Quzhou, Zhejiang Province, found suspected western Zhou Gu contempt for the capital of the state

The Western Zhou Mound Tombs group located in Quzhou, Zhejiang. Photo by Zhang Sen

Hangzhou, December 21 (Tong Xiaoyu) On December 21, the reporter learned from the Zhejiang Provincial Bureau of Cultural Relics that about 6 kilometers away from the Quzhou Western Zhou Mound Tomb Group in Quzhou, Zhejiang Province, a new city site of the same period was newly discovered, which consisted of a ring trench, a rammed earth city wall, and a terrace, with a total area of about 70,000 square meters. Archaeologists have judged that the site of the city here is most likely the capital of the Gu Contempt State.

Previously, the Central Radio and Television Station released the top ten domestic archaeological news in 2021, and the tomb of the suspected Western Zhou Gu contempt king was found in Quzhou, Zhejiang Province.

During the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, a group called "Gu Contempt" was active in the central and western parts of present-day Zhejiang, but the ancient history records them were not systematic and complete. After 4 years, archaeologists in Zhejiang Province discovered a high-grade tomb group from the Western Zhou Dynasty in Qujiang District, Quzhou City, Western Zhejiang Province, which is the most high-level tomb in Zhejiang in the same period. Experts believe that it is most likely the royal tomb of the Gu Contempt State.

Yang Jianwu, a member of the party group of the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism and director of the Zhejiang Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau, said that the discovery of the qujiang Yunxi high-grade mound tomb group is an important harvest of archaeology in Zhejiang and even the Western Zhou Dynasty in China in recent years.

It is worth mentioning that recently, the archaeology of this Western Zhou mound tomb group has made significant gains. Through combing through the previous data and systematic archaeological survey and exploration, archaeologists found 13 Shang and Zhou Period sites around the mound tomb group, and at about 6 kilometers away from the mound tomb group, a new city site of the same period was discovered. Yang Jianwu said that the site of the city here is most likely the capital of the Gu Contempt State.

He mentioned that in recent years, Zhejiang's archaeological achievements have proved that Zhejiang is the main origin of rice cultivation, silk, tea, lacquer and porcelain in the world, and is the empirical place of millions of years of human history, 10,000 years of cultural history and more than 5,000 years of Chinese civilization history.

Next, Zhejiang will implement the Zhejiang archaeology "Daystar" plan, starting from Zhejiang's prehistoric civilization, world heritage and silk porcelain tea culture, Song Yun culture, Jiangnan culture and other Zhejiang characteristic cultures, and strive to create a number of Zhejiang cultural relics with high visibility and clear recognition, and strive to create a world-class archaeological institution. (End)