In order to exchange and display, comprehensively summarize the new archaeological achievements in Hebei in 2021, and look forward to the new direction of the development of Hebei archaeology in 2022, the two-day 2021 business report meeting of the Hebei Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology was successfully held at the Hebei Museum on December 23-24, 2021. In order to meet the needs of epidemic prevention and control, this meeting adopted a combination of online and offline forms. Experts and scholars from the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the Shanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology, the Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, the Shandong Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Peking University, Shanxi University, Hebei Normal University and other scientific research institutes attended the briefing. Zhang Lifang, director of the Hebei Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau and first-level inspector, Han Lisen, deputy director of the Hebei Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau and second-level inspector, Jia Jinbiao, director of the Project Management Department of the Hebei Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau, and Xie Rongquan, deputy secretary of the party committee of the Hebei Museum, attended the meeting.
The opening ceremony was presided over by Zhang Wenrui, president of the Hebei Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, who expressed his warm welcome and heartfelt thanks to the experts, scholars, leaders and archaeological colleagues attending the meeting. He pointed out that the Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology seized the opportunity, took the initiative to benchmark the major national strategies, based on practical work, and successfully completed the annual archaeological excavation task with the support of the city and county cultural relics and archaeology departments, and achieved fruitful results. I hope to take this briefing meeting to listen to the guidance of experts and point out the direction for the archaeological work of Hebei Province in 2022. At the same time, the Hebei Provincial Cultural Relics and Archaeology Association will announce "Hebei's 100 Important Archaeological Discoveries in a Hundred Years" on December 24, and select "Six New Archaeological Discoveries in Hebei in 2021".
Zhang Lifang, director of the Hebei Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau and first-level inspector, delivered a speech, affirming that all the cadres and staff of the Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology seriously studied, understood and implemented the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping's speech, based on the new era, undertook a new mission, and did a good job in epidemic prevention and control, while making important achievements in cultural relics and archaeology: six archaeological discoveries were selected as China's top 100 archaeological discoveries in a hundred years, more than ten field work carried out in 2021 achieved fruitful results, and the level of archaeological research was further improved. It is hoped that the Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology will fully understand the great social and political significance of archaeological work, seize the great opportunity of expanding the establishment, create a "first-class archaeological institution in China", and build a first-class talent team. Encourage Hebei archaeology to show the origin and brilliant achievements of Chinese civilization as its own responsibility, and contribute to the construction of archaeology with Chinese characteristics, Chinese style and Chinese style.
Zhang Lifang, director of the Hebei Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau and first-level inspector, delivered a speech
Dean Zhang Wenrui presided over the opening ceremony
According to the agenda of the meeting, the debriefing meeting lasted for two days, with a total of 18 debriefing items, and the summary was as follows:
1. Excavation of Hougou Site Group (Hougou No. 6 site) in Yangyuan Nihewan Basin in 2021
Reporter: Wang Fagang (Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology)
The Hougou Ruins Group is located on both sides of the Hougou 300 meters north of Donggutuo Village, Datianwa Township, Yangyuan County, in the eastern part of the Datianwa Terrace at the eastern edge of the Nihewan Basin. In 2021, the Hougou No. 6 site was excavated, the excavation depth exceeded 15 meters, 6 cultural layers were found and confirmed, and a total of 684 cultural relics such as stone products and animal fossils were found. Stone products are made of local materials, mainly based on hammering method stripping, there are very few smashing technology products, stone product types include stone cores, stone chips, scrapers, stone drills, carvings and a large number of waste pieces, broken blocks, etc., the stone tool industry as a whole belongs to the typical small stone tool industry technology tradition, is the continuation and development of stone tool technology since the early Pleistocene in the Nihe Bay Basin. The No. 8 site of Hougou was excavated, about 20 square meters were excavated, and 278 stone products and 565 animal fossils were found. Excavations at the Hougou site have revealed the complete stratigraphic profile of the Middle Pleistocene in the eastern margin of the Nihewan Basin, which basically constructed the framework of the Pleistocene paleoanthropological cultural sequence in the region; obtained rich stone products and animal fossils at different stages, which provided basic information for the study of the cultural outlook, stone tool industry and technology of paleo humans in the Pleistocene period; and the disclosure of the complete stratigraphic sequence of the Middle Pleistocene is of great value for understanding the relationship between the evolution of the environment and human activities in North China since the end of the Early Pleistocene.
