"New Archaeological Discoveries in China in 2023" highlights scan to outline specific and nuanced ancient life

Outline specific and detailed ancient life

——Highlight scan of "New Archaeological Discoveries in China in 2023"

This newspaper, Beijing, January 30 (Reporters Li Yun and Wang Xiaofei) On

January 30, the "New Archaeological Discoveries in China in 2023" were announced in Beijing, including the Mengxihe Paleolithic Site in Ziyang City, Sichuan Province, and the Huiqiu Site in Pingtan County, Fujian Province. Neolithic ruins in Tou, Qujialing Neolithic ruins in Jingmen City, Hubei Province, Shang Dynasty ruins in Zhaigou, Qingjian County, Shaanxi Province, Nestorian temple ruins in the Tang and Song Dynasties in the west of Turpan City, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, Balinzuo Banner, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region Six projects including the architectural ruins in the southern part of Liao Shangjing Imperial City were on the list.

　　The "New Archaeological Discoveries in China" sponsored by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and undertaken by the Institute of Archeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences is known as the "Big Six" in the industry. Every year, six archaeological projects of great value are selected. At the Archeology Forum of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the "Big Six" selected this time jointly sketched for us a detailed and vivid picture of the production and life of ancient people.

Mengxihe Paleolithic Site in Ziyang City, Sichuan Province: Refreshing the understanding of the Paleolithic Age

　　The Mengxihe Site is located in Lezhi County, Ziyang City, Sichuan Province. The main cultural layer of the site dates back 70,000 to 50,000 years ago. It is the most clear, systematic and comprehensive site among the Paleolithic Age sites in the world that displays the relationship between man and the environment.

　　Zheng Zhexuan, associate research librarian of the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology, said that the reason why it is called a "total element site" is because not only stone tools were found at the site, but also bone and wooden production tools, which are very important to the Paleolithic Age. Evidence of the processing and utilization of organic materials is rare in the world; the site's use of animal and plant resources includes "large, medium and small, water, land and air, carnivorous and herbivorous", ranging from large trees to small plant seeds, bears on the ground, and animals in the sky bird.

　　A higher proportion of eldergrass and sinewgrass found here are medicinal plants used in traditional Chinese medicine, which means that ancient humans had knowledge of plant resources before the legend of "Shen Nong tasted a hundred herbs". At the same time, clear traces of fire were also found at the site, as well as cutting and scratch marks on the bones. Among them, behaviors such as carving were very rare in the Paleolithic Age, reflecting early ancient humans' preliminary exploration of the spiritual world.

　　Wang Youping, a professor at the School of Archeology and Museology at Peking University, said: "For the public, the Mengxi River site restores a life scene in ancient times that is within reach. The ancestors who lived at this site tens of thousands of years ago, their understanding of things and The ability to control has greatly refreshed our understanding of social life in the Paleolithic Age."

The Keqiutou Neolithic Site Group in Pingtan County, Fujian Province: Perfecting the “Marine Puzzle” in the Formation and Development of Chinese Civilization

　　The Keqiutou site group includes Keqiutou, Xiying, Donghuaqiu, Guishan and other sites in Pingtan Island, Fujian, dating back 7,500 to 3,000 years ago. The coastal areas of Fujian are considered to be an important starting point for the formation and spread of early Austronesian language groups to Taiwan.

　　Zhou Zhenyu, a researcher at the Institute of Archeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (Institute of Archeology of the Chinese Academy of History), said that this group of sites shows the basic necessities, food, housing and transportation of the early Austronesian people: their livelihood model was both continental and maritime, and remains from each period have been discovered. Rich marine and terrestrial animal resources; phytolith rice remains more than 7,000 years ago were also discovered at the Xiying and Keqiutou sites, which are the earliest rice remains on the southeastern coastal islands of China; their ritual public activities are well developed, which may be related to navigation, It is related to the livelihood model of fishing and hunting.

　　"The characteristics of the early Austronesian people that were both maritime and continental are consistent with the logical characteristics that the Austronesian language originated from the mainland and spread to the ocean." Zhou Zhenyu said. Preliminary research on molecular biology shows that the prehistoric people in Pingtan have a close genetic relationship with ethnic groups in southern China and Southeast Asia, which also indicates the continental origin of the early Austronesian people. Botanical archaeological research has found that rice and millet were introduced to Taiwan between 4800 and 4600 years ago. Li Xinwei, a researcher at the Institute of Archeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (Institute of Archeology, Chinese Academy of History), pointed out that the series of archaeological discoveries on Pingtan Island have deepened our understanding of the maritime nature of Chinese civilization.

Qujialing Neolithic Site in Jingmen City, Hubei Province: The wisdom of water management in the Jianghan Plain more than 5,000 years ago

　　The Qujialing site is located in the Qujialing Management Area of ​​Jingmen City, Hubei Province. With Qujialing as the core, it is a large-scale Neolithic site that includes more than ten sites including Yinjialing, Zhongjialing, Zhongziba and Yangwan.

