Yesterday (November 10), the State Administration of Cultural Heritage announced the progress of the major project "Archaeological China", focusing on the new achievements of archaeological discoveries and research in Yinxu, the capital of the late Shang Dynasty more than 3,000 years ago.
At the briefing, it was officially announced that a large-scale pool garden relics were newly discovered in the Zongmiao District of Xiaotun Palace, covering an area of more than 60,000 square meters.
Yin Ruins, located in Anyang City, Henan Province, are the ruins of the capital city in the late Shang Dynasty.
Since 1928, archaeologists have started scientific excavation of Yin Ruins. For more than 90 years, they have successively discovered important relics such as the ancestral temple palace area, noble residential area, royal mausoleum area, and family cemetery in Yin Ruins. Structural layout.
Relevant experts at the briefing introduced that starting from 2019, the archaeological team has restarted the excavation of the Xiaotun Palace area of Yinxu, and it has now been confirmed that a new large-scale pond remains with an area of up to 60,000 square meters have been discovered. Connected to the Huan River passing through the city, bringing a pool of living water.
In addition, in the center of the pool garden, a "core island" was also found.
There is a pool garden on the west side of the palace, and there is an island on the water of the pool garden. The new round of archaeology has added a touch of humanity to the Yinxu Palace.
He Yuling, a researcher at the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and deputy head of the Anyang Workstation: The
deepest pond can reach 16 meters. , At the same time, there are some drainage facilities in the palace that can be directly connected to this pool garden.
We have reconstructed a new understanding of the pattern of the palace area.
At the same time that the excavation of the palace area where King Shang lived during his lifetime was restarted, starting in 2021, the archaeological team also restarted the archaeological exploration of the tomb area where King Shang was buried after his death.
At present, the eastern and western areas of Wangling have been discovered and confirmed, each surrounded by a ditch with a width of more than 10 meters; in addition, more than 460 new sacrificial pits have been detected in the eastern area of Wangling, which is densely covered with sacrificial pits. Cognition of the layout of the cemetery.
He Yuling, researcher of the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and deputy head of the Anyang Workstation:
The connotation of the royal mausoleum itself is also expanding. Now let's talk about the sacrificial pits of the royal mausoleum, which may be more than 3,000.
Asking the "Tao" Yin Ruins 3,000 years ago , the layout of the
Shang
capital gradually appeared
What kind of road did the ancestors of the Yin and Shang Dynasty take from the palace area more than 3,000 years ago to reach the royal mausoleum area 2.5 kilometers away from the opposite bank of the Huan River?
This requires archaeologists to ask the "Tao" Yin Ruins and explore the road network structure of the capital to reveal the mystery.
At the briefing, relevant experts in charge introduced that recently, new discoveries have been made on the roads inside Yinxu, and there may be "blocks" between roads.
He Yuling, researcher at the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and deputy head of the Anyang Workstation:
This year we have discovered a new road.
What we are excavating now is 80 meters from east to west, and the width is 14 meters wide. The pavement is made of cobblestones, plus very evenly broken pottery pieces, and even those broken bones, which are spread on top after stirring. , There are very clear traces of rut rolling on the road surface.
According to reports, as early as 2008, the archaeological team strengthened the exploration and investigation of the Yinxu road system.
The 14-meter-wide road, newly discovered this year, is 20 meters to the west, and there is a north-south road that crosses it previously discovered.
He Yuling, a researcher at the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and deputy head of the Anyang Workstation:
If a traffic light had been installed 3,000 years ago, there would have been a traffic light in that place, and the intersection would be there.
The 14-meter-wide road, 500 meters north, is another east-west avenue previously discovered by archaeology.
Now the three roads are enclosed, and a space has finally been constructed. This space is called "block" by Yinxu archaeologists.
It took archaeologists 14 years to find this block that resembles a modern city.
He Yuling, researcher at the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and deputy head of the Anyang Workstation:
The block is mainly filled with various buildings, followed by tombs and handicraft production areas.
Then, corresponding to the literature and the oracle bone material, we will find that each block may be inhabited by a family.
Archaeological experts said that blocks began to appear, and they suddenly became clear about the urban planning and layout of Yin Ruins.
The Shang Dynasty society, which was previously only described in words in historical records, has now become more visible.
Next, the archaeological team will strengthen the road exploration and investigation from the royal mausoleum area to the palace area, and continue to ask the "Dao" Yin Ruins.
He Yuling, researcher at the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and deputy head of the Anyang Workstation:
I believe that in another 10 or 20 years, our understanding of the internal structure and layout of the entire Yin Ruins will be greatly improved, and this change will revolve around roads.
We made it clear bit by bit, and fixed the Yin Ruins at the base point of the late Shang Dynasty, and then we traced it back to five thousand years ago to see what kind of characteristics the civilization was.
(CCTV News Client Headquarters CCTV reporter Zhang Lilei Tian Yunhua Zhao Yingchen's balcony Jin Kaiyan Zhang Bin Li Rang)