The top ten new archaeological discoveries in the country in 2021 were announced on March 31. Whether it is the 10 projects that were finally included in the list or the 10 projects that stopped in the final evaluation, they are all representatives of more than 1,700 archaeological projects across the country in 2021.
Sichuan Daocheng Piluo Ruins
Chinese samples erase "Movis lines"
The site is located in Daocheng County, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province. It is a Paleolithic wilderness site.
The most significant discoveries at the site are the hand axes and thin-blade axes, which are abundant in quantity, regular in shape, and mature in technology. They are the most typical, beautifully made, most mature, and most complete assortment of Asheli assemblages in East Asia. The highest-altitude Acheul technology product.
The Acheulean technique is a sign of a peak in the development of early human intellectual skills.
The "Movis Line" hypothesis in the 1940s believed that in the Paleolithic Age, Europe, the Middle East and Africa to the west of the line were advanced areas of early human culture, represented by the Acheulean hand axe, capable of mastering advanced tool manufacturing technology China and other regions located east of this line are the "edge areas of cultural lag" characterized by the manufacture of simple choppers.
The Asheli combination discovered at the Pilo site this time has drawn a rest for the "Movis Line" debate.
●Expert comment: Zhao Hui (Professor of School of Archaeology and Museology, Peking University, Vice Chairman of Chinese Archaeological Society)
The site covers an area of 1 million square meters, which is an extremely rare large-scale site among the Paleolithic sites.
The Piluo site is more than 3,700 meters above sea level. The hand axe discovered so far is 130,000 years ago, which means that 130,000 years ago or even earlier, Chinese humans could conquer extreme environments such as high altitude and high cold.
The new discovery breaks through the "Movis line" and provides new data for the study of early large-scale human migration and technical exchanges.
Huangshan Site in Nanyang, Henan
"Industrial Park" made by Dushan Jade
The site is located in Pushan Town, Wolong District, northeast of Nanyang City, Henan Province. It is a central settlement site with distinctive features of jade tool making in Neolithic Yangshao Culture, Qujialing Culture and Shijiahe Culture.
Archaeologists have excavated and unearthed several large-scale architectural sites of the "front and back dwelling" style and medium-sized architectural sites of the "combination of square and dwelling" style.
This building complex is one of the best preserved prehistoric buildings in the country, with high preserved walls and complete internal facilities.
In particular, the largest 7-unit large-scale continuous long house, numbered F1, is "Front Square and Back House", with an area of more than 150 square meters, which is extremely rare.
Thousands of tools and raw materials related to jade making were unearthed from the site.
One of the millstone piers is even painted with maroon characters working, lying pigs, and bluegrass sketches, which is a masterpiece.
The texture of the stone tools is mainly Dushan stone, mainly agricultural tools and weapons.
The jade material is mainly Dushan jade.
●Expert comment: Zhao Hui (Professor of School of Archaeology and Museology, Peking University, Vice Chairman of Chinese Archaeological Society)
A large number of related materials about the processing and production of jade and stone tools have been found at the Huangshan site.
Nanyang has Dushan jade, which is produced from Dushan. This is the earliest case of human beings using and developing high-quality stone materials.
The spread of the things made here has continued to expand, and it has become an economic center, a manufacturing center, and so on.
Gangshang Site, Tengzhou, Shandong
The first discovery of the late Dawenkou city
The site is located on both sides of the Luohe River in the east of Chengang Village, Dongshahe Street, Tengzhou City.
The archaeological discovery of the huge city site: about 800 meters long from east to west, about 550 meters wide from north to south, with an area of 400,000 square meters, the city wall is 10 to 22 meters wide, the trench is 10 to 60 meters wide, and the deepest part is 2.8 meters.
This is the largest Dawenkou Cultural City site found in Haidai area.
The distribution of tombs is concentrated, and there is a clear pattern of arrangement in rows.
There are huge differences in the grades of tombs, mainly in terms of volume, structure of burial objects, and burial objects. They can be divided into three categories: large, medium and small.
Burial structures such as triple coffins and utensil boxes are the earliest discovered so far.
