The Zhouyuan archaeological team, jointly composed of the Shaanxi Archaeological Research Institute and others, has made the following important achievements after archaeological work from 2020 to 2021: the first discovery of large-scale buildings in the pre-Zhou period further proves that the place where the ancient gonggong father moved to Qi is in Zhouyuan.
ZhouYuan ruins Of the Western Zhou Dynasty city site
Archaeologists first discovered the foundation site of a large rammed earth building in the pre-Zhou period at the Zhouyuan site, which became a key material for determining the nature of the pre-Zhou settlement at the Zhouyuan site. The base site of the building is located in the northwest of Wangjiazui Village, Jingdang Town, Qishan County, facing north and south, the overall base site is 38 meters wide from east to west, about 58 meters long from north to south, and the total area is more than 2200 square meters. The overall structure is a two-entry courtyard-style building in the front hall and the back room, and the southern half has been exposed, and the preliminary judgment is composed of the main hall, the east and west wing rooms, the courtyard, and the outbuildings. According to the judgment of the superimposed breaking relationship, the upper limit of the building age is the late Jingdang-type Shang culture, and the lower limit is not later than the late pre-Zhou culture, and archaeologists further determine that the building age should be the pre-Zhou period. This building is the first large-scale building of the pre-Zhou period found in the Ruins of The Zhou Dynasty. The scale of the building and the clarity of the shape are the best in the pre-Zhou period, which shows that the area around Wangjiazui was the center of the pre-Zhou settlement at the site of the Zhou Dynasty.
Archaeologists also found an early Western Zhou city site (inner city) in Zhouyuan, which is much larger than the western Zhou city site found in the same period as previous discoveries. The city site is located in the northwest of the Zhouyuan ruins, about 1480 meters from east to west and about 1065 meters from north to south, showing a relatively regular rectangle with an area of about 1.75 million square meters. There are artificial moats on the north, east and south sides of the city site, and Wangjiagou as the moat in the west. Combined with the superimposed relationship and the distribution of remains inside and outside the city that have been discovered in the past, it is comprehensively judged that its founding date is the early Western Zhou Dynasty.
The eastern wall and gate site of the outer city
At the same time, a large-scale late Western Zhou city site (outer city) was also found, which is the largest Western Zhou city site seen so far, with a total area of about 5.2 million square meters. The south wall is 2415 long, the east wall is 1770 long, and the south wall and east wall of the outer city are roughly parallel to the south wall and the east wall of the inner city. The north wall drilling found two sections, located on the eastern extension of the north wall of the inner city. The southeast corner of the city has been exposed intact, and the rammed earth plate can be seen vertically and horizontally on the plane. In the northeast of the base site of the Zhao chen building, a section of the east wall 90 meters long and about 10 meters wide was excavated, and the remains of the doorway 17 meters long and 5.3 meters wide were found. The doorway was burned and covered with collapsed red-burned earth, and fragments of copper from the late Western Zhou Dynasty were unearthed on the ground. One side of the city is connected to a curved ruler-shaped rammed earth platform, which limits the turn to the south after entering the city, similar to the urn castle structure. A horse pit has been found inside and outside the city wall on the south side of the gate, which may be a remnant of a sacrifice related to the city gate. The base site of the city wall pressed down on the ash pit of the late Western Zhou Dynasty, and the pottery bristles of the late Western Zhou Dynasty were excavated from the rammed earth. Synthesizing various types of information, it is inferred that the outer city was built in the late Western Zhou Dynasty.
Wangjiazui No. 1 building site
Experts believe that the discovery of large-scale rammed earth buildings in the pre-Zhou period filled the gap of high-grade buildings in the previous ZhouYuan ruins without the pre-Zhou period. Combined with the previous understanding of the scale and cultural nature of the settlement, it can be affirmed that the Site of Zhouyuan was the place where the ancient Gonggong Father moved to Qi. The confirmation of the location of Meiyang County during the Eastern Zhou Dynasty can be further proved in conjunction with the literature that the place where the father of the ancient Gonggong moved to Qi was in Zhouyuan. The discovery of the large-scale and square layout of the Western Zhou city site is a major progress in exploring the history of city building in the pre-Qin period of the mainland, providing a reference background for clarifying the settlement structure, related heritage properties, settlement and social change process of the Zhouyuan ruins, and providing a rare example for the establishment of three generations of Duyi.
(CCTV News)