Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology released to the public that a Zhou Dynasty site - Xiyuan Village Site was found in Xipu Street, Pidu District, Chengdu, which is one of the few sites in the Chengdu Plain that has been continuously developed from the middle and late Western Zhou To the Spring and Autumn Period, which can be divided into two development stages: the Western Zhou Settlement and the Spring and Autumn Cemetery, and its Spring and Autumn Period Cemetery is the largest cemetery found in the Chengdu Plain in the same period.
The discovery of this site is of great significance for the Zhou Dynasty culture in the Chengdu Plain to refine the time dimension, restore the historical and cultural features, reproduce the form of social organization, and reveal the funerary customs, and is a rare material for the study of ancient Shu culture.
Discover the large public cemetery of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty
There are more than 80 existing Spring and Autumn tombs
Xiong Chenqiao, the person in charge of the excavation site of Xiyuan Village of Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, introduced that in October 2020, in order to cooperate with the construction project of Xifang Road Primary School, the Chengdu Cultural Relics and Archaeology Task Force (Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology) and the Pidu District Cultural Relics Conservation Institute conducted cultural relics exploration on the project plot, and found a pre-Qin settlement site within the red line of the project.
Bronze Dun
With the approval of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage and the Sichuan Provincial Bureau of Cultural Heritage, since March 2021, the Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology has conducted a detailed survey and rescue excavation of the site, confirming that the site area in the project plot is about 3,000 square meters, which has been confirmed to be a site from the late Western Zhou Dynasty to the Spring and Autumn Period. The excavation was carried out in strict accordance with the field archaeology operating procedures formulated by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, and the excavation work actively carried out a number of scientific and technological archaeological work such as plant archaeology, animal archaeology, environmental archaeology, etc., and obtained a large number of animal and plant remains, in addition, the use of RTK mapping, multi-rotor UAV aerial photography and other technologies to comprehensively collect archaeological information.
It is reported that the excavation found a wealth of relics and unearthed a large number of relics. A total of more than 80 tombs, more than 10 housing sites, more than 60 ash pits, 3 ash ditches, 1 kiln, 1 stove, etc. from the Western Zhou and Spring and Autumn periods were cleaned up, and a large number of bronzes, jade tools, pottery and other relics were unearthed, and the bronzes mainly included swords, hammers, hooks, seals, duns, etc., of which willow leaf-shaped swords and seals were typical Shu cultural artifacts.
Xiong Yuqiao believes that from the perspective of ruins and relics, the site can be divided into two major stages. The first stage is the middle and late Western Zhou Dynasty, the remains of this stage are a large number of living sites such as ash pits, kiln sites, stoves and a small number of tombs, and the relics are mainly pots, urns, pots and other living pottery, indicating that the site is used as a residential site at this stage. The second stage is the Spring and Autumn Period, the remains of this stage are a large number of tombs and a small number of ash pits, ash ditches, etc., and the relics are mainly bronze swords, grinding stones and clay pots used for burial, indicating that this stage is mainly used as a cemetery.
Excavation of 15 western Zhou architectural sites
The pillar hole is buried in the borehole
A large number of architectural remains from the Western Zhou Dynasty have been found at the site of Xiyuan Village, which are mainly divided into two types: base trough buildings and pillar-hole buildings. As many as 15 closed buildings were found in the excavation area, and some of the column holes were found to be buried with drilled armor and complete clay pots in the base grooves. The large-scale complex and the special act of foundation laying indicate that the settlement should not be low in grade, and should be a central settlement site. Based on the remaining ruins and broken walls, we can imagine the grand situation of the settlement at that time.
Willow leaf sword
By the Spring and Autumn period, the site was mainly used as a public cemetery. A large number of willow leaf-shaped swords have been unearthed from the tomb, reflecting the social organization form of the ancient Shu Yi Nong and Yi Bing. The willow leaf-shaped sword weapon is small in shape and simple in shape, and is the most characteristic weapon of Shudi. Dun is generally considered to be a typical artifact of Chu culture, and this time it was also found in the Eastern Zhou tombs in the Chengdu Plain, reflecting the cultural exchange between the Shu and Chu states.
A large number of pottery from the Spring and Autumn period has been unearthed this time. Pottery is the most common relic in archaeological excavations, with the characteristics of large quantity, rapid evolution, and large differences between cultures, which is of great significance for archaeology to periodize and compare cultures. In the past, among the pre-Qin sites in the Chengdu Plain, the sites of the Spring and Autumn Period were relatively few, and the excavated pottery was not very rich. The excavation unearthed a large number of restorable pottery, including pots, cups, beans, lids, etc., with distinct regional characteristics and characteristics of the times, filling the gap in the archaeological culture of the Spring and Autumn Period of the Chengdu Plain.
