editor's note
To let the public truly understand archaeology, the first thing to do is to bring archaeology into the world of fireworks.
Three thousand years ago, post-95 archaeologists came to Sanxingdui. Xu Danyang cared about the dormitory and food, watched "The Legend of Zhen Huan", and played with archaeological blind boxes.
"My roommate was next to another female classmate's Tanfang, and the two of them communicated frequently. At first, they didn't speak a few words in college for several years, but during that time, their relationship developed by leaps and bounds. Later, they got together and are now married."
"We joked that 'everyone has a room' and 'everyone has a tomb'. It was the first time I excavated a tomb, and I was very surprised when I thought that it was left by the ancients 4,000 years ago."
"I'm just not afraid of non-materialistic things like ghosts and gods. If I meet a dog that barks fiercely, I will definitely run away; if I see a snake, I can run!"
"I have archaeological ideals, and I still have them now, and I hope I will continue to have them in the future. My short-term wish is to find a girlfriend."
As the "pit chief" of No. 4 sacrificial pit in Sanxingdui, there are 7 people in Xu Danyang's pit, and 6 of them are post-95s.
They are all young and may need more experience, but in Xu Danyang's talk show-like self-report, we have seen the new look and promising future of this generation of archaeologists.
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I am a post-95 archaeological team member who was responsible for the on-site excavation of the No. 4 sacrificial pit in Sanxingdui.
Some people say that the process of archaeology is like opening a blind box.
I also bought an archaeological blind box once, which is to wrap small cultural relics in plaster and dig them out with matching small shovels and small sticks.
Only after the plaster is peeled off bit by bit can we know what is inside.
I thought it was very interesting, but I didn't want to dig it. I had enough, so I gave it to a friend and "forced" him to experience it.
He felt that it was not easy to do, so he didn't need a shovel to dig, and directly smashed it open with a hammer.
Archeology is like this, surprise and boring coexist.
We excavated the six newly discovered sacrificial pits in Sanxingdui for two years and one month, and we did not complete the excavation until November 9 this year.
More than 15,000 numbered cultural relics were finally unearthed from the sacrificial pit, and the buried age was determined to be the late Shang Dynasty, about 3200 to 3000 years ago.
More than half of the archaeological frontline full of technological sense are born in the 90s
The Sanxingdui site is located in the northern part of the Chengdu Plain, and contains cultural relics from the late Neolithic period to the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods.
The most important archaeological discovery in Sanxingdui so far is eight sacrificial pits that contain a large number of precious cultural relics.
Pit No. 1 and Pit No. 2 were discovered in 1986. Important cultural relics such as bronze masks, bronze statues, and bronze sacred trees were unearthed, which shocked the world at the time.
The remaining 6 pits were discovered at the end of 2019, and formal excavation began in October 2020.
In June of that year, I graduated with a master's degree from the School of Archeology and Museology of Peking University, joined the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, and reported to Sanxingdui.
Not too early, not too late, just at the right time.
For the newly discovered 6 sacrificial pits, each pit requires an on-site person in charge.
There are seven or eight people in our Sanxingdui Institute of Archeology who can do field excavations, and I was sent to Pit No. 4 as the "pit chief".
Our No. 4 pit team is very young, except for one big brother who was born in 1988, the other 6 people are all born in 1995.
At that time, more than half of the archaeological team members in all six pits in Sanxingdui were born in the 90s—I think it may even reach 80%.
In recent years, there have been many new recruits. Before 2019, the two teachers who were officially engaged in the archaeology and research of Sanxingdui were Lei Yu, the director of the Sanxingdui Workstation, and Ran Honglin, the director of the Sanxingdui Archaeological Research Institute.
Our excavation site also looks young and technological.
We built a fully transparent archaeological work cabin, equipped with cranes, hyperspectral imagers, 3D scanners and other equipment.
In my impression, this is the first time in the country.
In order to better protect cultural relics, the working cabin has constant temperature and humidity, similar to the climate in spring.
We work in protective clothing and sweat a little.
Wearing "big white" is on the one hand to prevent our hair and dander from falling into the pit and contaminating the samples; on the other hand, if there are harmful substances in the pit, it will not affect us.
Sometimes people come to visit and look through the glass, but they can't actually see what is under the pit, they are just looking at people.
I feel like we are like little animals in a zoo, we don't feel very comfortable at first, but then we get used to it, they watch theirs and we do ours.
We worked lying flat on a suspended platform. After a long time, our backs hurt and our hands felt uncomfortable, but once I was immersed in it, I forgot and forgot the time.
I have a little obsessive-compulsive disorder. I have to be meticulous and clean when digging soil and drawing lines, without any flaws.
When I'm focused, I can't hear people around me talking.
The pit is only more than one meter deep, and I even wonder if it will be soundproof. Sometimes someone calls me from above, and I will be taken aback for a while.
We are a division of labor, including excavation, recording, photographing, sample registration, on-site information collection, etc.
Everyone performs their duties, regularly reports progress, organizes discussions, and discusses how to solve problems when they encounter problems.
