China News Service, Chongqing, December 2 (Reporter Zhong Qi) The reporter learned from the Chongqing Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology on the 2nd that after more than six months of rescue archaeological excavations, a breakthrough has been made in the archaeological work of the Zhangjiayuanzi site in Hechuan District, Chongqing. As a result, a number of remains of the Ba culture in the Spring and Autumn Period were discovered, filling the gaps in the archaeological discoveries of the Ba Culture in the Spring and Autumn Period in the lower reaches of the Jialing River.
According to reports, the Zhangjiayuanzi site is located in the No. 2 Community of Hutang Village, Qiantang Town, Hechuan District, Chongqing City, on the first-level platform on the left bank of the lower reaches of the Jialing River, covering an area of about 1,000 square meters.
From April to October 2022, the Chongqing Municipal Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology carried out rescue excavations on the Zhangjiayuanzi site. The excavation area was 675 square meters, and houses from the Neolithic, Eastern Zhou, Han to Six Dynasties, Song Yuan, and Qing dynasties were discovered. There are 53 relics of various types such as ruins, ash pits, ditches, tombs, and pillar holes, and 278 small pieces and specimens of various relics were unearthed.
The picture shows the panorama of the Zhangjiayuanzi ruins (top is east).
Photo courtesy of Chongqing Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology
Sun Zhigang, director of the archaeological excavation project at the Zhangjiayuanzi site of the Chongqing Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology, said that the unearthed relics include pottery, porcelain, stone tools and copper coins, etc., with pottery accounting for the vast majority and a small amount of porcelain, stone tools and copper coins. Including the Neolithic, Eastern Zhou, Han to Six Dynasties, Song Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, the relics of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty are the most abundant.
The picture shows the pottery of the Spring and Autumn Period "Tao Jian Bottom Cup".
Photo courtesy of Chongqing Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology
"This excavation has filled in the gaps in the archaeological discoveries of the Ba culture during the Spring and Autumn period in the lower reaches of the Jialing River." Sun Zhigang said that archaeological work over the years has shown that the Ba culture remains found in the Jialing River Basin are mainly concentrated in the Shang to Western Zhou and Warring States periods. Sporadic discoveries, the discovery of the remains of the Spring and Autumn Period at the Zhangjiayuanzi site made up for this shortcoming, and provided new material materials for further improving the pre-Qin archaeological cultural sequence in the Jialing River Basin.
The picture shows the pottery "Tao Su Mouth Round Bottom Jar" in the Spring and Autumn Period.
Photo courtesy of Chongqing Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology
It is reported that because the Hechuan area where the Zhangjiayuanzi site is located is located at the confluence of the Jialing River, the Qujiang River, and the Fujiang River, and is located at the key node between the Three Gorges area and the Ba cultural relics in the upper and middle reaches of the Jialing River and the upper reaches of the Qujiang River, the discovery of the above-mentioned area The organic connection will provide important data for subsequent in-depth research on the spatial distribution and changes of Ba culture.
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