China News Service, Beijing, April 13 (Reporter Ying Ni) 2021 is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Chinese archaeology.

On the 13th, the top ten new archaeological discoveries in China in 2020 were announced in Beijing.

　　From the Paleolithic relics of 45,000 years ago to the old site of Nanjing in the Eastern Xia Kingdom at the end of the Jin Dynasty; from the coastal shell mound relics on the coast of the sea to the earliest granary city discovered in China; from the urban settlement 5,300 years ago The ruins, to the Xuyang cemetery that confirmed the historical event of the "Rong people's internal migration to Yiluo" in the literature... The top ten new archaeological discoveries in China in 2020 are surprising in terms of time, space, and type.

　　Multidisciplinary cooperation has become one of the biggest highlights of this top ten new archaeological discoveries.

In the process of excavation and research of these sites, in addition to traditional archeological stratigraphy and archaeological typology, sub-disciplines such as settlement archaeology, environmental archaeology, animal archaeology, plant archaeology, geological archaeology, metallurgical archaeology, etc. have been fully promoted. Carbon fourteen dating, The extensive integration of technological methods such as residue analysis, process technology analysis, origin analysis, and geological environment research has provided convenience for archaeologists to obtain more comprehensive site information and to have a deeper understanding of the relevant conditions of ancient society.

　　In the Zhaoguodong site project, the environmental archaeology work adopted the method of using both the stratum sediment substitute index and the stalagmite paleoenvironment substitute index.

Among them, the collection of stalagmites directly in ancient human cave sites for paleoclimate restoration is the first time in China. So far, accurate dating models of several stalagmites have been obtained, and microscopic observation of stalagmites has revealed that there are many charcoal fragments in the stalagmites layer. Debris is highly coupled with the intensity of fire use in the accumulation of cultural layers. It is speculated that the earliest record of ancient humans using fire in caves can be traced back at least 10,000 years ago.

　　Due to the super large burial depth of its cultural deposits and the unprecedented speciality of the low-altitude burial environment covered by marine deposits, the engineering department built a steel structure foundation pit to enclose the excavation area before the excavation.

For the first time, this initiative has successfully applied steel structure foundation pits to archaeological excavation areas in accordance with local conditions, providing important demonstration significance for the excavation of similar sites at home and abroad.

　　The Shuanghuaishu site even introduced physical anthropology research.

Current anthropological identification shows that the upper limbs of male skeletons unearthed at the site are mostly underdeveloped, while the upper limbs of female skeletons are relatively developed, indicating that most men at the Shuanghuaishu site do not engage in manual labor.

What this means is still to be further studied.

　　Scientific methods are cold, objective and precise.

　　But the archaeologists are warm, rooted and inherited...

　　There was a moving scene at the final review meeting of China’s top ten new archaeological discoveries in 2020: Professor Duan Tianjing of Jilin University paid tribute to Mr. Li Ji, the “father of Chinese archaeology,” when he reported on the Shicun site in Xia County, Shanxi-in 1926, The site of Xiyin Village in Xia County, Shanxi Province, presided over by Li Ji, was the first place where a Chinese independently conducted a scientific archaeological excavation.

　　In 2020, four stone-carved silkworm pupas from the early Yangshao period were unearthed at the Shicun site. They are the earliest stone-carved silkworm pupa images currently discovered in China.

Duan Tianjing recalled that in 1926, when Li Ji excavated in Xiyin Village, Xia County, Shanxi, half of a carbonized silkworm cocoon was unearthed. The cut surface of the cocoon shell was extremely straight. It is now in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, China.

Li Ji pointed out that "because it was manually split...but I didn't find the second one."

　　Duan Tianjing believes that during the century of Chinese archaeology, the stone-carved silkworm pupa found at the Shicun site, as an original Chinese technology and artwork, has a close relationship with the origin of silk and the historical "Silk Road". The problem discovered by Mr. Li Ji, the father of Chinese archaeology, at the site of Xiyin Village in Xia County.

　　He Wei, the reporter of the Zanda Sangdalungo Cemetery in Tibet and the Tibet Autonomous Region Cultural Relics Conservation Research Institute, introduced his team at the end of the report: "Our team is mainly female. Working together on a plateau with an altitude of more than 4,200 meters for four years.” After the conversation, there was warm applause.

　　Researcher Sun Guoping, a reporter at the Jingtou Mountain site in Yuyao, Ningbo, Zhejiang, specifically mentioned that the site was discovered by two ordinary local people, as if they were of their own will. On the day he came to Beijing to report, one of them This old man also entered Beijing for the first time...

　　The real archaeology is not about exploring the secrets and the sky full of stars, but simply repetitive, boring, and even perilous.

Among them, there are the relics of Qin Xianyang City in Shaanxi that have been working continuously for more than 60 years, the Fengsui site of Kayak Kuduke, Xinjiang, which is full of wind and sand every day, the Qinghai hot water tombs across the river from the tomb robbers, and the watch at high altitudes. The women's archaeological team at the Sangdalungo Cemetery in Tibet...the only supporters of archaeologists are their true love and enthusiasm.

　　It is worth mentioning that this final review meeting also adopted a combination of online and offline methods.

Following the live broadcast of the Sanxingdui site excavation, "new archaeological discoveries + live broadcast on the whole network" seems to have become a new platform and channel for showing the results of archaeological work to the public.

　　Song Xinchao, deputy director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage of China, pointed out that the top ten archaeological discoveries cover important academic fields such as the origin of modern humans, the origin of civilization, the study of Xia culture, the formation and development of a unified multi-ethnic country, and the archaeology of the Silk Road.

"The problems raised are always more than the problems solved, and we have to further develop our research." As a promotion event, he hopes that the top ten new archaeological discoveries will receive more attention from the society.

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