Field excavation is the key to archaeological work and the foundation of archaeological research, and a good field archaeological excavation leader is the soul of the project organization and implementation. The professionalism, hands-on ability, academic vision and work experience of the field archaeological excavation team directly determine whether the field work can reach the expected goal, whether the field data information can be scientifically and completely extracted, and whether there is a broader space for follow-up research of the project. So, how can we do a good job as an archaeological leader? What kind of qualities does a good archaeological leader need? To answer these questions, we should understand them from the overall history of the development of Chinese archaeology.
I. The progress of Chinese archaeology in the past century
Archaeology in the modern scientific sense has only been introduced to China for a hundred years. During this period, archaeology has had a fierce collision and integration with traditional Chinese epigraphy, and at the same time, it has continuously absorbed, integrated and innovated in exchanges with the West, and gradually formed a modern archaeology with Chinese characteristics. The century-old history of modern Chinese archaeology can be divided into four major stages.
The first phase was archaeological work before 1949. The 1920s was the birth of Chinese archaeology. During this period, some foreign scholars or missionaries who had received strict archaeological or geological training, such as Anderson, Bu Dasheng, De Rijin, etc., carried out some field archaeological activities in China, and a group of archaeologists, geologists, and paleontologists who had achieved success in foreign studies actively participated in archaeological work after returning to China, which promoted the birth of Chinese archaeology, and there were 4 archaeological works in this period that were particularly important.
In 1921, with the consent of the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce of the Chinese government and the Geological Survey Institute, Anderson carried out more than 30 days of excavations at the site of Yangshao Village, and soon after published the report "Ancient Chinese Culture", proposing the first Chinese archaeological culture - "Yangshao Culture", which opened the study of Chinese prehistory. The zhoukoudian site was also the first discovered by Anderson, and as a geologist, he also proposed the name of "Malan Loess". In Anyang, Li Ji described Anderson as "actually the first Western scientist to demonstrate field methods in the investigation of ancient Chinese antiquities through his own achievements".[1] Anderson's work has had a great impact on the Chinese academic community, bringing a broader historical vision to the Chinese academic community than ever before, and also stimulating the Chinese people's interest in archaeology. So much so that Li Ji proposed that "Chinese scholars should feel extremely ashamed that most of these materials that have such an important relationship with ancient Chinese history are painstakingly searched out by foreigners." ”[2]
In 1926, with the support of Tsinghua University and the United States Friar Museum, Li Ji conducted archaeological excavations at the prehistoric site of Xiyin Village in Xia County, Shanxi Province. This was the first time that Chinese independently presided over scientifically significant field archaeology work. The excavation of Li Ji Xiyin Village has been greatly improved on the basis of Anderson. He excavated in layers of 2 meters and collected relics in strict accordance with the three-way coordinates. This is the first time that the exploration method has been used in mainland field archaeology. Therefore, Mr. Yan Wenming believes that the excavation of Xiyin Village "marks an important step towards scientific field archaeology" [3]. Li Ji himself said that "the excavation of the prehistoric site of Xiyin Village, although it did not attract special attention in China at the height of the political revolution, achieved my personal reputation as the first Chinese archaeologist with modern working methods and interest in transcending the boundaries of historical eras"[4]. The Excavations in Xiyin Village enabled Li Ji to transfer from anthropology to archaeology, and two years later became the director of the Archaeology Group at the Institute of History and Linguistics of the Academia Sinica, thus becoming an academic leader in the field of Chinese archaeology before 1949.
In 1927, after many consultations between the China Geological Survey and peking union medical college sponsored by the United States, the China Geological Survey and Peking Union Medical College signed the "Agreement on Cooperation in the Study of Tertiary and Quaternary Accumulations in North China", officially excavating the Zhoukoudian site in a planned manner, and opening the first Sino-foreign joint archaeological project. Many of the matters agreed upon in its cooperative excavation agreement laid the foundation for the subsequent basic principles and guidelines of foreign-related archaeology. Later, many international cooperation principles of Chinese archaeology were established during the Zhoukoudian excavations. For example, all collected specimens belong to China, and archaeological reports must first be published in Chinese magazines. The publication of archaeological work on the Zhoukoudian site in the Paleontology of China also made Chinese geology the most advanced natural science in China at that time.
