"What is history? It is the echo of the past to the future, the reflection of the future on the past. - Hugo"
introduction
Each country has its own history, and some have a short history, only a few hundred years. Some countries have a long history, thousands of years. We often say that china has been around for five thousand years, and the mainland has a long history and culture, and to this day there are still many unknown histories that have been buried and only for people to discover. Many historical excavations may have originated only by chance. Maybe a farmer dug up cultural relics, maybe fishermen fished out antiques, maybe construction dug up ruins, and so on.
When it comes to the accidental discovery of ancient ruins during the construction process, we have to mention an interesting past that happened during the construction of a previous thermal power plant called Baqiao.
In 1953, according to the policy guidance of the national "Five-Year Plan", the construction of baqiao thermal power plant began, and as a result, in the process of construction, a piece of faience pottery was accidentally excavated.
Archaeologists came to check it out and determined that there should be an ancient site near here, roughly estimated to be more than 5,000 years old.
After identifying the ancient ruins near the site of the construction, the state sent a team of archaeologists to carry out archaeological excavations of the ancient ruins, and then found similar historical sites near a small village called Banpo Village.
Finally, after investigation, archaeologists found a site about 6000 to 6700 years old, and named it after the place where it was found, calling it "
Banpo ruins
”。
The "Banpo Ruins" is a civilized settlement belonging to the Yangshao culture of the Neolithic Age
。 From the perspective of social system and time, the era of the "Banpo Site" is in the most prosperous historical period of the Chinese matrilineal clan, so it is also regarded as a typical representative of the matriarchal clan social culture. And experts have unveiled a past in the history of Chinese culture according to the houses, cellars, faience pottery, utensils, tombs and other cultural relics and monuments excavated from the site.
First of all, the Banpo people lived a life based on agricultural economy and supplemented by hunter-gatherer.
Archaeologists at that time found a lot of cabbage, cabbage, corn seeds in the Banpo site, although these seeds have been carbonized, but their appearance also means that the Banpo people living here at that time have basically mastered the technology of farming and planting.
In addition to crop seeds, experts have also found the skeletons of captive pigs and dogs, as well as fences built to domesticate animals, indicating that people at that time had mastered the method of domesticating domestic animals.
In addition, next to the seeds and bones of domestic animals, there are traces of bones, fruits, and fish flesh of other animals. Archaeologists deduce from this that the socio-economic economy of the Banpo people at that time was dominated by agricultural economy, but it also needed to collect and hunt as a supplement to food sources.
Second, the Banpo people have a preliminary social class differentiation.
The houses above the Banpo site are built around a house of about 160 square meters in the center of the village according to certain rules, and archaeologists believe that this is the most respected "grandmother" or the house where the elderly live in the matriarchal clan society. Judging from the layout of the house, the front part of the house in the center of the village is an open space after entering the house, which should be the place where the village chiefs, elders and members meet and discuss.
The back part of the house is divided into 3 "small rooms", which archaeologists speculate on based on the objects in the rooms, believing that these 3 rooms are the rooms where the most senior elderly people in the village live. And according to the skeleton remains on this house, it should have been a "collective dormitory" where the elderly and children lived together. The house is in the center, not only a symbol of status, but also the protection of the elderly and children of the adults in the village.
Third, Banpo people know how to live with tools, such as cooking and eating.
According to a large number of cultural relics such as faience pottery and clay pots excavated from the Banpo site, archaeology has restored the living habits of the Banpo people. At that time, the Banpo people had mastered the skill of cooking food over an open fire, because
Many kilns have been found on the Banpo site, and there are many pottery inside the kilns or on the ground nearby
。 That is to say, the Banpo people at that time could already cook things in clay pots and eat them.
According to the remaining clay pots, experts have found that some clay pots with rough workmanship are used to cook food; some pottery with more delicate workmanship is used for eating.
Moreover, the use and workmanship of clay pots prove that the Banpo people have mastered the craft of making pottery. In addition to clay pots for eating, the Banpo people also made tools for farming, fishing, and hunting.
Finally, the banpo villages had basic defensive facilities.
Around the houses of the Banpo site, there is a large tunnel about 300 meters long, about 8 meters wide and about 6 meters deep, and there are traces of the existence of wooden stakes in the pits, and there are obstacles such as "wooden piles" and "stones" on the pits, indicating that the Banpo tribe at that time already had basic defensive measures.
Archaeologists speculate that the main role of these tunnels is to prevent the intrusion of wild animals and other hostile tribes, and also has a certain drainage effect.
epilogue
Every historical site and historical relic has its value. Today's people can restore the scenes of people's lives hundreds or even thousands of years ago through the study of ruins and cultural relics. It can be said that historical sites and cultural relics are the medium of "dialogue" between modern and ancient people, which is also their value.
References: "Xi'an Banpo", "Prehistoric Research"