●Expert comment: Chen Xingcan (member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, director of the Institute of Archaeology)
This is the first time that the city of the late Dawenkou culture has been discovered, and it is still a huge city.
The tombs on the site are planned in an orderly manner, the large tomb can be about 10 square meters, and there are more than 100 funerary objects in the large tomb, which is very rare and shows that this society is highly differentiated.
The reason why this site is important is that it plays a very crucial role in demonstrating the five thousand years of Chinese civilization, especially the five thousand years of history of the origin of Chinese civilization in the lower reaches of the Yellow River.
Sacrifice Area of Sanxingdui Ruins in Guanghan, Sichuan
Ancient Shu civilization is an important part of Chinese civilization
The site is located in the western suburbs of Guanghan City, Sichuan Province, in the Tuojiang River Basin in the northern part of the Chengdu Plain, with an area of about 12 square kilometers.
The archaeological excavation in the sacrificial area is one of the implementation contents of the "Study on the Bashu Civilization Process in Sichuan-Chongqing Region", a major project of "Archaeological China" of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.
Since the excavation started in March 2020, the total excavation area is 1,202 square meters, and 6 "sacrificial pits", 78 ash pits, 55 ash ditches, 341 pillar holes, 4 house sites, and 2 tombs have been found. The distribution range and internal layout of the sacrificial area were clarified.
More than 12,000 numbered cultural relics (more than 2,300 near-complete ones) were unearthed from the 6 "sacrificial pits", and more than 450 intact ivory were extracted. A large number of cultural relics were unearthed in the No. 1 and No. 2 pits excavated in 1986. The factors of the Central Plains civilization and other regions of the country show that the ancient Shu civilization is an important part of the Chinese civilization.
Several new artifacts excavated this time, such as the top statue of a kneeling bronze figure, a bronze square statue with a round mouth, a jade cong, silk fabrics, gold masks and ivory carvings, further consolidate this understanding.
●Expert comment: Chen Xingcan (member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, director of the Institute of Archaeology)
The newly discovered unseen relics and cultural relics have further enriched the cultural connotation of the Sanxingdui site, and will also deepen the research on the sacrificial scenes and sacrificial systems of the Sanxingdui site and the ancient Shu civilization.
Through the physical objects, especially the cultural relics unearthed from the six sacrificial pits this time, it is once again confirmed that the Bashu civilization and Sanxingdui civilization are important components of Chinese civilization.
Hubei Yunmeng Zhengjiahu Tomb
Activating historical scenes of important nodes in the process of unification
The cemetery is located in the southeastern suburbs of the Chuwangcheng site in Chengguan Town, Yunmeng County, Hubei Province, with a total area of about 150,000 square meters.
This archaeology has cleaned up a group of rare Qin culture flooded tombs, which greatly enriched the integrity of Qin tomb materials.
The full text of the wooden goblet in the late Warring States period is about 700 words, which is the earliest "China's first long Wengu" that we have seen so far. The font is typical Qin Li, and the shape is rare; A brand new policy questioning literature.
Rare wood-panel paintings of burial utensils were also found, dating from the end of the Warring States Period to the Qin Dynasty and the Qin and Han Dynasties, and the themes were first seen, filling the historical gap in the materials and types of Chinese tomb paintings during this period.
●Expert comment: Wang Wei (member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, chairman of the Chinese Archaeological Society)
The AB area of the Zhengjiahu cemetery belongs to the Chu people, and the C area is the tombs after the Qin people occupied this area.
These materials show the historical process in which Qin culture and Chu culture gradually merged, unified into Han culture, and merged into Chinese civilization. They are used to study the formation of a multi-ethnic unified country in China from the late Warring States Period to the early Han Dynasty, and the history of Chinese civilization from pluralism to unity. The process and the national identities reflected behind it provide a case study.
Shaanxi Xi'an Jiangcun Tomb
This is the tomb of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty
The tomb is located on the Bailu Plain in the eastern suburb of Xi'an, about 2,000 meters away from the "Phoenix Mouth", which is handed down as the Mausoleum of Emperor Han Wen in the north.