In 1928, the Institute of History and Linguistics of the former Academia Sinica was established, and in October of that year, Dong Zuobin was sent to Anyang Yin Ruins for excavations, which was the first archaeological work organized by a Chinese national academic institution. At first, the archaeological excavations of Yin Ruins were mainly influenced by history (traditional epigraphy), and the main goal of Dong Zuobin's excavations was to find oracle bones. The second archaeological excavation of Yin Ruins was presided over by Li Ji, which completely adopted the Western scientific archaeological method, and later Liang Siyong participated in the organization of field archaeological excavations, and the methods of archaeological excavations were greatly improved and standardized. Judging from the implementation of the excavation of Yin Ruins, the goal of Chinese archaeology has distinct historical characteristics, and the main purpose is to find the source of Chinese history. Mr. Li Ji and Liang Siyong have an archaeological background and make good use of stratigraphy theory to guide field archaeological excavation activities. Liang Siyong's report and paper on the Hougang Triplician Layer established for the first time the chronological order of the "Triassic" of Yangshao, Longshan and Yinshang, and clarified the temporal coordinate status of Yinshang culture in ancient Chinese culture, which is an important achievement of epoch-making significance. Mr. Zou Heng commented: "The excavation of Yin Ruins occupies a particularly important position in Chinese archaeology, and it can even be said that modern Chinese archaeology is basically a new science gradually formed from the excavation of Yin Ruins in the early years. ”[5]
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, some of the procedures for field archaeological excavations, including the archaeological concepts of Liang Siyong, Xia Nai, and Guo Baojun, the key leaders of archaeological work, are the improvement and continuation of the excavation method system of Anyang Yin Ruins. Paleolithic archaeologists, whether Pei Wenzhong, Jia Lanpo or Yang Zhongjian, were strongly influenced by the Zhoukoudian archaeological model. Jia Lanpo and Huang Weiwen's "Records of the Excavation of Zhoukoudian" and Hu Houxuan's "Excavation of Yin Ruins" all record in detail the beginning of the archaeological work of Zhoukoudian and Yin Ruins. In addition, archaeological excavations such as julu ancient city in Hebei province presided over by Qiu Shanyuan of the National History Museum in 1921[6], the ruins of Yanxiadu in Hebei province presided over by Ma Heng of Peking University in 1929, the Chengziya in Shandong province presided over by Wu Jinding of the Academia Sinica in 1930, the Baoji Fighting Fighting Platform in Shaanxi hosted by Xu Xusheng of the Beiping Research Institute in 1933, and the Liangzhu in Zhejiang Province presided over by Shi Xingen of the Zhejiang West Lake Museum in 1936 are also of great significance in the process of early Chinese archaeology. In the book "Research on the History of Chinese Prehistoric Archaeology (1895~1949)", Chen Xingcan systematically sorted out the prehistoric archaeological research in China before 1949, from which we can understand the origin and early development of Chinese archaeology.
The second stage is the period between the founding of New China and the period before the reform and opening up. In 1950, the Chinese Academy of Sciences established the Institute of Archaeology, with Zheng Zhenduo, director of the Cultural Relics Bureau, as the director, and Liang Siyong and Xia Nai as deputy directors, first resuming the archaeological excavation of the Yin Ruins in Anyang, and Guo Baojun presided over the excavation of the tomb of the Military Officer Village of the Yin Ruins. From 1950 to 1952, Xia Nai was appointed as the head of the regiment and Guo Baojun was appointed as the deputy head of the regiment, and then went to Liulige and Guwei Village in Hui County, Henan Province to conduct archaeological excavations. At that time, all 12 personnel of the Archaeological Research Institute were dispatched, which was a very important archaeological work outside the Anyang Yin Ruins. Huixian archaeological excavations not only have new breakthroughs in the field of archaeological technology, but also have a positive impact on the development of archaeology later.
At the beginning of the founding of New China, there were only a few domestic archaeologists, and in the face of the requirements of the national "First Five-Year Development Plan" economic construction task, the professional strength that could be competent for archaeological excavation was extremely lacking. Based on this, from 1952 to 1955, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Peking University organized four consecutive training courses for archaeologists nationwide, training 341 archaeologists. The participants of the archaeology training course came from three aspects, mainly the staff engaged in cultural relics in various provinces and some students who were studying in the history department of Peking University at that time, in addition, a group of young people with high Chinese were selected from all over the world. The training course introduces participants to a series of basic archaeological knowledge in a short period of time, and at the same time combines with field archaeology internships to improve the level of archaeological skills by participating in practical work. The internship focused on Zhengzhou, Luoyang, Henan, and Xi'an, Shaanxi, where the construction task was large at that time, and in Zhengzhou, the excavation sites were mainly excavated, luoyang mainly excavated ancient tombs from the Han and Wei dynasties in the two weeks, and in Shaanxi, the Banpo Neolithic ruins and the Han and Tang tombs in Baqiao were excavated. These graduates have initially alleviated the urgent need for archaeological excavation personnel in production and construction in various places, and many of them have also become the backbone force and leaders of the cultural relics and archaeology cause in various places.
Since the beginning of the national "First Five-Year Plan" period, Xi'an, Luoyang, Zhengzhou, Changsha and other central cities have carried out large-scale archaeological excavations in coordination with capital construction. Mr. Su Bingqi, An Zhimin, Shi Xingbang and others have presided over archaeological work in these places, and subsequently published a number of very important archaeological reports. For example, in "Xi'an Banpo - Primitive Social Commune Settlement Site", Mr. Shi Xingbang, the host of the archaeological project, combined with ethnographic data, analyzed the social system and social form of Banpo, and believed that the Banpo site was a Yangshao cultural settlement of matrilineal clan society. Mr. Shi Xingbang may be called the earliest archaeologist in mainland China to carry out prehistoric "settlement forms".