2. Chongli Deng Gougou Liang Site 2021 archaeological excavation harvest
Reporter: Wang Gang (Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology)
The ruins of Deng Gou Liang are located in the north of Dashuigou Village, Gaojiaying Town, Chongli District, Zhangjiakou City. The site is located on the qingshui river secondary terraces, about 2 kilometers southwest of Zhangjiakou city. The site has been in use for a long time and has a rich cultural outlook, dating from 8,000 to 4,000 years ago. In 2021, excavations will be carried out mainly on the southeast urn city area of Shicheng in the late Longshan period, with an excavation area of 500 square meters. Dissecting 1 section of the city wall, exposing 1 urn city, cleaning up 10 various relics, and excavating 76 pottery, stone, bone and jade cultural relics, the cultural nature of the remains is similar to the cultural factors of Tiger Mountain in the Longshan period in the Hetao area. The excavation clarified the construction method of the city wall, clarified the structure and entry and exit passage of the urn city, determined the relative relationship and age between the city wall and the urn city, and understood the accumulation in the city. The discovery of the Deng Gou Liang site provides new materials for studying the distribution of prehistoric city sites and the spread of city-building techniques in the northern region, which is conducive to deepening the study of the late longshan remains in northwest Hebei.
3. Excavation harvest of Shangyi Sitai site in 2021
Reporter: Zhao Zhanhu (Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology)
The site of Sitai is located in the south of Sitai Mengying Village, Shijing Township, Shangyi County, Zhangjiakou City, with an area of about 150,000 square meters. In 2021, excavations were carried out on the north side of the ditch in area A of the site, with an excavation area of 500 square meters, mainly Neolithic remains, and ruins such as housing sites and shallow pits were found, and more than 100 relics such as pottery, stone, bone, and shells were excavated. The sites are mainly found, all of which are semi-crypt type, and the plane is mostly rounded rectangle or rectangular. The pottery is all sand-filled pottery, the pottery is loose, the pottery color is black brown, gray-brown, and the ornamentation is mostly stamped line pattern, circle pattern, and serrated pattern. Stone tools have two types of grinding and beating, of which grinding stone tools are mainly small grinding discs, grinding rods, etc.; beating stone tools are mainly fine stone tools, with pencil head-like stone cores, stone chips, fine stone leaves, scrapers and so on. Bone products mainly include bone needles, bone cones, bone tubes and so on. There are also some shells, egg skins, bark, antlers, shoulder blades, etc. This excavation has uncovered the clues of the remnants of the transition period between the old and the new, and discovered the new archaeological culture types represented by the remains of the first and second phases of the Neolithic period, which has added important content to the study of the archaeological culture of the middle Neolithic period and filled the gap of the Neolithic fauna. At the same time, the Sitai site also provides important information for the study of neolithic cultural features, settlements and society, the origin of dryland agriculture in the north, and the transition between the old and the new period in the bashang grassland area of northwest Hebei.
4. Archaeological excavations at the Site of Kangbao Xinglong in 2021
Reporter: Zhuang Lina (National Museum of China)
The Xinglong site is located on the hillside slope on the west side of the Saiyuan Ditch in Xinglong Village, Zhaoyanghe Town, Kangbao County, about 30 kilometers south of Kangbao County, with a site area of about 10,000 square meters and an excavation area of 500 square meters in 2021. In this excavation, 12 sites were cleaned up, dating from 8500-6000 years ago. There are four types of site plan shapes: circular, oval, rounded square and irregular shape, which can be divided into two types: shallow semi-crypt sites and deeper crypt sites. A large number of animal bones, stone tools, bone horn tools and a small number of pottery and other relics have been unearthed. Chronological samples, animals and plants, soil and other samples were systematically collected to carry out more in-depth research on the economic and environmental archaeology of the living industry. This excavation has a clearer understanding of the structure of different sites, understands the process of construction, utilization, abandonment and partial reuse of the site, and lays a foundation for analyzing the architectural characteristics and settlement layout of different periods.
