site.
Exploration and investigation revealed that there are intermittently distributed cultural layers and relics of the same period of Longshan Culture on the periphery of the Longshan Cultural City Site. As the archaeological work continues, the mystery of the legendary Tushan clan is slowly being unveiled.
Pottery specimens from the late Dawenkou culture to the early Longshan culture
Rich heritage contains important information
Since 2017, through a new stage of archaeological excavations and comprehensive comparative analysis, archaeologists have developed a new understanding of the time span and spatial scope of the Yuhui Village site.
In the northern part of the Yuhui Village site, archaeologists have generally found dwelling sites during the Shuangdun culture period. A large number of cellars were found in the nearby area, and no living surface was found in the site. According to the arrangement of the remaining columns, it is presumed that it is a shallow cave-style building or Low dry fence building.
The northern part of the site is the bedding layer of pottery and animal bones from the Shuangdun cultural period. The cultural layer contains a large number of pottery pieces, animal bones and daily tools.
The archaeological team also discovered a house during the Longshan Culture period in the northern part of the site (only the base trough of the southern wall is retained), and a small amount of early ash pits and ash ditches of the Longshan Culture were also found in some areas. The common combination of unearthed utensils is a pot-shaped tripod and bag foot. Archaeologists judged by combining the characteristics of the times of the unearthed relics, such as the 鬶, Quanzupan, Dakouzun, and Gaoshan Cup, the relative age of this area can be as early as the end of Dawenkou Culture.
Based on comprehensive analysis and judgment, the Yuhui Village site can be dated back to the Shuangdun culture period 7000 years ago. It is mainly distributed in the northern area of the site and the settlement scale is small.
During the Longshan Culture period, the scale of the Yuhui Village site increased sharply, with a total area of 2 million square meters. Its core area is represented by the newly discovered Longshan Cultural City Site in the south.
This reflects the social background of accelerated population growth and concentration in the middle reaches of the Huaihe River during the Longshan era, and at the same time reflects the prehistoric urbanization of the Huaihe River Basin.
In addition, the new archaeological discoveries at the Yuhui Village site will provide new materials and new perspectives for historical research in the age of ancient history legends.
"There are many records about'Yuhui princes' and'Yu marrying Tushan' in ancient history documents, which reflect important information about the early development of the Huai ethnic group, and the Longshan era where the Yuhui village site is located is precisely to explore ancient history. The key period of archaeological research in the age of legend." Zhang Dong said.
Exploring important cases of the civilization process of the Huaihe River Basin
Since the excavation of the Yuhui Village site has attracted great attention from all walks of life, the Anhui team of the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences has organized experts to inspect and discuss the site on many occasions to provide guidance and assistance to the excavation work.
Experts believe that the Longshan Cultural Site of Yuhui Village is the largest Longshan Cultural City site that has been discovered in the middle reaches of the Huai River, and is an important case for exploring the civilization process of the Huai River Basin.
The current archaeological discoveries have provided rare physical materials for major topics such as the "Chinese Civilization Exploration Project" and "Archaeological China·Xia Culture Research".
Wang Wei, a member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and chairman of the Chinese Society of Archaeology, said that since 2017, the excavation of the Yuhui Village site has mutually confirmed the previous archaeological work, clarifying the nature, scale, and facilities of the site. The excavation results exceeded expectations. Achieve phased academic goals.
The Longshan Cultural City Site of Yuhui Village is a regional center and a capital site. It is the largest city site that has been discovered in the Huai River Basin during the same period. Considering its geographic location, the city site may be owned by the Tushan clan.
Wang Wei said that in the "Project for Probing the Origin of Chinese Civilization," the materials for important sites in the early and before the establishment of the Xia Dynasty were lacking, while the Yuhui site was close to the early days of the establishment of the Xia Dynasty, filling the gap in this stage.
At the same time, the archaeological work at the Yuhui Village site is also an example of the construction of the National Archaeological Site Park to promote archaeological research.
Chen Xingcan, member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and director of the Institute of Archaeology, said that with the launch of the major project "Archaeological China·Xia Culture Research" in 2020, the archaeological work of the Anhui team of the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences has greatly enriched the Yu Society. The connotation of the village ruins.