After many explorations, it was finally confirmed that the tomb is a "Ya"-shaped vertical pit with a soil and wooden coffin. The ground is unsealed. The side of the tomb is 73 meters long, surrounded by more than 110 outer pits, surrounded by "stone enclosures" and gates. Que form a cemetery.
It and the mausoleum of Empress Dou on the west side also have a larger-scale rammed wall site, forming a large cemetery that encloses the two.
In Dalingyuan, two 23 outer Tibetan pits and 4 architectural ruins were also found.
In the outer pit, bronze seals of Ming wares such as "Chefu", "Qifu", "Zhongsikong Seal", "Nanbao Sikong" and "Beibao Sikong" were also cleaned up.
Archaeological data show that the Jiangcun Tomb and its surrounding relics form a relatively complete mausoleum area, which is similar to the Changling Mausoleum of Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty and the Yangling Mausoleum of Emperor Jingdi of the Han Dynasty. trajectory.
Combined with literature records, it can be confirmed that the Jiangcun Tomb is the Mausoleum of Emperor Ba of the Han Dynasty.
●Expert comment: Wang Wei (member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, chairman of the Chinese Archaeological Society)
Through this archaeological excavation, the statement that Ba Ling was dug up a mountain in Fenghuangzui or Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty was denied.
Through the archaeological excavation of the Jiangcun Tomb, it can be seen that the double cemetery, the emperor's mausoleum in the middle, and the outer pit, which symbolizes the government's office, are arranged around the emperor's mausoleum, all imitating the activities and living scenes during his lifetime. A major feature.
In addition, the discovered gold and silver wares with grassland style are direct evidence of the exchange and integration of farming culture and nomadic culture in the pre-Qin and Han dynasties.
Tombs of Tuyuhun Royal Family in Tang Dynasty, Wuwei, Gansu
The home of the mysterious royal family
The tomb group is located in the southwest of Wuwei City, Gansu Province, at the northern foot of the Qilian Mountains. It is mainly distributed on the hills on the north bank of the middle and lower reaches of the Binggou River and the Dashui River in the Nanshan District of Wuwei.
Archaeological excavations have uncovered the tomb of Murongzhi, the king of Tuyuhun.
A large number of exquisite funerary objects were unearthed in the tomb, such as the Hu bed, the six-curved screen, the model of the halberd house, and a complete set of military equipment, all of which are the first or rare discoveries of related cultural relics of the same period in China.
The epitaph unearthed from this tomb mentioned for the first time the existence of the "Mausoleum of the Great Khan" in the Nanshan District of Wuwei. There are also two lines of characters synthesized by using the radicals of Chinese characters on the left side of the epitaph, which was preliminarily judged to be the language of the Tuyuhun ethnic group.
The "Epitaph of the Lady of Fengyi County", unearthed from the tomb of "Machangtan M2" in the 27th year of Kaiyuan (739), records about the Pengzi clan in Tuyuhun, and is useful for the study of the history of Tuyuhun and the military establishment of the Tang Dynasty, especially the Anshi Rebellion. A series of issues such as the Tang-Fan War, the Yanzhou Pavilion and the origin of the "Ansai Army" are of great value.
●Expert comment: Wang Wei (member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, chairman of the Chinese Archaeological Society)
The tomb of Murongzhi, the king of Tuyuhunxi, is very rich in funerary objects.
In particular, a large number of silk fabrics were unearthed, which let us know the superb textile technology of the Tang Dynasty.
This area is located on the main traffic road of the Western Regions under the jurisdiction of the Tang Dynasty. It provides very precious first-hand information for the study of the relationship between the Tang Dynasty and various tribes and ethnic groups along the Silk Road, the history of transportation, the history of arts and crafts, etc. It also reveals from another aspect. The formation of unified multi-ethnic relations during the Tang Dynasty.
Yulikeyak Kuduk Beacon Ruins in Xinjiang
Memories of the Western Regions Guarding the Frontiers in the Tang Dynasty
The beacon site is located in a desert uninhabited area 90 kilometers southeast of Yuli County, Xinjiang.
