As we all know, the Shi'an site is the largest prehistoric ancient city discovered on the mainland so far, and tens of thousands of precious cultural relics have been unearthed, which has given us a new understanding of the prehistoric social landscape. It is worth mentioning that experts have also found crocodile skins and crocodile bones at the Site of Shi'an, where did the crocodiles in Shi'e come from? If you are also curious, the following Xiaobian will reveal the secret to you and see what the experts say.
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Located in Shenmu City, Shaanxi Province, the site sits on a stretch of gentle hill and is named for its proximity to Shi'an Village. Since the discovery of the Shi'an site in the 1950s, many archaeologists have a strong interest in it, after years of research and excavation, it has been determined that the Shi'an site is mainly composed of three parts, namely the defensive outer city, the living inner city and the sacrificial imperial city platform, with a total area of more than 4 million square meters, which is larger than the area of the Liangzhu ruins and the Tao Temple ruins in the same period, so it is also known as "the first ancient city in China".
In the process of excavations that lasted for more than half a century, experts unearthed a large number of "treasures", the largest number of which was pottery, and the most exquisitely made were jade, such as jade rings and stone carved human heads, indicating the superb jade-making technology of the ancestors of Shi'an. In addition, there are the earliest frescoes, although they are simple geometric lines, but rich in color, there are black, yellowstone, green and red, etc.; textiles have also been found on human bones, proving that the ancestors of Shiya have learned the technique of weaving; however, the most amazing is crocodile skin and crocodile bone.
In June 2012, while cleaning up the Imperial City Terrace, archaeologists found a double-glazed mane, a type of cooking pottery, from the sacrificial pit on the west side, but unfortunately the double-glazed mane had been broken. Experts carefully cleared out the double-glazed mane, only to find that there was a square gray-white hard bone, about the size of a coin, and a densely packed small bulge on it. In addition, experts also found that there was a layer of black attached to the inner wall of the double mane, and there was a bad smell, and it was impossible to figure out anything for a while and a half. A few days later, archaeologists took samples of both the bone and the black attachment and sent it to the provincial research institute for laboratory identification, and the laboratory report showed that the bone was an oracle bone in the crocodile's abdomen, and the black attachment was rotten crocodile skin.
Archaeologists have wondered, this is not only the first time to find crocodile bones and crocodile skin in Shiya, but also the first time that crocodiles have been found in the entire north-central Shaanxi, so it also makes experts question the origin of crocodiles. As we all know, crocodiles are ferocious animals that live in river swamps and are found in many countries around the world. According to historical records, crocodiles with written records on the mainland first appeared in the Han Dynasty, but archaeological studies have shown that the ancients were familiar with crocodiles much earlier than the Han Dynasty, such as the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, officials who trained and raised crocodiles appeared.
From the perspective of archaeological findings, there are more crocodiles found in the ancient southern region, such as the Yangtze crocodile in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the Malay crocodile in the Pearl River Basin, and the bay crocodile in the Hainan Island area. Experts say that the climate in the south is suitable for the growth and reproduction of crocodiles, so experts speculate that it was obtained through trade, that is, southerners brought crocodiles or crocodile products to the north, such as ornaments and magic tools made of crocodile bones, and drums made of crocodile skin. However, these speculations are not very reasonable, after all, the social transportation at that time was inconvenient, and even without transportation, they could not cross the natural graben of the Yellow River and the Yangtze River. Therefore, some experts said that the scope of activities of the ancients was extremely limited and did not have the conditions for north-south trade.
Since it was not trade, there was only one speculation, that is, crocodiles were originally species in the Shiya region. Nowadays, Shaanxi and most of the north are very dry, but it may not have been the case four or five thousand years ago, for example, in the Shi'an ruins, there are rivers and lakes everywhere as in the south, and the climate is pleasant, the water and grass are abundant, not only suitable for crocodile breeding, but also suitable for some other animals that are now absent, such as various types of water birds and fish, elephants and giraffes. It is worth mentioning that in the Ruins of the Western Zhou Dynasty in Xi'an, Shaanxi, experts have also found a large number of crocodile bones, according to the records of the bronze inscriptions at that time, it can be determined that there were indeed crocodiles in the northern region thousands of years ago, rather than trade exchange.
After the vicissitudes of the mulberry fields, it may be difficult for us today to imagine the natural environment thousands of years ago, so there are many doubts about the appearance of some animal remains. Today, we can no longer restore our former environment, but we can take active actions to protect the current environment and leave a precious "gift" for future generations.
Resources:
"Shi'an Kingdom" by Yang Rui, Publisher: Shaanxi People's Publishing House Co., Ltd
Wenlan Hairun Studio Editor-in-Chief Wen Xiucai, this article is written by: Special History Writer: Liu Lijiang's