From the "earliest China" to the site of the cave temple, in the past 2021, what are the highlights of Shanxi archaeology as a major cultural relics province? What will be the focus of archaeological work next year?
The surging news learned that the second Shanxi Archaeological New Discoveries Forum selected 6 important archaeological discoveries in Shanxi in 2021, such as "Taiyuan Jiancaoping Town Neolithic Ruins" and "Linfen Xiangfen Pottery Temple Neolithic Ruins". In 2022, Shanxi archaeology will continue to advance around major topics such as the origin of Chinese civilization, the archaeology of cave temples, the study of archaeological Chinese Xia culture, the study of settlements and societies in archaeological China and Hetao areas, and the research on the process of archaeological China and Chinese civilization.
Archaeologists often wander between cold and warm, trying to collect the baht left by the ancients, tirelessly thinking about the traces of the sun, moon and stars shining, hoping to find the traces of ancestors from the loess soil...
The archaeological excavation projects gathered by the forum show the characteristics of large annual span, wide distribution range and many types of remains. The era covers the Paleolithic period to the Ming and Qing dynasties, the area is north to Datong and south to Yuncheng, and there are active archaeological projects and infrastructure archaeological projects of all types. The participating archaeologists made incisive comments on the archaeology of Shanxi in 2021.
The tomb of the Ming Dynasty king in Xiaodian District of Taiyuan was excavated with a gemstone gold ring
According to Wang Xiaoyi, chairman of the Shanxi Archaeological Society and president of the Shanxi Archaeological Research Institute, in 2021, under the framework of the major research project of "Archaeology China" of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the Shanxi Archaeological Research Institute carried out projects such as the study of the civilization process in the Central Plains, the study of Xia culture and the settlement and society of the Hetao area, and implemented the excavation and research work of Qinshui Baliping, Xinzhou Yincun, Xingxian Bicun and other sites, and achieved gratifying results.
As far as the specific project is concerned, "the site of Xiangfending Village has unearthed human tooth fossils dating back 120,000 years, which is the earliest ancient late Homo sapiens in Shanxi, which is of great significance." The ruins of Taiyuan Zhencheng have found 5,500-year-old pentagonal house sites and a large number of faience pottery, enriching the cultural connotation of the middle Yangshao remains in the Jinzhong Basin. The Site of Xiacheng in Zezhou fills the cultural gap of the late Yangshao period and the late Longshan period in the Southern Taihang region, and provides key materials for the study of regional cultural genealogy. The site of the Xiangfen Tao Temple Palace provides an empirical basis for the Yao capital Pingyang, and is a major breakthrough in the study of Xia culture. The Yuanqu North White Goose Two-Week Cemetery is one of the newly discovered Zhou Dynasty Caiyi in the southern Jin dynasty, revealing the complex political situation in the southern Jin region before and after the eastward migration of the Ping King and its important position in the political geography at the time of the two weeks. Datong Zhijiabao Northern Wei Lü Continuo Relief Painted Stone Tomb is the only Northern Wei stone carving painted stone tomb found in Pingcheng area, which is an excellent object for ethnic integration and cultural exchange research between China and the West. The excavation of the Thousand Buddha Cliff Statues in Huozhou has revealed a medium-sized statue group of the Tang Dynasty, which is the first archaeology of the Tang Cave Temple in Shanxi in the middle and late Tang Dynasty. The Song and Yuan cemeteries in Xikong Village, Hongdong, have preserved exquisite brick carvings and land purchase vouchers that record the Hongdong earthquake, reflecting the form of the Song and Yuan family cemeteries. The exquisite brick carving murals of the Nihe Golden Tomb in Luxian County further enrich the understanding of the folk beliefs of the jin dynasty and the eastern jin dynasty. The site of the Jinduan King Mausoleum in Taiyuan Dongshan, the scale of which ranks first in the tombs of the kings of the ming dynasty in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, has a clear scope, the overall layout and structure are basically complete, which is a precious empirical evidence for the study of the ming dynasty king system. The family mural tombs of the early Ming Dynasty in Changzhi Luzhou, with their burial chamber structures, brick carvings and murals and rich excavated artifacts, reflect the concept of life and death of people at that time, the ethical view of the orderly growth and childhood, and the cosmology of the sun, moon and stars. The building site of Shousheng Temple in YuciGong Village reveals the whole picture of the temple, preliminarily clarifies the overall layout, and adds new content to the archaeology of Qing Dynasty archaeology and temple architecture..."
