On the afternoon of December 20, CCTV released the top ten domestic archaeological news and the top ten international archaeological news in 2021. Among them, "Shanxi Yuanqu North White Goose Two Weeks Cemetery Achieved Important Archaeological Achievements" was honorably selected as "Top Ten Archaeological News in 2021".
The "Shanxi Yuanqu North White Goose Two-Week Cemetery Achieved Important Archaeological Achievements" was jointly excavated by the Shanxi Provincial Archaeological Research Institute, the Yuncheng Cultural Relics Protection Center, and the Yuanqu County Culture and Tourism Bureau. North White Goose Two Weeks Cemetery is located in the east of North White Goose Village, Yingyan Town, Yuanqu County, from April 2020 to the present, the archaeological team through investigation and exploration, determined the site distribution area of 200,000 square meters, a total of 217 tombs, 241 ash pits, 5 Che ma pits, 2 pottery kilns, thus clarifying that the main remains of the cemetery are tombs, ash pits and che ma pits in the two-week period. After 1 and a half years of archaeological excavations, a total of 39 tombs, 42 ash pits, 2 chema pits, 1 horse pit, 2 pottery kilns, 35 tombs, 42 ash pits and 2 pottery kilns have been actually cleaned up.
According to reports, a large number of bronze ceremonial vessels and jade objects were buried in these tombs, and about 550 sets of various cultural relics were unearthed. Among them, more than 140 bronze ceremonial vessels were excavated, and 59 sets of inscriptions were found, a total of 17 articles. The content involves official titles, personal names, clan inscriptions, and inscriptions of "Taibao", "Taishi", "Seizure", "Yan Zhong", "Prince of Yan", "Yu Ji", "Yan Ji", "Zhongshi", "Zhongxin", "Zhen She", etc. In addition, the tomb is also buried with the jade of the Qi family culture, and precious cultural relics such as lacquer drums, human face lacquerware, and rope bamboo leather are cleaned up, and the earliest fruit wine and cosmetic residues of the Spring and Autumn Period are obtained. Combined with the C-14 analysis and the burial of the tomb, the era of the tombs that have been cleaned up is concentrated in the early Spring and Autumn Period.
According to the excavated artifact inscriptions, the owner of the tomb should be one of the three major clans of the Zhao Gong family, the Taibao Hui Zhongshi, which is likely to be the family cemetery of his descendants and the Caiyi of Wang Qi, shouldering the strategic task of guarding the northern frontier of Luoyi and controlling the salt and copper mineral resources. It can be seen that the North White Goose Cemetery is a large-scale site with a long history, rich connotation and relatively complete preservation, which provides new information and reference for the study of the burial system, ethnic affiliation, social life, caiyi system, patriarchal system and cultural exchanges in different periods in the southern Jin region, and is of great significance for exploring the Yellow River civilization, exploring the role and status of the civilization process in the southern Jinnan region in the entire Central Plains, and empirically verifying the history of Chinese civilization.
Source: Shanxi Daily
Photo and text production: Shanxi Radio and Television Rong Media