5. Archaeological excavations at the Wangjiagang site in Xiangxian County in 2021
Reporter: Yang Bingjun (Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology)
The Wangjiagang ruins are located about 0.4 kilometers south-southeast of Zhaishang Village in Xiangcheng Town, Xiangxian County, on the high terrace on the north bank of the Qingzhang River, and the ruins are about 250 meters long from north to south, about 200 meters wide from east to west, and have an area of about 50,000 square meters. In 2021, the excavation area is 500 square meters, 4 tombs, 2 kiln sites, 54 ash pits are cleaned, and pottery, stone, bone, shell, copper and other relics have been excavated, of which more than 50 pieces (sets) of restorable artifacts have been excavated. The site spans a large range of years, involving the Hougang Phase I culture, the Great Sikong Type, the Xia, Western Zhou, Spring and Autumn, warring states, Jin Yuan and other periods. The Wangjiagang site is located in the Upper Reaches of the Zhanghe River in the Qingzhang River Valley, although it is located in the hinterland of the Taihang Mountains, it is located in the important passage of communication between Central Jin and Southern Hebei, and the archaeological work of the site and the surrounding remains is of great value for the study of cultural exchanges, influences and integration between Hebei and Jin.
6. Archaeological exploration and excavation of The Zhao Kiln Site in Wu'an
Reporter: Wei Shuguang (Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology)
Located in the southeast of Zhao Yao Village in Wu'an City (County) of Handan City, on the southwest high terrace at the intersection of the Beiliu River and the Mahui River, the Wu'an Zhao Kiln Site is an archaeological China-"Research on the Civilization Process of the Central Plains" project. In 2021, a comprehensive exploration of the Zhao kiln site was carried out, with a total exploration area of 200,000 square meters, a confirmed site distribution area of 160,000 square meters, a site enrichment area of 44,000 square meters, and a total of 77 tombs, 62 pottery kilns, 64 ash pits and 5 ash ditches were found. At present, the excavation area is 600 square meters, the excavation depth is 1.3 meters, and the Shang Dynasty cultural layer has been found, and the remains of house sites, tombs, ash pits, kilns and other remains have been found. Through the investigation, exploration and excavation of the surrounding area of the site, it can be seen that the main body of the Zhao kiln site is the Remnants of the Hougang Phase I culture of the early Yangshao Culture and the Shang Culture of the Middle and Late Shang Periods, and contains a certain number of relics of the Former Shang, early Shang, Western Zhou and Han Dynasties. The Zhao kiln site has rich cultural connotation and long duration, which is of great significance for studying the settlement layout of the early Hougang Phase I culture in Yangshao and the evolution of the cultural sequence in southern Hebei during the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties.
7. Archaeological excavations at the Laishui Zhangjiawa site
Reporter: Chang Huaiying (Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)
The Zhangjiawa ruins are located around Zhangjiawa Village in Mingyi Town, Laishui County. In 2021, through systematic investigation, the distribution range of Zhangjiawa sites was confirmed, and it was clear that Zhangjiawa sites contained cultural accumulations from four periods: late Longshan, early Western Zhou, mid-to-late Western Zhou and Warring States period. At present, a total of 10 tombs, 17 ash pits, 1 kiln site, 1 well have been found, and more than 100 cultural relics have been obtained. Through excavation, the distribution of the main remains of the terrace in the excavation area is basically clarified, the northeast of the terrace is mainly the tomb area of the Western Zhou Period with two different cultural factors, the northwest-southeast direction and the larger scale are the early tombs of the Western Zhou Dynasty, and the near-west direction and smaller scale are closely related to the remains of the Rong people in the two-week period; the central and western parts of the terrace are the residential areas.
8. In 2021, the archaeological harvest of the Eastern Zhou ruins in the ancient county of Xingtang was newly harvested
Reporter: Zhang Chunchang (Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology)
The ruins of Gujun are located in Gujun Village, Xingtang County, and the main age of the remains is the Eastern Zhou Period, which lasted from the late Spring and Autumn Period to the middle of the Warring States Period, and the cultural connotation is the Xianyu-Zhongshanguo culture, which is a concrete reflection of the historical process of the Huaxiaization of the Rongdi ethnic group in the north. In 2021, it will mainly focus on the relevant relics around the No. 2 Chema Pit and the internal area of the ancient county city site, with an excavation area of 1200 square meters, cleaning up 1 Neolithic Post-Gang Phase I cultural ash pit, 1 ash pit and 1 ash ditch in the late Spring and Autumn Period, 1 early Warring States Chema-Martyrdom Pit (subordinate to M2), 1 miscellaneous martyrdom pit (affiliated to M58), and 1 pottery kiln, 75 ash pits and 2 ash ditches in the middle of the Warring States period. More than 100 complete or restorable cultural relics such as bronze, iron, bone horn, and sea shells were unearthed. This excavation confirms the era, morphological structure and cultural connotation of the ring trench on the south side, preliminarily understands the distribution and era of the remains in the city site, and provides important basis and new materials for clarifying the era, historical evolution, cultural connotation and interrelationship of the surrounding remains of the city site.