At the Shanxi Archaeological New Discoveries Forum, the 12 shortlisted archaeological project leaders reported on the scene one by one and answered the questions of the judges. In the end, six archaeological projects stood out. Taiyuan Jiancaoping Town City Neolithic Ruins, Linfen Xiangfen Pottery Temple Neolithic Ruins, Yuncheng Yuanqu North White Goose Two Weeks Cemetery, Datong City Pingcheng District ZhijiaBao North Wei Lv Continued Relief Painted Stone Tomb, Linfen Huozhou Thousand Buddha Cliff Site, Taiyuan Xiaodian District Ming Dynasty Fan King Tomb selected as the 2021 Shanxi Important Archaeological Discoveries.
Wang Weilin
The participating archaeologists also commented on the shortlisted projects one by one.
Wang Weilin, a professor in the Department of Archaeology at the School of History and Culture of Shanxi University, said that the discovery of neolithic sites in Taiyuan's Jiancaoping Town is of great significance. Around 6000 to 5500 years ago, during the Miaodigou culture period, China achieved great cultural unification, some people call it China in the cultural sense, and the Fenhe River Basin was a very critical area during this period. The Miaodigou period was centered on Mount Hua and expanded in all directions, especially to the north and east, and in this process of expansion, the Taiyuan Basin was a very critical fulcrum. We know that in addition to faience pottery in the Miaodigou period, there were also pointed bottom bottles and pentagonal houses, which were found in the ruins of the town. In general, the discovery of the Zhencheng ruins explains the interaction between the north and the south cultures in the middle and late Yangshao period, and provides a batch of materials for studying the origin, formation and development of Chinese civilization.
H3 unearthed faience pots
Wang Weilin said that the Neolithic site of Xiangfen Tao Temple in Linfen has been excavated for more than 40 years, representing an archaeological project of our "earliest China" and a key site that empirically demonstrates China's 5,000-year civilization. Decades of excavations at the Tao Temple site have solved many problems, and a lot of key work has been done on the distribution of the site, the staging of culture, the structure of the settlement, and some large ceremonial buildings. Since 2018, a lot of archaeological work has been done around the large rammed earth foundation site in Tao Temple Palace Castle and the two palaces and their auxiliary buildings, showing the Tao Temple as an element of the capital city more comprehensively. In particular, the large palace building site discovered in 2021 is more than 500 square meters, which is the largest rammed earth building in the Neolithic era. At the same time, its auxiliary buildings, components, painted pigments and their grinding rods, houses with white gray skin or wall decoration diamond-shaped ornaments, wells, human head sacrifice pits, and the layout of the central axis are the prototypes of our early Chinese palaces. The archaeological discovery of the Tao Temple site once again proves that it is of great significance not only to the origin of Chinese civilization, but also to the origin of China's palace architecture, which empirically proves the path and model of our core civilization with the Central Plains.
