Recently, the Danxi Basin Early Civilization Academic Summit Forum co-sponsored by the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Henan Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau was held in Xichuan County, Nanyang City, Henan Province.
The Danxi River Basin is located at an important site along the Dan River—Xiawanggang Site in Xichuan, due to the construction of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project. After archaeological excavations have been completed, it has now been submerged below the surface of the Danjiangkou Reservoir.
During the forum, the participating experts and scholars of archaeology and history took a boat to visit the water surface near the Xiawanggang site.
Researcher Gao Jiangtao from the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences who led the excavation research of the Xiawanggang site 10 years ago said that after large-scale excavations at the Xiawanggang site, rich Yangshao culture, Qujialing culture, Longshan culture, and Erlitou were discovered. There are rich archaeological cultural relics in different periods such as culture and Western Zhou Dynasty.
Gao Jiangtao believes that the Xiawanggang site was a transportation hub in the cultural interaction during the Erlitou period. Its cultural connotations include common pottery belonging to the typical Erlitou culture and unique artifacts belonging to the local Erlitou culture, which can be called Erlitou. The cultural "Xiawanggang type" is mainly distributed in the areas at the junction of Hubei, Henan and Shanxi, such as the Danxi River Basin, Northwest Hubei, and Jingxiang Region.
The formation of this type is to a certain extent the result of the gradual expansion of Erlitou culture to the above-mentioned regions.
"Xiawanggang in Xichuan: Archaeological Excavation Report 2008-2010" concluded that, as a whole, the Xiawanggang site, as a fulcrum above Danxi connecting the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers to the north and south, is also in prehistoric and early history. The central area where diverse archeological cultures converge, change, and merge. The rich archaeological data show that the Xiawanggang site has the nature of a "post" or "pier" on the cultural interaction channel.
Moreover, the Xiawanggang site has an uninterrupted culture from Yangshao to Erlitou, which is very conducive to comprehensive research on historical variability in various periods, including changes in cultural genealogy, changes in prehistoric environments, and changes in settlement patterns.
(Reporter Sun Zifa)
Editor in charge: [Zhang Aolin]