In addition, the Shang culture relics found at the Erligang site in Zhengzhou were found earlier than the Yin Ruins, and the report of Zhengzhou Erligang divided the Shang culture found in Erligang into the lower culture of Erligang and the upper culture of Erligang according to the hierarchical relationship of the remains, which had a positive impact on the archaeological research of the Xia and Shang periods. The two archaeological reports "Luoyang Zhongzhou Road (West Section)" and "Luoyang Yaogou Han Tomb" have laid the foundation for the study of the two-week culture and Han tomb staging in Luoyang area. In addition, a series of archaeological reports such as "Miaodigou and Sanli Bridge", "Shangcunling Yuguo Cemetery", and "Sui and Tang Tombs on the Outskirts of Xi'an" have been published, reflecting the general situation of the development of archaeology in the mainland before the founding of New China and the reform and opening up, and establishing a framework system and industry academic paradigm for Chinese archaeological research.
The third phase is archaeological work from 1980 to 2015. After the reform and opening up, China has entered a new period of development of economic construction, and how archaeology adapts to social and economic development like other disciplines has become a key issue. Before 1966, only Peking University, Northwest University, and Sichuan University had archaeology majors (once called "archaeology specialization" after 1954), and other individual colleges and universities only had archaeology teaching and research departments or general archaeology courses, and there was no special archaeology major, let alone the training of relevant science students. In 1972, Peking University and Northwest University resumed enrollment in archaeology. Since this year, Sichuan University, Jilin University, Wuhan University, Shandong University, Nanjing University, Sun Yat-sen University, Xiamen University, Zhengzhou University, Shanxi University, etc. have also set up archaeology majors and recruited students, but there are differences in archaeological teaching strength and internship norms between the schools, and the professionals trained are far from being able to meet the needs of the economic development of archaeology professionals at that time.
In order to adapt to the development of China's archaeology industry more quickly and improve the professional level of archaeological professionals, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage decided to hold the "Archaeological Backbone Training Class" again. Since September 1984, in Yanzhou, Shandong, Zhengzhou, Henan, Yichang, Hubei and other places, nine field archaeology team leader training courses have been held for ten consecutive years, training more than 300 archaeological excavation team leaders. Provinces and cities have also arranged a series of archaeological training in a planned manner in conjunction with important archaeological excavation projects, which has improved the professional level of practitioners of grass-roots cultural and museum institutions. All these have made necessary archaeological professional and technical preparations for large-scale capital construction in various places.
In order to further standardize the management of archaeological work, before organizing large-scale field archaeology leader training, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, in accordance with the requirements of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Cultural Relics, issued the "Application for Archaeological Excavation of the People's Republic of China", "Archaeological Excavation License of the People's Republic of China" (1982) and "Field Archaeological Work Process" (1984) and other normative documents. From the regulatory and technical levels, the basic requirements for the organization of field excavations, data collation, and cultural relics protection of archaeological leaders have been clarified, and the work of field archaeological leaders has been further institutionalized.
In the 35 years from 1980 to 2015, most of our archaeological work was carried out with capital construction projects, and a large number of archaeological research work of great academic value was also carried out. Archaeological work has made a series of important achievements.
1. Cooperate with large-scale capital construction archaeological work organization, coordination and effective implementation. In addition to urbanization and urbanization construction in various places, large-scale projects such as the Three Gorges Reservoir, the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, the West-to-East Gas Transmission, and the construction of roads and railways in many regions, the number of cultural relics protected and the area of archaeological excavations affected by any one of the projects are unprecedented. For example, in the cultural relics protection and archaeological work of the Three Gorges Project, since 1992, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage has mobilized more than 300 workers from more than 30 archaeological institutions across the country to complete the "Report on the Protection and Planning of Cultural Relics and Monuments in the Flooding and Relocation Areas of the Three Gorges Project Reservoir of the Yangtze River". Before the implementation of the Three Gorges Project, there were only more than 40 cultural relics sites known to people, and more than 2,000 cultural relics and archaeological sites were discovered through investigation. According to the design of the 175-meter water level in the submerged area, more than 1,200 excavations need to be rescued for protection. In the Three Gorges Cultural Relics Protection Project, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage organized more than 70 archaeological institutions across the country to carry out rescue archaeological work for nearly a decade, and had a relatively clear understanding of the basic situation of archaeological and cultural evolution and regional archaeological genealogy in the Three Gorges area, and achieved fruitful academic research results.
2. While insisting on doing a good job in the archaeology of capital construction, we must always maintain a high degree of sensitivity to the study of major academic issues. Since the founding of New China, many important archaeological discoveries have been closely related to the coordination of capital construction. In addition to the aforementioned Ruins of Banpo in Xi'an, the site of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the ancient Mengshu, the cast copper pottery fan and other relics were found in Houma, Shanxi, which promoted the study of Jin culture. From 1951 to 1956, Xia Nai led a team to cooperate with changsha's infrastructure projects to excavate more than 540 Eastern Zhou Chu tombs, and then there were Xinyang Changtai Guan Chu Tombs, Jiangling Chu Tombs, Dangyang Chu Tombs, Chu Tombs of Huaichuan Lower Temple, chu tombs of Chu Yindu Ji Nancheng, Daye Tonglushan Ancient Mining Sites, etc., which made breakthrough achievements in Chu cultural research. Another outstanding example is the discovery of the Yanshi Shangcheng site in 1983 to cooperate with the construction of the Shouyang Power Plant in Henan, which is undoubtedly of great significance to the study of the history of Xia And Shang.