Crocodile bone plate
Xie Yaoting
Xie Yaoting, professor of the Department of Archaeology, doctoral supervisor and director of the Northern Archaeological Research Center of Shanxi University, said that the YunchengYuan Qubei White Goose Two-Week Cemetery has attracted attention from all walks of life since its discovery, especially the excavation of the long inscription of "Seizing the Gui", which highlights the uniqueness and importance of the North White Goose Cemetery. From the perspective of geographical location and resource distribution, the Northern White Goose Tomb is located on the passage connecting Jinnan and Luoyang Basin, which has strategic resources such as copper ore and salt, which are very important here; from the perspective of historical development, the Western Zhou Dynasty's Qinei Caiyi, centered on today's Xi'an and Luoyang, west to Baoji and east to Zhangzhou. The white goose in the north of Yuanqu belongs to the Caiyi in the inside of the Ki, and there is no Caiyi outside the Ki. At this stage in the early Spring and Autumn Period, with the decline of the Zhou Dynasty and the replacement of the Western Zhou by the Eastern Zhou, the center of the dynasty shifted, from Chang'an to Luoyang, and with the transfer of the political center, many nobles also moved east, and Yuanqu belonged to the part of the dynasty. At present, there are not many archaeological findings that can be determined, and the Rui Kingdom, the Yu State, and the Zheng State belong to this type of nature. Therefore, the discovery of the White Goose Cemetery in Yuanqu North is very important, and judging from its burial specifications and excavated bronze inscriptions, we currently believe that this place should be the family cemetery of Taibao Yanzhong.
M1 Burial Chamber
M1006 excavated pottery combination
Zhang Qingjie
Zhang Qingjie, a researcher at the Shanxi Provincial Archaeological Research Institute, said that there are many new features in the Painted Stone Tomb of Zhijiabao in The ZhijiaBao of The Northern Wei Lü Continuum in Pingcheng District, Datong City. First, it is the first relief and painting of the Northern Wei stone rafters in Datong, square stone rafters in the Northern Wei period is more, until now Datong has found at least seventy or eighty, is the stone rafters plus painting, only Datong Pingcheng District Zhijiabao Northern Wei stone tomb is relief and painting. Second, it is the earliest one found in the current Pingcheng District. Third, the carved immortal figures and statues of the Heavenly Kings in the rafters all reflect the strong Buddhist color and the cultural exchange between China and the West, which can echo the Yungang research. In addition, the text of this stone rafter also indicates that it came from Shaanxi. A person from Shandong introduced on another brick of the same cemetery shows that Pingcheng District is indeed a multi-ethnic gathering place. Datong Pingcheng District ZhijiaBao Northern Wei Lü Continuum relief painted stone rafter tomb is more important than the Song Shaozu tomb stone rafter, which plays an important role in the development of the stone rafter in the future, and its influence may continue to the middle of the Tang Dynasty.
Relief painting of the east wall of the stone rafters
Zhang Qingjie said that the site of the Thousand Buddha Cliffs in Linfen Huozhou is a very important cave temple site. The number of Moya statues in Shanxi is the second in the country, and there are more than 480 Moya statues in Shanxi in 2021, and there have been very few archaeological scientific excavations of these cliffs and grottoes, and the scale is limited. The archaeological excavation of the Thousand Buddha Cliff site in Linfen Huozhou is large-scale, with more than 70 niches cleared out, more than 20 era numbers, and many important inscriptions, involving many important official positions and people of different identities. In particular, there are 5 eleven-sided Guanyin statues, which is very helpful for investigating the popularity of eleven-sided Guanyin statues.
Good to sit in the statue niche of the Buddha
Zhang Qingjie said that the tomb of the Ming Dynasty king in Xiaodian District of Taiyuan has characteristics and many highlights, and since the discovery of the tomb door, it has amazed the world. Its greatest significance is to once again identify the location and scope of the tomb of the Ming Dynasty king, which is a meticulous scientific excavation, and has a complete scientific understanding of its scale and connotation. Excavated artifacts are also very important, and the inscription and epitaph appear in a tomb at the same time, which is rarely seen in previous tombs. Unearthed jade and wooden figurines, they are well preserved, brightly colored and full of characteristics. Ming Dynasty figurines generally use glass figurines, but the tomb of the king of the clan unearthed is a wooden figurine, wood carving and painting is very exquisite, the color matching is far more than the past. It can be said that this is the most precious tomb of the Ming Dynasty king found in Taiyuan and even Shanxi. This also requires us to do a good job in the later stage of protection, which is a valuable asset that we can leave to future generations.