Another major feature of these Eastern Zhou tombs is the widespread phenomenon of burial of deer bones. The tombs in Xiyuan Village, regardless of size, have burial customs with deer bones, and the burial sites are mainly limb bones, and a small number of mandibles and vertebrae. The number of deer bones buried in each tomb varies, with more than ten pieces and only one widow. Deer in the ancient Shu society obviously have the meaning of wealth symbols and sacrifices, in the Chengdu Plain, the phenomenon of deer used for sacrifice has long been rooted, in the Jinsha site sacrifice area has found a large number of antlers. Burial animals are closely related to economic life, and the discovery of a large number of deer bones reflects the development of the hunting industry at that time, showing that hunting occupies an important position in the production and life of the ancient Shu people.
Very important!
It can be used as a yardstick for Spring and Autumn tombs in the Chengdu Plain
"The main body of the site is dated to the Zhou Dynasty, which lasted for a long time, and is one of the few pre-Qin sites in the Chengdu Plain that spans the Western Zhou and Eastern Zhou Dynasties." Xiong Yuqiao said, "Judging from the results of the current rescue excavations, the site is a very important pre-Qin period site in the Pixian area and even in the Chengdu Plain. ”
"Thousands of Eastern Zhou tombs have been excavated in the Chengdu Plain before, but most of them are Warring States tombs, and there are only a few that can be clearly concluded as Spring and Autumn tombs." The site found more than 80 Tombs of the Spring and Autumn Period, with clear layer relationships and rich excavated relics, which can be used as a yardstick for spring and autumn tombs in the Chengdu Plain, which is of great significance for the study of the archaeological culture of the Spring and Autumn Period. At the same time, the cemetery is arranged in an orderly manner and oriented towards unification, which is obviously carefully planned, indicating that the area is an important public cemetery, which is of great significance for in-depth study of the funeral customs and etiquette systems of the ancient Shu ancestors in the Chengdu Plain. Xiong YuQiao said.
Bronze Gordon
Bronze pounds
Xiong Yuqiao believes that the settlement was a residential site in the Western Zhou Dynasty and a cemetery in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, and this diachronic change is an excellent material for discussing the change of the settlement and the driving force behind it, and provides an important model for analyzing and studying the social structure and cultural changes of the ancient Shu settlement.
Due to the lack of documentary records, archaeological work is of extraordinary significance for the construction of the history of Chengdu and even Sichuan. Since the 1980s, along with the development process of Chengdu's modern city, accidental and inevitable archaeological discoveries have clearly presented the process of ancient Shu civilization from its origin to prosperity. The Baodun culture represented by the prehistoric city site group of the Chengdu Plain, the Sanxingdui culture represented by the Sanxingdui site, the Twelve Bridges culture represented by the Twelve Bridges Site and the Jinsha Ruins, and the archaeological discoveries of the late Shu culture represented by the commercial street ship coffin, the Xindu Majia Wooden Tomb, and the Shuangyuan Village Cemetery outline the development of the ancient Shu civilization for 2,000 years.
Judging from the current archaeological materials, the development of the ancient Shu people has experienced four stages of Baodun culture, Sanxingdui culture, Twelve Bridges culture, and late Shu culture, and after Qin and Bashu, Shudi has gradually integrated into Han culture.
Xiong Chenqiao introduced that the site is just at the key node of the transition of the early Shu culture represented by the Baodun site, the Sanxingdui site and the Jinsha site to the late Shu culture represented by the commercial street ship coffin, the New Capital Majia Muzhu Tomb, the Shuangyuan Village Cemetery, etc. The discovery of the Western Zhou and Spring and Autumn Permian layers is of great significance, providing important materials for the construction and improvement of the temporal and spatial framework of the pre-Qin archaeological culture in the Chengdu Plain, which is conducive to in-depth discussion of the evolution relationship between the Twelve Bridges culture and the Xinyi Village culture. "Since the current collation work is still in progress, the current understanding is only preliminary, with the follow-up excavation and collation, we believe that there will be continuous new discoveries and in-depth understanding, we will timely follow-up research and understanding for further briefing."
Reporter丨Dai Luling (Photo courtesy of Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology)
Source: Sichuan News Network