3. Chinese civilization source exploration project and urban archaeology. The Chinese Civilization Exploration Project is a major archaeological research project organized by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage and the Ministry of Science and Technology, which aims to explore the historical evolution process of how Chinese civilization was formed and developed through archaeological methods. The previous "Xia-Shang-Zhou Dynasty Project" not only promoted the establishment of the Xia-Shang-Zhou Dynasty Chronology, but also greatly promoted the integration of archaeology and natural science and the development of scientific and technological archaeology in terms of research methods, thus providing a foundation and reference for the Chinese civilization source exploration project. Urban archaeology, which cooperates with urban construction, has promoted the study of historical urban archaeology. Ancient city sites such as Xi'an, Luoyang, Beijing, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Yangzhou, Guangzhou and other cities are mostly superimposed by modern cities, and archaeologists have studied the scattered archaeological findings and historical documents through long-term and arduous field work, and stitched together the glorious historical pictures of these cities for us.
4. Underwater archaeology, aviation archaeology and other disciplines have been established. Through more than 30 years of efforts, we have established specialized research institutions engaged in underwater and aviation archaeology, forming an archaeological model of three-dimensional, sea, land and air integration. The State Administration of Cultural Heritage organized and implemented a series of work with great social influence, such as the investigation and excavation of the shipwreck in Suizhong and Yuan Dynasties in Liaoning, the overall salvage of the South China Sea I, and the underwater archaeological survey in the key waters of the coastal and South China Sea zhudaos, and achieved fruitful results. In 2014, the Underwater Cultural Heritage Protection Center of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage was independently established to coordinate the protection of underwater archaeology and underwater cultural heritage in the country, and set up a Beihai base in Qingdao and a Yangjiang base in Guangdong, and the underwater archaeology industry continued to open up a new development situation. Since the 1990s, we have cooperated with relevant German institutions to develop aviation archaeology, set up an aviation archaeology center in the National Museum, and carried out the practice of aviation remote sensing archaeology in Chifeng, Luoyang, Xi'an, Linzi and other places, and achieved fruitful research results.
5. Multidisciplinary approach to enhance the ability to obtain archaeological information, protect cultural relics and research and interpret. Modern information acquisition technologies such as multi-perspective image three-dimensional reconstruction technology, low-altitude shooting technology, and airborne laser scanning remote sensing are applied to archaeological survey and mapping, which significantly improves the scientific and convenient level of geographical and environmental information collection. The digital collection system of archaeological site information provides support for the comprehensive systematic collection, scientific management and post-analysis of archaeological data. The improvement of archaeological site protection technology, the "archaeological site mobile laboratory" is included in the national key research and development projects, the proportion of mobile experimental vehicles in important archaeological sites is increasing, the establishment of archaeological mobile workstations at the Dongzhao site in Henan and the Shi'an site in Shaanxi, etc., greatly improving the comprehensive ability of scientific and technological protection of archaeological work sites.
The fourth stage is the rapid development of Chinese archaeology since 2016. During the "13th Five-Year Plan" period, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage actively promoted the in-depth implementation of the Chinese civilization source exploration project, and at the same time, set up a major project of "Archaeological China", issued the "Guidelines for the Declaration and Management of Major Projects of "Archaeological China" (2020-2035), and actively promoted cultural relics departments, archaeological institutions and universities in various places to plan and condense the "Xia Culture Research", "Hetao Regional Settlement and Social Research", "Research on the Regional Civilization Model of the Lower Yangtze River", "Research on the Civilization Process in the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River (Neolithic)" Research on the Civilization Process in the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River (Xia-Shang-Zhou Period)", "Research on the Civilization Process in the Central Plains", "Research on the Civilization Process in Haidai Region", "Research on the Civilization Process of Bashun in Sichuan-Chongqing Region", "Research on tuguhun tombs in Gansu" and 11 major archaeological projects such as Xinjiang Archaeology and Tibetan Archaeology. Important discoveries have been made in archaeological work such as the Liangzhu Ruins in Zhejiang, the Shijiahe Ruins in Shaanxi, the Shijiahe Ruins in Hubei, the Bicun Ruins in Shanxi, the Erlitou Ruins in Henan, the Jirentaigoukou Ruins in Xinjiang, and the Maliang Ruins in Tibet, which provide richer, more informative and convincing physical evidence for the formation and development of the Chinese national community for more than 5,000 years.
At the same time, in line with the continuous growth of capital construction archaeology, a total of 3,945 archaeological excavation projects for capital construction were carried out nationwide during the "13th Five-Year Plan" period, with an excavation area of up to 3.256 million square meters. In land development and construction, "archaeology first and then transfer" has become the consensus of the whole society. The archaeological work in the construction of Xiong'an New Area, Beijing City Sub-Center, Winter Olympic Venues, Expressways and Railways, Major Water Conservancy Facilities and other construction and urbanization processes has been carried out in a timely and comprehensive manner, and the vast number of archaeologists have made due contributions to the realization of the national economic and social development goals and the construction of the "Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Integration", "Yangtze River Economic Belt" and "Belt and Road" construction.
