A few days ago, the annual report meeting on the achievements of Cultural Relics and Archaeology in Xinjiang, which has attracted much attention from the archaeological community, was held in Urumqi.
In the past year, the Xinjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, together with the institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and other scientific research institutes and colleges and universities, has tightened their hands and sweated, and carried out 15 active archaeological excavations in Xinjiang and 18 archaeological projects in cooperation with infrastructure construction, promoting a series of archaeological projects to achieve breakthroughs around the implementation of the major project of "Archaeological China".
New advances have been made in a number of archaeological fields
Of the 15 active archaeological excavation projects carried out, except for the Aktara site and the site of the West Side Jingjiao Monastery, which are newly implemented projects, the rest are continuous implementation projects, and these continuous projects have also made many new progress.
The Tongtiandong site, a key site for studying the origin of human culture in Xinjiang, has been carrying out archaeological work for six years and has been selected as one of the "Top Ten New Archaeological Discoveries in China in 2017". In 2021, excavations were carried out outside Cave No. 2 and Cave No. 1, respectively, and more than 120 fine stone tools were found outside Cave No. 2, which provided important information for understanding the dissemination and use of fine stone tool technology in Xinjiang from about 8900 to 13000 years ago and the chronological framework of fine stone tools in Xinjiang.
The surrounding environment of the Tsuten-dong ruins
Jirentaigoukou site is a key site for studying the types and settlement forms of prehistoric archaeology in Xinjiang, and was selected as one of the "Top Ten New Archaeological Discoveries in China in 2018". The ruins consist of a settlement area and the remains of a high platform. In 2021, excavations and explorations will continue to be carried out in and around the remains of Gaotai. After exploration, more than 40 remains such as building foundation sites, housing sites, ash pits, kiln sites and tombs were found around the remains of Gaotai.
Large-scale housing site F6 and coal pile at the site of Jirentaigoukou
Located 90 kilometers southeast of Yuli County, the Site of Keyak Kuduk Beacon is an important site for studying the resources of the Great Wall in Xinjiang, and was included in the "Archaeological China" major project in 2019. In 2021, there are new relics such as earthen mounds, stepping steps and wooden fences, and more than 50 groups of relics such as copper buckles, wooden janes, wooden buckles, and wooden fences have been excavated, and the words "North Garden", "Iron Gate Pass" and "South Road Youyi" have been newly found in the documents. Through the interpretation of the excavated documents, it was determined that the beacon was the former site of the Tang Dynasty "Sand Pile Beacon". As a place of governance by Youyi, it belongs to a grass-roots military management agency under Yanqi Town. After the examination of excavated documents and the comprehensive analysis of dating data, the age of use of "sand pile" is around 700 AD.
The western façade of the Kākkuduk beacon, west to east
A number of new discoveries have deeply revealed the military and government construction system in Xinjiang's historical period
In the archaeology of the historical period, archaeologists continued the exploration work of the two Han Western Regions Protectorate and the Tang'an West Metropolitan Protectorate, as well as the study of the military and political construction system in the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, and a large number of new discoveries of physical objects confirmed that the central government has always had effective jurisdiction over the Xinjiang region.
In 2021, the phenomenon of martyrdom and dog martyrdom was found under the western wall of Gaotai in Luntai County, which was the first time that the ancient city site in Xinjiang was found, similar to the city site in Central Asia in the same period.
Important relics such as jade people and five-baht coins have been excavated at the ruins of the ancient city of Ushtur in Kuqa County, or the founding date of the site can be advanced to the Western Han Dynasty.
The ruins of the Beiting Ancient City have cleared out the largest building platform found in the city so far, and two semi-crypt sites that may be the first architectural relics in the city have been found. Among the excavated relics are the fragments of pottery inscribed on "Miseda Temple" and the remnants of clay pots with the word "Daojing" in the ink book, which are suspected to have been used by Buddhists.