Cemetery restoration
M2, M3 tomb doors
The relevant leaders of the Shanxi Provincial Bureau of Cultural Relics said that the archaeological work in Shanxi Province has carried out more than 10 active archaeological excavations and more than 120 archaeological excavations of infrastructure construction around key topics such as "Archaeological China • Xia Culture Research" and "Archaeological China • Central Plains Civilization Process Research", with an excavation area of more than 50,000 square meters, achieving fruitful results. Xia County's Dongxia Feng, Ruicheng Temple-Potou, Qinshui Baliping, Yicheng Beizhu and other sites have made important breakthroughs in archaeology. Archaeological excavations such as Xiwubi, Datong Jijiazhuang, Xiangfen Tao Temple, and Xiaxian Shicun have taken a solid step in the study of empirical Chinese civilization for 5,000 years.
In 2022, Shanxi Archaeology will continue to focus on major topics such as the origin of Chinese civilization, the archaeology of cave temples, the study of archaeological Chinese Xia culture, the study of settlements and societies in archaeological China and Hetao area, and the research on the process of archaeological China and Chinese civilization, and continue to explore the unknown and reveal the origin.
Specific project introduction:
Taiyuan Jiancaoping Town City Neolithic Site is located in Taiyuan City Jiancaoping District Baiban Township Chengcun 900 meters southwest, located in the Changliang Back Mountain in front of the alluvial fan, the terrain is high in the northwest and low in the southeast. The number of relics units within the site is relatively large, the era is earlier, and the remains are rich, which is of great academic value for studying the neolithic cultural features of the Taiyuan Basin, constructing the prehistoric cultural sequence of the region, and discussing the prehistoric cultural exchanges in Taiyuan and surrounding areas.
A total of 98 ash pits, 11 kilns and 2 housing sites in the Yangshao period have been excavated at the site, and 6 Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties have been excavated. A large number of pottery pieces, as well as stone tools, bone tools, animal bones and so on, have been unearthed. Among them, the pottery pieces are mainly clay pottery and sand gray pottery, and only 1 piece of white pottery is seen; most of them are plain surfaces, and a few red pottery are applied with black color, and the pattern is mainly dots, straight lines, arc triangles, grid patterns, and carved patterns; gray pottery is multi-plain and string pattern; pottery is mostly handmade and slow wheel trimming. At present, the restored utensils include faience pots, red pottery noodle bowls, gray pottery bowls, gray clay pots, white pottery seats, etc. Stone tools include single-hole stone knives, stone axes and so on. Animal bones mainly include dogs, pigs, deer and so on.
H6 orthophoto
The Neolithic ruins of Linfen Xiangfen Tao Temple are located about 7 kilometers northeast of the county seat of Xiangfen County, Linfen City, Shanxi Province, with an area of about 4 million square meters. The site was discovered during the census of cultural relics in 1958, and the official archaeological excavation in 1978 has been 43 years, and many major archaeological discoveries and research results have been made, becoming the site of The most complete elements of the capital city in prehistory in China, with clear functional divisions such as palace area, storage area, cemetery, elephant worship area, handicraft workshop area, and ordinary residential area. From 2013 to 2017, excavations that lasted five years gradually confirmed the existence of nearly 130,000 square meters of Miyagi Castle at the tao temple site, and more comprehensively exposed the side gates at the south east gate site and the southeast corner. During the "13th Five-Year Plan" period, the archaeological work of the Tao Temple site was included in the "Archaeology China" major project, and with the support of the project, the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Shanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology continued to work together to continue excavations of I.FJT3 (now changed to Palace Site No. 1) in Miyagi Castle in 2018.
Base site of Palace No. 1
Copper shaper
Yuncheng Yuanqu North White Goose Two Week Cemetery is located in the east of North White Goose Village, Yingyan Town, Yuanqu County, Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province, and north of Taihang Niuxin Mountain. The terrain is high in the north and low in the south, showing a gentle slope, the north side is wider, the south side is narrow and long, irregularly distributed, and the edge ditch forks are longitudinal. Since April 2020, led by the Shanxi Provincial Archaeological Research Institute, the cultural relics departments of the united cities and counties have conducted a comprehensive archaeological survey, exploration and excavation of the cemetery, and a total of 217 tombs, 241 ash pits, 5 chema pits and 2 pottery kilns have been explored, thus clarifying that the main remains of the cemetery are tombs, ash pits and chema pits in the two-week period.