Archaeological development of Peking University: a tomb for everyone
My hometown is in Luanchuan County, Luoyang City, Henan Province, surrounded by two famous sites: Yangshao Site and Erlitou Site.
At first I knew it from textbooks, but after I went to college, I found out that it was not far from my home.
In fact, I didn’t have any clear ideals when I was a child—it was definitely not archeology, and I didn’t know what archeology was at that time.
My favorite subject in middle school was geography, and I also liked history. I wanted to know what happened in the past, and I liked to read historical stories.
It was the first time I knew the subject of archaeology when I filled out the volunteers for the college entrance examination.
I am the second place in the liberal arts in Luoyang City. With this score, I can go to Peking University, but there are not many majors to choose from.
At that time, I had a vague feeling that studying archeology could not only look at history through the objects left by the ancients, but also go to the field to study and study, so I took Peking University and archeology as my first choice school and first choice major, and was finally accepted. admitted.
When I first entered college, I was confused about my studies. I didn't expect that there were so many basic things to learn!
There are so many detailed knowledge, concepts and archaeological techniques, archaeological discoveries in various regions, and even painting representative artifacts of each culture, which is quite difficult.
I also thought about changing majors, but I was not strong enough to act, I just thought about it.
I didn't have a real understanding of archaeology until I went through the field practice in my junior year.
Throughout the fall semester, our class practiced at the Pingliangtai site in Zhoukou, Henan.
More than 40 students and 3 leading teachers rented a small building from a local farmer in the village.
It was originally prepared for his son's wedding, but we lived first.
It was very interesting during that time. The students all worked and lived together, and each was in charge of an investigation.
My roommate was next to Tan Fang of another female classmate, and the two of them often communicated.
Originally, I hadn't spoken a few words in college for several years, but during that time my relationship developed by leaps and bounds, and we got together later, and now we are married.
The Pingliangtai site is a city in the late Neolithic age. There are many house sites and tombs, basically in every Tanfang. We joked that "everyone has a room" and "everyone has a tomb".
That was the first time I excavated a tomb. I was surprised to think that it was left by the ancients 4,000 years ago.
Many tombs from the late Warring States period to the Western Han Dynasty were buried in this area. I also unearthed a copper coin from the Wang Mang period with the words "Huoquan" on it.
There was a classmate in the class who could recognize ancient characters, so I quickly let him read it, and then checked on the Internet when the money was circulated... The excitement can last almost a day.
Some students are a bit resistant to human bones, but I am not afraid at all. This may be one of the reasons why I am capable of archaeology.
There are 206 bones in the human body. If we understand them thoroughly, they are the same as pottery and stone tools, and they are only the objects of our research.
It's not because I'm bold, I'm just not afraid of non-materialistic things like ghosts and gods.
If I meet a dog that barks fiercely, I will definitely run away; if I see a snake, I can run!
Generally speaking, the field excavation work is quite tiring.
At that time, we were all looking forward to the rain and often "asked for rain". When the rain came, we could stop work and rest.
I later learned that the hardest part was not working in the open air, but sorting out materials indoors.
Unearthed artifacts are all equal as research materials, regardless of size, broken or complete, each piece must be carefully numbered, described and recorded, and treated with the same energy.
Even if there are 100 utensils, each of them looks similar, and they must be registered one by one.
This work is very repetitive, and if you can't bear your temper, it will be difficult to continue.
We excavated in the field for 3 months, sorted out the materials for 1 month, sometimes stayed up until one or two in the middle of the night, and finally spent another winter vacation to finish writing the internship report.
The teacher said that whether he can continue to work in the future depends on the few months in the field.
Once you really experience it from beginning to end, you will know whether you can accept this job.
I felt that I could accept it, so I studied as a graduate student for another two years, focusing on studying Xia, Shang and Zhou archaeology.
During my postgraduate study, I met my second internship—Sanxingdui.
In the 2020 graduation season, I was locked at home to find a job, and I was really anxious.
At that time, I submitted several resumes, hoping to find a place with a good natural environment and a lot of archaeological discoveries during the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties. Sichuan was a good choice.
I inquired through my tutor, and I was sure that the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology wanted to recruit people, so I came to take the exam.
From campus to field, from "social terror" to "actor"
Before I came to Sanxingdui, I thought that archaeology would be a relatively quiet job. Now it seems that this is not the case at all, and there are quite a lot to say.
In addition to communicating with colleagues and peers, we also have to deal with the media.
In the two years since I started working, I have made documentaries, participated in variety shows, accepted various interviews and filmed more than 150 times.
I feel that I have said more in the past two years than in the past 20 years.
I was originally a very "social fear" character, very introverted, not willing to participate in crowded activities, and not good at expressing myself in front of strangers.
Now, I feel that my social skills have improved a little, and I am almost half an "actor"-I play myself.
I'm not keen on promoting myself, but if I have new ideas and insights, I'm still happy to share them with you.
I also hope that I can do a better job of expression, and convert these archaeological fragments, bottles and jars into a language that the public can understand.
But it is still difficult for me to shoot videos on camera, because there are movements and expressions.
Mass communication of archaeology has become part of our work.
