The zhou dynasty architecture and the site of the Western Zhou city were also selected as important new archaeological discoveries in shaanxi in the second session.
According to Yang Lei, the project leader, the large-scale rammed earth buildings found in the pre-Zhou period filled the gap of the previous Zhouyuan site without high-grade relics of the Pre-Zhou Period, proving that the Wangjiazui area was the settlement center of the Pre-Zhou Period of the ZhouYuan Site. Combined with previous studies on the scale and cultural nature of the settlement, it is clear that the Site of Zhouyuan was the place where the ancient Gonggong Father moved to Qi. Large warehouse buildings and related discoveries in the late Warring States period confirmed the location of Meiyang County in Eastern Zhou, and further supported the original Zhou Dynasty as Qiyi in combination with literature.
After the ancient gonggong's father moved to Qi, the Zhou clan gradually became stronger, laying the foundation for the culture of etiquette and the destruction of merchants
Gu Gong's father was the leader of the Ancient Zhou Clan, the xibo monarch, the grandfather of King Wen of Zhou, and in the history of the development of the Zhou people, he was a key figure in the great cause of Inheriting Hou Ji and Gong Liu, and the prosperity of King Qiwen and King Wu. Forced by Rong Di, he led his people from Qishan to Zhouyuan (present-day northern Qishan, Shaanxi) under the Qishan Mountains, and implemented the agricultural development policy of "farming and weaving, and land is suitable", and the Zhou people gradually became stronger and stronger, and laid the foundation for the Zhou people's ritual culture and the extinction of merchants. When Ji Fa, the King of Zhou Wu, established the Zhou Dynasty, he posthumously honored him as "King Tai of Zhou".
Yang Lei introduced that the Zhouyuan site is the largest pre-Zhou culture and Western Zhou cultural settlement, and is considered by scholars to be one of the places where the ancient gonggong father moved to Qi and one of the western Zhou capitals. In recent years, the Zhouyuan Archaeological Team, which is jointly composed of three units, namely the Shaanxi Institute of Archaeology, the School of Archaeology and Literature of Peking University, and the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, has taken clarifying the structure of settlements and judging the nature of settlements as its primary academic goals, and has focused on finding framing remains of settlements. After archaeological work in 2020-2021, important gains have been made.
For the first time, a large rammed earth building site in the Pre-Zhou Period was found, with a total area of more than 2,200 square meters
The first discovery of a large rammed earth building site (number F1) in the Pre-Zhou period is a key material for determining the properties 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 of F1 is a two-entry courtyard-style building in the front hall and the back room, and the southern half has been revealed, and the preliminary judgment is composed of the main hall, the east and west wing rooms, the courtyard, and the annex buildings.
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 then the architectural 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.
△ Wangjiazui No. 1 building base site
An early Western Zhou city site was found, with artificial moats on the north, east and south sides
An early Western Zhou city site (inner city) was discovered, which was 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.
△ ZhouYuan ruins Of the Western Zhou Dynasty city site
△ Qi town site inner city east wall, east city trench section
Discover the site of a large-scale late Western Zhou Dynasty city with a total area of about 5.2 million square meters
A large-scale late Western Zhou city site (outer city) was discovered, which is the largest Western Zhou city site ever seen, 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.
△ The base site of the southeast corner of the outer city
△ The eastern wall and gate site of the outer city
△Outer City East Wall Outer Horse Pit (K1)
△ Qi Jia Nan site outer city south wall base groove section
△ Pottery mane excavated from the rammed earth foundation site in the southeast corner of the outer city
The site of a large-scale building in the Warring States period was discovered, and the seat of the Warring States Meiyang County was confirmed
A large-scale building site (number F2) from the Warring States period was discovered, which enriched the connotation of the Zhouyuan site and basically confirmed the seat of the Warring States Meiyang County.
F2 is located 25 meters west of F1, 41 meters wide from east to west, 30 meters long from north to south, and has an area of 1200 square meters. The building site is divided into 9 long spaces by 10 through wall base grooves, and a large number of column foundation pits are irregularly distributed within the strips.
The base site was broken by more than 20 late Warring States urn coffins, and during the dissection, it was found that the rammed earth contained pottery pieces of late Warring States, so it was inferred that the age was late Warring States.
Pottery with the character "Gong" has been excavated in the abandoned strata of the building, combined with the special shape of the building and dense wooden columns, it is speculated that it may be a large granary of the dry column type. During the Warring States period, large granaries were set up in administrative organs above the township level.
In the vicinity of Wangjiazui, the "Meiting" pottery has been excavated many times in the past, and two cases of "Meiyang" pottery have been excavated in this work. Combined with the above findings and documentary records, it can be confirmed that Meiyang County in the Warring States period was in this area of the Zhouyuan site.
△ Wangjiazui No. 2 building base site
△ Late Warring States urn coffin
△ Public pottery
△ "Meiyang" Tao Wen
The archaeological work of ZhouYuan in the past two years is of landmark significance
Yang Lei introduced that the archaeological work in the past two years has greatly promoted the in-depth archaeology and research of Zhouyuan, which is of landmark significance. Specifically, 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. Second, the discovery of the site of the Western Zhou Dynasty with its huge scale and square layout is a major progress in exploring the history of city building in the pre-Qin period of the mainland, which provides a reference background for clarifying the settlement structure, related heritage properties, settlement and social change process of the Zhouyuan ruins, and provides a rare example for the establishment of three generations of duyi.
Huashang Daily reporter Ma Huzhen (Courtesy of Shaanxi Provincial Archaeological Institute)