The Erlitou site first revealed a pottery lacquer workshop

Excavations on the west side of the north edge of the Erlitou site have unearthed a relatively complete Erlitou culture phase II pottery kiln, and the bottom fire pit is partially horseshoe-shaped. Courtesy of the Erlitou Task Force

On December 16, the reporter learned from the Erlitou Task Force of the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences that the archaeology of the Erlitou site has made important discoveries: relics and relics related to pottery and lacquerware production have been found, and clues to pottery and lacquer workshops have been initially revealed. This is of great significance for in-depth study of the settlement structure and functional partitioning inside the Erlitou Duyi site, and judging from the existing archaeological findings, "Miyagi" is located in the center of the site, and some important handicraft production departments are distributed around the core area of the site.

"Since the widening and reinforcement project of the South Embankment of the Luohe River occupied a part of the western side of the northern edge of the Erlitou site, in order to grasp the distribution of the Erlitou cultural relics within the occupied area, we began to excavate the occupied area at the beginning of this year." Zhao Haitao, the leader of the Erlitou task force, introduced that the excavation area is 1500 square meters, and there are few relics of daily life in the excavation area, and there are more handicraft production remains.

Archaeologists excavated a relatively complete Erlitou culture phase II pottery kiln in the area, and only the bottom part of the fire pit remained. The fire pit is horseshoe-shaped, with a completely sintered bluish-gray wall and a maximum thickness of 5 cm at the sintering site. More discarded accumulations such as red-burned soil and ash-burned soil blocks were found near the residual pottery kiln, and a number of fragments of unintered mud deep-belly tanks were found. This is related to the red-burned clay, burnt deformed pottery, utensil mud and other remains found on the west side of the sacrificial area of the site this year, which are the first discoveries at the Erlitou site, covering multiple stages of pottery making and reproducing the "process flow" of the pottery industry.

Zhao Haitao introduced that pottery was the handicraft product with the largest production and use at that time, and the pottery industry was an important handicraft category in Duyi. The discovery of rich pottery-making remains provides important information for exploring the distribution of pottery workshops in erlitou capital city, as well as the operation process and process of the pottery handicraft industry.

In the Erlitou culture, finished lacquerware was mainly excavated in high-specification tombs, which belonged to ceremonial and sacrificial vessels used by the nobility. To the surprise of archaeologists, nearly 200 pieces of pottery with red paint have also been excavated in the middle of the west side of the northern edge of the site, which is more than ten times the number of lacquered pottery pieces excavated in previous years, which is rare. This indicates that lacquer workshops are likely to exist in and around the area.

In addition, about 2 meters wide, the Erlitou Culture Phase II rammed earth building was found in the area, and turquoise beads and mussel beads were found in the pile, and a number of turquoise materials and turquoise pieces were unearthed. The emergence of high-grade relics such as rammed earth buildings and turquoise indicates that although the area is located on the "edge" of the site, it is still an important part of the ruins of Duyi.

"Pottery is the most common living utensil in the Erlitou era, and the pottery of the Erlitou site is undoubtedly the standard instrument of the time, leading the social trend and reflecting a wide range of cultural identity." Lacquer and jade (turquoise) were used only by high-ranking craftsmen and were only used by high-ranking nobles. Zhao Haitao said that the discovery of a variety of high-specification handicraft workshop remains and relics are of great value for exploring the settlement structure of the site, the layout of the overall functional area, the technical characteristics of pottery and lacquer making, and the diversified identity information of the Duyi people. In recent years, the Erlitou site has been discovered one after another, enriching the cultural connotation of its capital and providing important support for the site to apply for the World Heritage Site.

Source: Great River Network