Jade tools were excavated from the White Goose Cemetery in the north of Yuanqu
M3 unearthed stone chimes
M3 Grab
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 Hezhong clan, which is likely to be the family cemetery of his descendants and the Wang Qi Nei Caiyi, 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.
Datong City Pingcheng District Zhijiabao North Wei Lü Continuo relief painted stone tomb is currently found in Datong City is the only Northern Wei period stone carved painted stone rafter tomb, the tomb owner sheng xian tu, guide map, four gods figure, etc. carved indoors have obvious Han Dynasty relics and religious colors, and the hairstyle, appearance, posture, dress, etc. carved on the outside of the south wall of the exotic town tomb warriors, which are obviously different from the Han cultural style, provide new physical materials for the study of ethnic integration and Cultural exchanges between China and the West.
Stone gate, stone rafter
Huozhou City Thousand Buddha Cliff Statue and Cave Pre-Cave Site is located in Huozhou City, 7 kilometers southwest of the Fenhe River on the east bank of the cliff, chiseled in the Tang Dynasty Gaowu period, mainly after the Kaiyuan, is an important Tang Dynasty medium-sized statue group in Shanxi, both Taiyuan Tianlongshan Grottoes Tang Dynasty statue style, but also by Luoyang Longmen, Guanzhong area Tang Dynasty statue style influence, to study the Sheng Tang Dynasty to the middle and late transition of the statue style, type evolution provides important materials; the found of the memory for the study of Tang Dynasty historical geography, the military system and other important value.
The carvings of the niches are very concentrated, and the layers are distributed north of the middle of the cliff, and there is a broken relationship between them, and the dense area is as many as 8 layers. According to preliminary statistics, there are more than 70 niches and about 300 statues. Above the cliff is a 6-meter-tall seated Buddha carved from the "Gaowu Period".
Statue of the North District
Eleven-sided statue of Guanyin
Remember
Nearly 20 inscriptions were found, and after reading, it was determined that the contents of the memorizations included several major categories, such as chronicles, place names, personal names, and official names. Among them, the chronology is the fifth year of the Kaiyuan, the eleventh year, the third year of Tianbao, the fourteenth year, the second year of Changqing, the second year of The Bao calendar, the second year of Huichang, the fifth year of Zhengde, etc.; the place names are Jinyang County, Anbian County, Jinzhou, Taiyuan, Huoyi, Jinchangfu, etc.; the official names are county lieutenant, Zhongshu Sheren, Du Zhi, judge, escort, deputy general, etc.
The tomb of the Ming Dynasty king of Xiaodian District, Taiyuan is located in the northeast of Dongfeng Village, Huangling Street, Xiaodian District, Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province, and within the land area of the new campus of Shanxi University of Finance and Economics, located in the gentle slope area at the southern end of Taiyuan Dongshan. Archaeological excavations were carried out from May 2019 to April 2021. This excavation is the first systematic archaeological work on the tombs and cemeteries of Ming Dynasty kings in Shanxi.
Schematic map of the location of the Jin Dynasty Palace and the Tomb of the King of Jin Dynasty
Three tombs look down
The determination of the JinduanWang Mausoleum confirms the location of Gangtou Village and Duanwang Cemetery recorded in the "Taiyuan County Chronicle", "Yangqu County Chronicle" and "Yuci County Chronicle", and provides accurate geographical coordinates for the determination of the location of other Jin Dynasty King Mausoleums.
M2 Jinduan Wang Yuanzhi
(This article is comprehensively compiled from the Archaeological Collection of Shanxi Archaeological Research Institute and Wenbo Shanxi Public Account)