Underwater archaeology has flourished, and important results have been achieved in underwater archaeological projects such as the Deep Sea Archaeological Survey in the South China Sea, the Underwater Archaeology of the Paracel Islands, the No. 1 Conservation Excavation in the South China Sea, and the Archaeological Survey of the Remains of the Sino-Japanese Jia-Wu Yellow Sea Battle (Zhiyuan Ship, Jingyuan Ship, Dingyuan Ship). On the basis of the Underwater Cultural Heritage Protection Center of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the Archaeological Research Center of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage has been established, the National Underwater Cultural Heritage Protection Base for the South China Sea has been built, and the cooperation with major coastal (inland water) provinces has been strengthened, and an underwater cultural heritage protection pattern of "basing itself on the coast, taking into account the internal water, relying on the central government, and mobilizing the locality" has been initially established, and the level of protection of underwater archaeology and underwater cultural heritage on the mainland ranks among the top in the world.
Mainland archaeology institutions give full play to their own advantages and actively go abroad to carry out international cooperation around the theme of "Belt and Road" people-to-people exchanges. In 2016, during his visit to the Republic of Uzbekistan, General Secretary Xi Jinping personally received representatives of the local mainland archaeologists and spoke highly of Sino-Ukrainian cooperative archaeology, which greatly boosted the morale of archaeologists. From 2016 to 2019, 32 domestic institutions of various types went abroad to carry out 36 foreign-related archaeological survey and excavation projects, focusing on countries along the Silk Road and involving 21 countries and regions in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. Collaborative archaeology and thematic research further reveal cultural exchanges and interactions along the Silk Road, ethnic migration and integration. At the same time of "going out", mainland scholars have also combined important topics such as prehistoric civilization, settlement archaeology, and ancient handicrafts, and have attracted foreign institutions and scholars to cooperate, and many research results have also attracted the attention of international academic circles.
II. Achievements and Basic Experience of Chinese Archaeological Work
After a century of development, especially since the founding of New China, Chinese archaeology has made brilliant achievements in discipline construction, research fields, academic vision, archaeological management, talent training, etc., and gradually formed an archaeological system with Chinese characteristics. It is prominently reflected in the following aspects.
First, a relatively complete system of laws and regulations has been established. The protection and management of the country's historical and cultural heritage is an important responsibility of the modern state. Since the mid-19th century, major Western countries have begun to formulate their own laws and regulations for the protection of cultural heritage. By the 1930s, many countries in Asia and the Middle East had begun to enact their own antiquities protection laws. In 1930, the government of the Republic of China promulgated the "Law on the Preservation of Antiquities", and around 1935, a system of laws and regulations for the preservation and protection of cultural relics was gradually established, which made basic provisions on how to carry out collection, investigation, archaeological excavation and other work. After the founding of New China, in 1950, the State Council issued the Interim Measures for the Investigation and Excavation of Ancient Cultural Sites and Ancient Tombs and the Instructions on the Protection of Ancient Cultural Relics and Buildings. Since then, special regulations have been promulgated on the archaeological work of capital construction and the protection of cultural relics in agricultural production and construction. In 1961, the State Council promulgated the Interim Regulations on the Protection and Administration of Cultural Relics, which systematically stipulated archaeological excavations. In 1982, the National People's Congress passed the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Cultural Relics, and in 1993 the State Council promulgated the Detailed Rules for the Implementation of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Cultural Relics, as well as the supporting Regulations of the People's Republic of China on the Administration of the Protection of Underwater Cultural Relics (1989) and the Administrative Measures of the People's Republic of China on Foreign-related Archaeological Work (1991), clarifying the basic requirements for archaeological management. The State Administration of Cultural Heritage has formulated a series of rules and regulations in accordance with legal requirements, forming a system of laws and regulations for archaeological management with Chinese characteristics.
Second, an archaeological team system with the national archaeological research institutions as the leader, the provincial archaeological research institutions as the backbone, and the prefectural and municipal archaeological research institutions as the supplement. The Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences is still the most important archaeological research institution in the country, and has played a leading role in terms of personnel composition, professional ability, and research level. Provincial archaeological research institutions are the backbone forces, such as Shaanxi, Henan, Zhejiang, Hunan, Hubei, Shandong, Shanxi, Hebei, Sichuan, Xinjiang, etc., are the main force engaged in archaeological excavations, and many important archaeological projects are implemented by provincial archaeological research institutes (institutes). Prefectural and municipal archaeological research institutions are an important supplement, many prefectural and municipal institutions have strong strength and research capabilities, and some have become the core force of regional archaeology. At present, there are 91 units with archaeological excavation qualifications in the country. The State Administration of Cultural Heritage actively supports the establishment of specialized archaeological research institutions in areas where conditions permit, and strives to strengthen the personnel strength of existing institutions in China.