Qitai County Tang Dynasty Dun in the north of the city site in the center of the clean-up Gaochang Uighur to Mongolian Yuan period of a Jingjiao temple, complex structure, long period of use, unearthed Jingjiao murals with precious themes, exquisite painting, confirming the tang dynasty from the Tang Dynasty to the Mongolian Yuan period, the local multi-ethnic integration, multi-religious coexistence, multi-cultural compatibility of the historical facts.
A panoramic view of the ruins of the ancient city of Durret
The ruins of the ancient city of Dalat in Bole City have clarified the basic shape and defense facilities of the outer city, and clarified the shape and evolution of the southern gate of the outer city. A large number of coins, ceramics, metal tools and other relics unearthed play an important role in establishing the chronological scale of typical relics of the Song and Yuan dynasties.
In the archaeological survey of the resources of the Great Wall in Hami City, 44 beacons, 6 city sites, and nearly 30 Paleolithic and Fine Stone Sites were newly discovered in the city, which provided important information for studying the origin of human civilization, the early urbanization process and the changes of the Silk Road in the eastern Tianshan region.
There have been new breakthroughs in multidisciplinary research and interdisciplinary cooperation
In 2021, Xinjiang's archaeological work will integrate the academic resources of many scientific research institutes and universities across the country, conduct multidisciplinary cooperative research on archaeological excavations, and form a multidisciplinary research system with paleoenvironmental research, animal and plant research, physical anthropology research, metal smelting and material history research and geographic information technology research as the main directions. This makes the archaeological results more informative and reflects the ancient social landscape clearer and more informative.
Especially in the study of physical anthropology and ancient human genes, fruitful results were achieved last year.
Through the paleogenomics of different ancient populations in the Bronze to Iron Age in the Dongtianshan region of Xinjiang and the Tarim Basin, Cui Yinqiu's team explored the origin and integration process of ancient populations in Xinjiang at different time periods, providing important information for understanding the flow, cultural dissemination and interaction of ancient people in Xinjiang.
Through the paleo demography statistics, paleopathological studies and skull morphology, limb bones and teeth of the skull surface, limb bones and teeth excavated from the Poplar River Tomb Group, Chen Liang's team showed that there were diversity of population germlines in the Poplar River Cemetery at that time at different historical stages, and the changes in dietary characteristics, survival pressure and activity patterns may be related to the process of nomadication.
Wang Wenjun's team conducted a study of the mitochondrial genome of 237 samples of ancient populations dating from 5,000-500 years ago at 41 sites in the eastern, western, southern and northern regions of Xinjiang, revealing the genetic structure of the population in Xinjiang since 5,000 years, providing strong evidence for studying population exchange and migration interaction in Xinjiang.
In terms of metal smelting and material history research, Yu Jianjun's team through the study of gold artifacts unearthed in Eastern Taled in the Altay region, researchers believe that the design style of beech gold pendants found in the Altai and Central Asian grasslands in Xinjiang is closely related to the Mediterranean region, but shows the characteristics of local innovation in terms of shape, technology and alloy composition.
A golden deer excavated from the Altay East Taled Cemetery
Gold earrings excavated from the Altay East Talerd Cemetery
"The unique geographical and natural environment, coupled with the long history of human exchanges and exchanges, determines that Xinjiang archaeology has great academic value and socio-political significance." Song Xinchao, member of the party group and deputy director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, said that since Xinjiang archaeology was included in the scope of "Archaeological China" in 2018, breakthroughs have been made in many aspects in recent years, and it is hoped that on this basis, the ability and level of Xinjiang archaeology will be further improved, and greater contributions will be made in the construction of archaeology with Chinese characteristics, Chinese style and Chinese style.
(Guangming Daily all-media reporter Shang Jie Li Hui correspondent Suo Qiong)
Source: Guangming Daily all-media reporter Shang Jie Li Hui Correspondent Suo Qiong
Editor-in-charge: Wang Zimo
Editor: Zhu Xiaofan Wang Yuanfang