9. Rescue archaeological excavation of the Lijiazhuang-Gujiayan tomb group in 2021
Reporter: Ren Tao (Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology)
Lijiazhuang - Gujiaxuan Tomb Group is located between Lijiazhuang and Gujiazhuang Village, Yangzhuang Township, Wei County, Zhangjiakou City, located on the secondary terrace on the north bank of the Huliu River, about 10 kilometers southwest of the county seat of Wei County, and about 3 kilometers southeast of the site of Daiwangcheng, which is a newly discovered tomb in the northern area of the Daiwangcheng Tomb Group. Nearly 150 tombs were found, and in 2021, 10 tombs located in the middle of the entire tomb group were cleaned up, mostly in the middle and late Warring States period. More than 280 pieces of bronze, pottery, jade and other relics have been excavated, including copper pendants, copper swords, hooks, etc.; pottery common burial utensils are combined as ding, beans, pots, plates, and turns; jade materials include river mill jade, agate, turquoise, crystal, etc., and the utensils include jade rings, jade face decorations, barrel-shaped jade pipes, agate rings, agate beads, turquoise beads, etc. The tombs excavated this time are closely related to the Daiwangcheng and belong to the daiwangcheng system, which provides new archaeological data for the study of daisy culture and provides a scientific basis for the protection and utilization of cultural heritage.
10. Rescue excavation in 2021 in the north cemetery of Houbaijia Village, Handan
Reporter: Zhang Peng (Hebei Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology)
Houbaijiacun North Cemetery is located in the north of Houbaijia Village, Pengjiazhai Township, Fuxing District, Handan City, and is part of the Baijia Village Tomb Group. In 2021, 465 tombs (including 2 Chema Pits) will be cleaned up, dating from the Warring States, the Two Han Dynasties to Cao Wei, the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Among them, there are 219 Warring States tombs, mainly small and medium-sized earth pit vertical cave tombs, and the tomb system is a typical Three Jin style, which fully reflects the evolution of the tomb shape system of Handan in the Zhao capital. There are 178 tombs in the Two Han Dynasties, spanning the two Han Dynasties, and the lower limit can be as far as Cao Wei and even the Western Jin Dynasty. There are more than 30 Sui and Tang tombs, filling the deficiencies found in the Tang tombs in the Handan area. There are 3 tombs in the Ming and Qing dynasties, and in addition, relics such as wells and pottery kilns from this period have been found. More than 2,400 pieces of pottery, stone, copper, iron and other cultural relics have been unearthed. This excavation is the largest archaeological work in the Zhao capital Handan in recent years, and the cemetery basically reflects the rise and fall of Handan City from the Warring States to the Sui and Tang Dynasties, laying a foundation for the study of the history and culture, social development, and funerary customs of the Warring States and the Qin and Han Dynasties in the region.
11. 2021 Yecheng Archaeological Team FieldWork Report
Reporter: He Liqun (Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)
Located in the southwest of Linzhang County, Handan City, the site of Yicheng City will mainly carry out two archaeological work in 2021, one is the excavation of the Gongcheng District of YinanCheng, which dissected the western annex building of the West Hall of No. 206 in the north of the central axis of the Gongcheng District of Yinan City, confirmed the structure of the West Corridor, and explored the scope and shape of the No. 209 Hall. The second is the excavation of the Walnut Garden Northern Qi Dazhuangzhuang Temple, with an excavation area of more than 500 square meters, mainly around the base site of the No. 9 building of the Walnut Garden Northern Qi Dazhuangzhuang Temple, confirming the remains of the early tile wall and the late large-scale building. The archaeological work in 2021 provides important information for in-depth understanding of the distribution of buildings on the northern central axis of the miyagi district of Yenan City, the enclosure of the palace courtyard, and the western building structure and peripheral boundaries of the Great Solemn Temple.
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Article source: Archaeology of Hebei