Third, it constitutes a relatively complete education system for archaeology professionals. The systematic education of Chinese archaeology has gradually developed since the founding of New China, and has formed a professional talent education system including basic education in archaeology, postgraduate education and field archaeology internship training. The curriculum design and teaching methods of archaeology at Peking University have had a great influence on other schools to a large extent, but many colleges and universities have also worked hard to combine their own academic traditions and regional advantages, and gradually formed their own unique academic education systems, such as Sun Yat-sen University and Xiamen University, which are influenced by strong anthropological traditions; Southwest Archaeology and Tibetan Archaeology of Sichuan University, Western Archaeology of Northwest University, Silk Road Archaeology, Northeast Asian Archaeology, Goguryeo and Bohai Archaeology of Jilin University. From an academic perspective, schools are also striving to increase foreign archaeology courses, or invite foreign archaeologists to hold lectures on world archaeology, etc., and strive to improve China's archaeology professional education system. After the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council adjusted archaeology to a first-level discipline in 2012, there are currently 47 colleges and universities with archaeology majors.
Fourth, a technical specification system for the protection of field archaeological excavations with Chinese characteristics has been initially formed. According to the unique natural environment of the mainland, especially the different burial advantages such as large-scale loess accumulation, arid desert in the northwest, and water in the southern region, the archaeological work of the mainland has gradually summarized a set of excavation technical specifications adapted to the environment in different regions on the basis of the original Western archaeological technology and combined with the burial conditions in various places. These are reflected in the literature of the technical specifications of the mainland archaeological industry, such as the "Archaeological Work Manual" (1982), the "Field Archaeological Work Regulations (Trial)" (1984), the "Field Archaeological Work Regulations" (2009) and so on. Perfect archaeological excavation procedures and methods, the technical requirements for field operations, collection and sampling points, record points, warehouse management points, data collation points and so on have been clearly stipulated. In particular, the extensive creative application of archaeological typology and stratigraphy in the actual field archaeological practice has gradually formed a relatively complete technical system for field archaeological excavation protection.
Fifth, a spatio-temporal framework system for Chinese archaeology has been established. Under the guidance of the archaeological theory of "faunal typology", through the continuous efforts of archaeologists, rich archaeological discoveries and research, a space-time framework system for archaeology in a vast area of China has been gradually established, which is a major contribution of Chinese archaeology after the founding of New China. In most regions and provinces, the genealogy of cultural development and evolution from the Paleolithic to the pre-Qin period has been basically clear. At present, in addition to improving the existing space-time framework system, the archaeological tasks carried out in various regions have turned more to the study of regional historical and cultural evolution, cultural exchanges and interactions, and constantly transitioned from simply distinguishing the sequence of morning and evening between cultures to exploring the interregional cultural exchanges and integration, as well as the formation of the characteristics of the Chinese national community. In the past, there were cultural Western and southern cultures, etc., but today we have sufficient archaeological data and academic self-confidence, placing these inferences within the temporal and spatial framework system of Chinese archaeology, conducting systematic and comprehensive analysis and research, and seeking more objective and scientific conclusions.
Sixth, the disciplinary system of Chinese archaeology is becoming more and more perfect. Archaeologists of the older generation use The classic works of Marxism and Morgan's theory of social evolution to explore the phenomenon of relics found in Yangshao culture, Dawenkou culture, Longshan culture and other sites, and explore the social nature of different historical periods. Chinese archaeology adheres to the basis of Marxist theory, constantly draws on the new theoretical development achievements of anthropology, ethnology and sociology, and also creates archaeological theories with Chinese characteristics. In terms of discipline system, Chinese archaeology attaches more importance to special topics and special research on the basis of fauna types, and pays attention to deep-seated problems such as social change, civilization evolution, population migration, and ideology. The introduction of natural sciences, the innovation of technical methods and the development of scientific and technological archaeology branches, scientific and technological archaeology has become an important factor in promoting the development of China's archaeology and the construction of disciplines.
Seventh, the belief that infrastructure archaeology is the unshirkable social responsibility of archaeologists. All countries in the world have capital construction and archaeology work, but the main responsibility of archaeological research institutions such as the mainland is not the mainstream, and a considerable number of countries or regions are undertaken by market-oriented specialized companies. The archaeology circles on the mainland have formed a basic industry consensus, believing that the archaeological work of infrastructure construction is not only an objective need for national economic development, but also a social responsibility for rescuing cultural heritage, and a historical opportunity for archaeological research and development. Since the founding of New China, archaeologists have been obligated to devote themselves to archaeological work that cooperates with the country's economic construction, and many hot and difficult problems in archaeology may be solved or major breakthroughs have been made in infrastructure archaeology. In a sense, it may constitute one of the important features of the golden age of Chinese archaeology, and it is a great contribution of Chinese archaeologists to the socio-economic and cultural development.