Through textual research and discussion, the role and position of the Yuhui Village site in the ancient civilization process of the Huai River Basin and the development pattern of the multi-integrated Chinese civilization were further clarified, which promoted the in-depth development of Xia culture research.
Zhao Hui, a professor at the School of Archaeology, Culture and Science of Peking University, suggested that the relevant archaeological work of the Yuhui Village site should be combined with ancient history and legends, and the future archaeological work should be considered from the perspective of settlement archaeology and from a large cultural perspective.
Zhao Hui suggested that the next field work for the Yuhui site should be carried out around the main accumulation of the city wall that has been discovered, to clarify the "white soil surface" in the accumulation and the addition of walls; at the same time, the settlement situation should be clarified and the Yuhui Village site should be clarified. The relationship between the 180,000 square meter Longshan Cultural City Site and the 2 million square meter site.
Sacrificial remains discovered by archaeology from 2006 to 2011
Luan Fengshi, a professor at Shandong University, believes that the results of this excavation gave new development and breakthroughs in the entire cultural connotation of the Yuhui Village site.
The large number of newly unearthed pottery from the Shuangdun culture period and the rich remains of the Dawenkou period prove that the Yuhui Village site has a long development process and profound cultural heritage.
In view of the fact that only the remaining part of the Yuhui Village site is 2 million square meters, Luan Fengshi suggested that the exploration area outside the Yuhui Village site should be expanded, and the possibility of finding other larger construction facilities cannot be ruled out.
It is understood that the majority of the Yuhui Village site is occupied by modern villages, which seriously affects the full development of archaeological work.
Experts suggest that the next step of archaeological work should take advantage of the planning and construction of the National Archaeological Site Park, first reveal the underground burial status of the Longshan Cultural City Site, and use structural information such as the city wall, city gates, and trench water system to initially clarify the layout of the city site, focusing on solving the beginning of the city site. Age of construction, use, and abandonment.
Then, the excavation of the remains outside the selected city site revealed the organic connection of the entire settlement.
In the process of excavation, multidisciplinary cooperation should be strengthened, and other information about settlement life should be extracted as fully as possible, while providing scientific and systematic basic information for the construction of the National Archaeological Site Park.
Pottery specimens unearthed from the trenches in the Dongcheng wall of the Longshan Cultural City Site
15 Years Archaeological Relay of Yuhui Village Site
1985
The Yuhui Village site was discovered for the first time during the second national cultural relics survey.
In 2005, the scientific archaeological work of Yuhui Village officially started. It has been 15 years and experienced two generations of archaeologists.
The archaeological work of the first stage of the Yuhui Village site attracted Wang Wei's attention. Under his suggestion, Yuhui Village was included in the major project of the "Chinese Civilization Discovery Project" and became an important fulcrum for exploring the process of prehistoric civilization in the Jianghuai region.
2007 to 2011
The Anhui team of the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences organized five large-scale archaeological excavations, which mainly revealed a large-scale ceremonial building with an area of nearly 2,000 square meters. A "sacrifice ditch" was found on the west side of the building. Buried a large number of pottery (mainly low-temperature pottery), and a road paved with white clay leads to the southwest area. A large number of "sacrifice pits" filled with pottery, as well as the remains of circles with unknown functions, and temporary "workshop buildings" (shallow) The base trough) is interspersed among them.
2015
In order to reveal the settlement pattern of the entire site, the Anhui team of the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences carried out detailed archaeological exploration.
Exploration investigations show that the settlement of Longshan Culture in Yuhui Village is more complex than previously known. The southern area where large-scale ceremonial buildings are located is only the core distribution area of Longshan Culture.
2017
In order to cooperate with the widening and reconstruction project of National Highway 206, archaeologists carried out targeted archaeological excavations at the Yuhui Village site, which provided an opportunity to reveal the settlement structure of the entire site.
2020
In response to the launch of the "Archaeological China·Xia Culture Research" project, archaeologists carried out anatomical excavations on the walls of the Longshan Cultural City Site.
Archaeological excavations have shown that the Longshan Cultural City Site of Yuhui Village is a typical representative of the late Neolithic urbanization development along the Huai River.