　　In recent years, archaeologists have discovered multiple groups of large-scale prehistoric water conservancy systems here that were built according to the situation, and have carried out detailed archaeological investigations on the Xiongjialing and Zhengfan water conservancy systems. Dai Xiangming, a professor at the School of History at Capital Normal University, said: "The discovery of the water conservancy system actually connected the Qujialing site group into a whole, becoming an important site that demonstrates the origin of civilization in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River."

　　Tao Yang, associate research librarian of the Hubei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology, said that many details in the construction of the dam reflect the wisdom of the ancients. For example, the ancients used the naturally distributed bedrock surface with a trend of higher in the south and lower in the north as a spillway, showing The scientific construction concept of “adapting measures to local conditions”.

　　The complex water conservancy system of the Qujialing site integrates multiple functions such as drought and flood control, domestic water use, and agricultural irrigation. It marks that the water management concept of prehistoric ancestors has changed from passive waterproofing and water protection to active water control and water control. Using water makes a leap from adapting to nature to transforming nature.

Shang Dynasty Site in Zhaigou, Qingjian County, Shaanxi Province: Fang State, a country in northern Shaanxi that coexisted with the Shang civilization in the Central Plains

　　The Zhaigou site is located in Zhaigou Village, Xiejiagou Town, Qingjian County, Yulin City, Shaanxi Province, covering an area of ​​approximately 3 million square meters. It is the largest central settlement site of the Shang Dynasty in northern Shaanxi.

　　According to the oracle bone inscriptions of the Yin Ruins, there were many countries surrounding the Shang Dynasty in the late Shang Dynasty. The Northern Shaanxi Plateau was once one of the important distribution areas of the Fang Kingdom in the Shang Dynasty. The Zhaigou Shang Dynasty site was the first to discover the largest, most numerous and highest-level A-shaped noble tomb outside the Yin-Shang cultural circle. "The unearthed gold earrings, snake daggers, and pottery have distinctive local characteristics, reflecting the close economic and cultural exchanges between the Loess Hilly Area and the Shang Dynasty, as well as the influence of the Shang Dynasty on surrounding areas." Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archeology Introduction by associate researcher Sun Zhanwei.

　　A number of pottery models with outstanding Yinxu style were also discovered at the site. Lei Xingshan, a professor at Beijing Union University, said: "The discovery of mature and fine pottery models proves that at least some of the bronzes came from here, rather than being cast and brought back from the Yin Ruins. It also shows the high level of bronze casting technology here."

Nestorian temple ruins from the Tang and Song Dynasties west of Turpan, Xinjiang: Witness the inclusiveness of Chinese civilization

　　The Nestorian temple ruins in the west are located at the southern foot of the Flame Mountain in Turpan City, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. The ruins date from the Tang to Song dynasties and are one of the rare existing Nestorian temple ruins at home and abroad.

　　During the Tang Dynasty, Nestorianism was introduced into China along the Silk Road. Liu Wensuo, a professor at the School of Sociology and Anthropology at Sun Yat-sen University, said that the Nestorian temple (monastery) buildings to the west are relatively well preserved and have a complete structure. In recent years, a large number of important cultural relics have been unearthed, especially multilingual documents. After preliminary identification, they include Chinese, Syriac, Sogdian, Uighur, etc. There are also some double-sided documents, with Buddhist scriptures or Taoist scriptures in Chinese on one side, and Nestorian documents in Uighur or Nestorian documents in Syriac on the other.

　　In recent years, 186 mural fragments have been unearthed from the site. "The pigments and painting styles of the murals are very similar to those found in many places in Xinjiang, which are traces of mutual learning between different religions," Liu Wensuo said.

　　"The presence of multiple languages ​​and religions here at the same time is a reflection of the inclusiveness of Chinese civilization." said Guo Wu, a researcher at the Institute of Archeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (Institute of Archeology, Chinese Academy of History).

Architectural ruins in the southern part of Liao Shangjing Imperial City in Balinzuo Banner, Inner Mongolia: Evidence of the sinicization of Liao Shangjing architecture

　　The Liao Shangjing ruins are located in the southeast of Lindong Town, Balinzuo Banner, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

　　In recent years, archaeologists have conducted archaeological exploration and excavation of large-scale architectural sites in the southern part of the Imperial City of Shangjing in Liao Dynasty. They mainly excavated two large courtyards and four single buildings including the main hall and side hall, as well as ancillary buildings such as cloisters and courtyard walls. Wang Ying, associate researcher at the Institute of Archeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (Institute of Archeology of the Chinese Academy of History), said that the large palace buildings of the Liao Dynasty found in previous excavations were all oriented west to east. The courtyard excavated this time is the first to be found in the imperial city of Shangjing in the Liao Dynasty. A large building facing south and facing north was discovered in the Liao Dynasty. "After the Khitans came into contact with the Han people in the Central Plains, they received a lot of influence from the Han culture. The newly discovered large south-facing buildings should be important evidence that the Khitan people accepted the Han culture." said Qin Dashu, a professor at the School of Archeology and Museology at Peking University.

　　"Based on documentary records, the large-scale architectural ruins excavated in the southern part of the imperial city are large in scale, high-level, and prominent in location, and may be related to important early Liao Dynasty buildings such as the royal temple, Confucius Temple, Imperial College, and government offices recorded in the "History of Liao". "Wang Ying introduced. (Guangming Daily)