Eighth, with the continuous deepening of international cooperation, the worldliness of Chinese archaeology has become more prominent. Ancient China occupies an important position in the history of world civilization, and the study of Chinese archaeology is undoubtedly of world significance. Therefore, Sino-foreign cooperative archaeology has existed since the day modern Chinese archaeology was born, and it has also experienced a century-long history. After the founding of New China, due to the influence of the international and domestic political situation, until the reform and opening up, there was almost no real significance in international cooperation in archaeological research. In the past 40 years of reform and opening up, international cooperation in archaeology on the mainland has developed rapidly. At first, most of the archaeological institutions of Western developed countries applied to come to the mainland to engage in field archaeological investigation and excavation or special research, but in recent years, some obvious changes have taken place, and it is the mainland archaeological institutions that have taken the initiative to invite internationally renowned archaeological institutions or experts to China to carry out cooperative research while "going out". Many important archaeologies and research in China have been recognized by international peers, such as the Shaanxi Shi'an site, which was selected as one of the top ten archaeological discoveries in the world in the past decade by the American Archaeological Society. The international influence of Chinese archaeology has been continuously enhanced. In addition, a number of foreign archaeological masterpieces have been translated and introduced, such as Lun Furu's "Archaeology: Theory, Methods and Practice", Trigg's "History of Archaeological Thought", etc., which has brought a new breath to the development of Chinese archaeology.
Ninth, archaeology has changed from a single academic scientific research to a more emphasis on the protection of cultural heritage and more attention to the sharing of results with the public. Archaeological work is an academic research and cultural heritage protection undertaking, but also a work of great social significance. In the new era, archaeologists pay more attention to integrating into social development, and actively absorb and use new ideas and new means to carry out public archaeology. The Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and CCTV cooperated to plan "Archaeology in Progress" and received unanimous praise from the public. The Archaeological Experience Hall of the Sichuan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology was welcomed by the citizens of Chengdu. Archaeological summer camps organized by archaeological professional institutions have had a positive impact on the popularization of scientific archaeological knowledge among young people. Archaeological work is increasingly receiving social attention. Many archaeological excavation reports are not only professional reports in the industry, but also an important form of sharing results with the public. Field archaeological excavation sites in various regions are regularly open to the public, and sharing archaeological results has gradually become normal.
Third, the system and basic requirements of the person in charge of the archaeological project
In today's society, which pays more attention to archaeology and cultural heritage protection, how should we do archaeological excavation work, what kind of responsibilities should be assumed by the person in charge of archaeological excavation projects, and complete each archaeological research project, the leadership responsible for field archaeological excavations plays a vital role. On September 28, 2020, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held the 23rd collective study on the latest discoveries and significance of mainland archaeology, and General Secretary Xi Jinping put forward four requirements for doing a good job in archaeology and research: First, we must continue to explore the unknown and reveal the origin. Second, it is necessary to do a good job in excavating, sorting out, and interpreting archaeological results. Third, it is necessary to do a good job in the protection of historical and cultural heritage. The fourth is to strengthen archaeological capacity building and discipline construction. On October 17, 2021, General Secretary Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the "100th Anniversary Commemoration Conference on the Discovery of Yangshao Culture and the Birth of Modern Chinese Archaeology", hoping that the majority of archaeologists will enhance their sense of historical mission and responsibility, carry forward the fine traditions of rigorous and realistic, hard work and dedication, and strive to build archaeology with Chinese characteristics, Chinese style and Chinese style. We are deeply excited, inspired and even more deeply responsible. Today, any archaeological discovery, the protection status of any archaeological site, and any archaeological event may become a social hotspot, and the higher the social attention, the more and higher the requirements for the head of the archaeological project.
The system of person in charge of field archaeology implementation projects is determined by the characteristics and nature of archaeological work, and is a common feature of the implementation of archaeological work organizations in various countries in the world. For example, in the excavation of the Zhoukoudian site, after the death of the project leader Bu Dasheng, China and the United States jointly negotiated to select the best scholars from all over the world to preside over the excavation, and finally selected Wei Dunrui of Germany to preside over the excavation work, which shows the importance attached to the project leader. From Shi Zhang's article "Mr. Liang Siyong, the Reformer of Archaeological Methods", we can also see that the excavation of Yin Ruins cultivated the project leader in that year. At that time, some young archaeologists who participated in the excavations had the corresponding abilities after several years of actual excavation, but the young people lacked practical opportunities, so the archaeological team deliberately selected some important excavation points next to the site, set up detachments or detachments, and let these young people be responsible.
The mainland regards the person in charge of archaeological projects as a system, and the Detailed Rules for the Implementation of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Cultural Relics promulgated by the State Council in 1993 clearly include in the regulations, "The qualifications of archaeological excavation units and archaeological excavation project leaders shall be determined by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage and issued certificates." In 2003, the State Council promulgated the "Regulations on the Implementation of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Cultural Relics" more clearly stated as "the implementation of the team leader responsibility system for archaeological excavation projects", and in 2017, Article 22 of the "Regulations on the Implementation of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Cultural Relics" was revised to "the implementation of the project leader system for archaeological projects". Regarding the leader or project leader of the archaeological excavation project, the Archaeological Management Measures require that the archaeological leader or project leader should be "graduated from the university archaeology major, obtained the intermediate title, engaged in archaeological excavation for more than two years; has the ability to independently organize archaeological investigation, exploration and excavation, is competent as the leader of the "Field Archaeological Work Regulations", and can organize the preparation of archaeological excavation reports; as one of the organizers or main participants, has completed more than one of the more important archaeological excavations. In the process of organizing and implementing archaeological excavations, he is familiar with the frontier issues in a certain field of archaeology, can select and study topics of certain value according to the development trend of the discipline, and write papers with a certain academic level.