The most striking cultural relics unearthed at the site are the largest batch of Tang Dynasty documents unearthed from archaeological sites in China, as well as the first discovered physical specimens of Tang Dynasty Chinese wooden slips.
The documents recorded are rich in content, involving military, political, economic, cultural, legal, transportation, social life, religious beliefs and other aspects.
For example, the literary work "Youxian Grottoes" is the earliest and only physical specimen in existence in China.
All kinds of documents are all-encompassing, and it can be said that it is an archive that comprehensively reflects the life of frontier defense and frontier governance in the Tang Dynasty.
●Expert comment: Yan Yalin (Director of the Archaeology Department of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage)
The site is the first active archaeological excavation of the Tang Dynasty Fengsui site in China, which systematically and comprehensively revealed the whole picture of the site.
The contents recorded in the unearthed documents are very rich, many of which are discovered for the first time and have extremely high historical research value.
The results of archaeological excavations prove the effective jurisdiction and governance of the central government in the Tang Dynasty over the Western Regions, and are also an important material teaching material for expounding the pluralistic unity of the Chinese nation and building a sense of community of the Chinese nation.
Anhui Fengyang Ming Zhongdu Site
Inheriting the Song and Yuan Dynasties, the palace city of Ming and Qing Dynasties
Both Ming Dynasty and Ming Dynasty were the capitals built by Zhu Yuanzhang, Emperor Taizu of Ming Dynasty, in his hometown of Fengyang.
The form of the palaces in the former dynasty area of the central capital of the Ming Dynasty has always been a mystery due to the unclear historical records. Through the excavations from 2015 to 2021, the layout of the main hall and ancillary buildings of the former dynasty of the central capital of the Ming Dynasty has been clarified.
By exposing the rammed earth platform foundation and its internal piers, the layout of the palace foundation and some ancillary buildings in the former court district in the palace city was clarified.
The structure of the main hall with the front and rear halls and the halls is close to that of the palace in the Song and Yuan Dynasties, and the combination of the annexes on the west side of the rear hall is very similar to the combination of buildings in the same location in the Forbidden City in Beijing.
●Expert comment: Yan Yalin (Director of the Archaeology Department of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage)
Through the archaeological excavations in 2021, it can be clearly seen that both Ming Dynasty and China have reflected the inheritance and innovation of the palace system planning ideas in Song and Yuan Dynasties, as well as its far-reaching influence on the planning of the northern and southern Beijing in the Ming Dynasty.
This archaeological achievement has further deepened the understanding and research on the ruins of the central capital of the Ming Dynasty, and has important academic value for the study of the planning and construction ideas of ancient capitals in my country.
The Ruins of Chicken Crow City in Lixian County, Hunan Province
The evolution from ordinary settlement to political center
The site is located in Jizhaocheng Village, Chennan Town, Li County, Changde City, Hunan Province.
The archaeological work on the site began in the 1990s and clarified the evolution of the Jichoucheng settlement.
In the Pengtoushan culture dating back 8,000 to 9,000 years ago, it was an ordinary living place, and gradually developed into a ring-moat settlement, and then developed into a city moat settlement and settlement cluster, which lasted until the Xiaojia roof culture period about 4,000 years ago. Shows strong inner cohesion.
The wooden building numbered F63 discovered by archaeologists was built in the Qujialing culture period four or five thousand years ago. It consists of the main building and peripheral corridors. It faces south. Pallet building.
This is the first discovery in a century of Chinese archaeology.
●Expert comment: Zhao Hui (Professor of School of Archaeology and Museology, Peking University, Vice Chairman of Chinese Archaeological Society)
The Jijiaocheng site reveals an important evolution process: the site started from the earlier stage of the Neolithic Age, and there were local people in the middle of the Neolithic Age, and it gradually developed into a huge city center, surrounded by large and small ruins. It has become a regional society, and whether the social level has entered civilization is worth discussing in depth.
(Reporter Li Yun)