In addition to excavation, it is the proper meaning of archaeological work to introduce archaeological results to the public and let ordinary people understand what we do.
Sanxingdui has always been here. It didn’t become important today, but it was not “out of the circle” as it is now in the early years.
This allowed me to see another meaning of archeology, in addition to filling the gaps in history, it also has value to the public and the current society.
After working, my understanding of archaeology has also changed. The most important point is that I have seen the reality of archaeology.
When I was in college, I visited a museum for the first time. I saw some exquisite artifacts, some of which appeared in history textbooks, but some of them were very small and dilapidated.
At that time, I thought: such a small and broken thing, why should it be put in a museum?
It was only after participating in the excavation that I realized that it was already very good!
It has been chosen out of thousands of people!
Compared with the activities of the ancients and the entire history, what we have unearthed is very rare.
Archeology is a process of seeing the big from the small and "generalizing the whole from the small", which requires imagination - but not to let your imagination fly, but to connect relevant materials from trivial discoveries one by one, and place them in the background of the entire time and space understand.
If the chosen angle is good and the argument is sufficient, even an inconspicuous object can release its unique value.
When I was a student, I always understood problems from the perspective of archeology; after work, I found that the frontiers of archaeology were introduced in school, but not every site and every discovery can be done according to the requirements of the frontiers.
This is the gap between theory and reality.
Of course, reality is constantly evolving.
I used to watch other people doing archaeology at school, and I always felt that some places were not dug well, and I had a lot of regrets; sometimes I complained: what happened to these excavators, a site has been dug, and the report has not been written for a long time, so the data should be sorted out at any time come out.
I didn't know until after work that I really didn't have time. After digging one project, there was another one.
In the past two years, the field work of Sanxingdui has hardly stopped.
We excavated Pit No. 4 for 10 months. After the end, we excavated the ruins in the open air outside the working cabin, and at the same time sorted out the information of Pit No. 4.
The cycle of archeology is very long, and the relevant detection and analysis and data collation will take a long time.
Now we basically don't have weekends, and we only take a day off when we are really tired.
The ideal of archaeology is still there, and the short-term wish is to find a girlfriend
Many people work 9 to 5, we work 8 to 6.
I have to get up at 7 o'clock every morning. The dormitory is five or six kilometers away from the archaeological site. Fortunately, the unit rented a car for us, and we can drive there in 10 minutes.
Usually the food in the cafeteria is pretty good, two yuan a meal, not too spicy, I still like spicy food.
On weekends, everyone occasionally gathers for a meal and goes to the county town. Life is relatively simple.
Of course, the salary is relatively "simple". It can only be said that in modern society, it can meet the basic daily expenses of individuals.
After get off work, I prefer to stay at home, reading books and watching dramas in the dormitory.
Sometimes I watch costume dramas, sometimes I watch cartoons, and I still think the old dramas are better.
Some time ago, I watched "The Ming Dynasty", "Zhu Yuanzhang", "Yongzheng Dynasty", and also watched two episodes of "The Legend of Zhen Huan".
Although archaeologists hate tomb robbers, I have watched several movies about tomb robbers, and I bought tickets to watch some of them in theaters.
The plots of these movies can only be said to have nothing to do with archaeology, but people who don’t know about archaeology think that archaeology also needs to hold a lamp and drill into the tomb through the passage—of course it is impossible.
However, if you just watch it for fun, if you look at it with a critical eye, then you will not be able to read all historical dramas and historical novels.
My character is not so serious and serious.
A reporter asked me a question before: Which one should I choose if I dig up a national treasure or win the first prize in the lottery?
I said of course I would choose the first prize.
Of course, it must be very rare and lucky for archaeologists to dig out national treasure-level cultural relics.
It's just that if someone else digs it up, I can also appreciate and study it.
But the first prize is mine, I don't know how much it will be!
Archeology has brought me some living habits. For example, going out to play is like doing research. I went to Nanjing for a trip. I visited 5 museums for 3 days.
Archeology will also affect some of my ways of thinking, for example, I think more openly.
Archeology looks at society and stretches the timeline very long. We often say that it is too late after the Han Dynasty, but it is actually two thousand years ago.
If you only look at the present in life, there will always be setbacks and problems of one kind or another, but in the long run, it will always pass.
In the past two years, the most important thing I have learned from senior archaeologists is to accumulate and persevere.
This job requires patience and accumulation.
Everyone always pays attention to the "newness" of young people born after 1995. I think this "newness" is only caused by the differences of the times.
Our generation is indeed facing a new environment, new means and tools, but in terms of the essence of archaeological work, I think it is more about inheritance.
Sometimes the ideas of the seniors are also very interesting, and they often read various information on the Internet.
Looking back at my work in the past two years, I am quite satisfied.
I have archaeological ideals, and I still have them now, and I hope they will continue to have them in the future.
Short term wish is to find a girlfriend.
(China Youth Daily and China Youth Net trainee reporter Du Jiabing compiled according to Xu Danyang's dictation)
Xu Danyang (the person in charge of the excavation of Sacrificial Pit No. 4 in Sanxingdui) Source: China Youth Daily