Based on the above laws and regulations and the practice of archaeology in mainland China, we believe that the leaders of archaeological projects should have at least the following qualities.
First, we must have a high academic quality. The team leader must have a sense of the subject and understand the trend of discipline development. It is necessary to design the requirements of the academic topic into the excavation plan, and to place the object of the excavation under the goal and context of scientific research. Be able to maintain a keen insight into specific problems from an overall academic point of view, especially when facing specific excavation objects, to make preliminary academic preparations, from point to surface (small to the entire site unit, as large as the entire area or a considerable period of time before and after). Therefore, the team leader should have both macro and micro perspectives. Having a clear awareness of the problem is the key to the success of an archaeological work.
The second is to be familiar with various techniques of field archaeology. Proficient in traditional excavation and exploration techniques, stratigraphy, typology, etc., familiar with the basic provisions required by the "Field Archaeological Work Regulations", familiar with modern scientific and technological means and technical methods, and maximize the amount of information per unit area of excavation. Improve the scientific and technological content of archaeological excavations, understand the basic principles of archaeological technology, and know what kind of technical means are needed to complete under what circumstances, so as to skillfully mobilize relevant technical forces. These are the key elements that guarantee the quality of archaeological excavations.
The third is to have strong communication skills and a sense of cooperation. Archaeological work is a work of dealing with different departments and different classes of people, and it is necessary to have the talent of diplomats, be good at communicating with all parties, and be able to handle the interests of all parties sincerely, objectively and flexibly. To complete an archaeological task, the team needs to have experts and talents in various professional fields to participate, with the characteristics of "collectivized" cooperation. At the same time, many archaeological projects today are often composed of personnel from different institutions and units, which require team members to cooperate with each other, support each other, respect each other, and avoid disharmonious things. Therefore, in addition to the ability to control and manage the team, the sense of collaboration is also crucial.
Fourth, we must have a rigorous and realistic scientific attitude, and we must have the professional spirit of "not being afraid of suffering." A fine tradition of field archaeology is dedication to scholarship and career and the spirit of "dedication to life". In 1985, Xia Nai made a speech at the opening ceremony of the Fifth Annual Conference of the Chinese Archaeological Society that "Archaeologists Need dedication". Although the conditions of archaeological work have been greatly improved now, and we do not advocate "unnecessary self-suffering", the spirit of not being afraid of suffering is always needed. Especially in the face of the temptations of today's society, it is impossible to "mix" in this archaeological industry without a belief. At present, the leaders of some archaeological projects cannot squat down, or even act as nominal leaders or hand over the construction site to the technicians, which is the most important thing.
Fifth, it is necessary to strengthen capacity building based on posts. Due to the differences in the needs of development and professionals in various regions of the mainland, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage has also tried to classify and differentiate management in the identification of archaeological project leaders. For the leaders of national and cultural relics provincial archaeological institutes, it is emphasized that there must be a relatively high level of academic research and the ability to undertake major archaeological projects and academic topics. The leaders of the general provincial archaeological institute and the prefectural and municipal archaeological institutes undertake a large number of archaeological tasks of capital construction, emphasizing the need to have excellent field archaeological ability, the important task is to do the excavation clearly, write out the archaeological excavation report, and emphasize that there is a certain ability to carry out archaeological research in a certain field in the region. The leaders of colleges and universities shoulder the heavy responsibility of cultivating archaeological professionals, academic research capabilities are generally relatively strong, the key is the level of field archaeology technology and modern technology mastery, emphasizing that in the field excavation should also have a high level and theoretical research ability, can make the archaeological excavation phenomenon clear, explain clearly to students, to have the ability to field archaeological theoretical methods research, exploration.
All in all, the archaeological leader is by no means a "foreman" or a leader-like "captain", he must be the person in charge of an archaeological research project, responsible for coordinating academic, technical and team management. Excavation is the foundation of archaeology and all archaeology-related work, and is the starting point for academic research, conservation, display and service to society. The leader is the soul of archaeological excavations, and he must fully recognize the importance of theoretical methods, scientific and technological means and multidisciplinary cooperation, and maximize the access to information on archaeological work. Today's excavations are different from personal interests and adventures, and have gone beyond the scope of archaeological research in the general sense, including archaeological construction, talent training, and the follow-up protection and display and utilization of excavated cultural relics and sites and the sharing of information.
To this end, the archaeological leader should change the concept, continuously deepen the academic, improve their own knowledge structure system, always maintain an open mind and a responsible attitude, strive to maximize the excavation information, maximize the social benefits, and transform the archaeological scholarship into a strong support for cultural heritage protection and related work, which is also the basic quality that the archaeological leader should have.
P.S. This article is based on a speech made on April 2, 2021 at the "2021 Pre-job Training Course for Heads of Archaeological Excavation Projects".
(Author: Song Xinchao, Deputy Director General of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage.) In addition, the annotation is omitted here, for the full version, please check "Jianghan Archaeology", No. 6, 2021)
Editor-in-charge: Duan Shushan
Audit: Diligence
Chen Lixin
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