On February 26, the preliminary evaluation results of the top ten new archaeological discoveries in China in 2021 were announced. A total of 20 archaeological excavation projects were shortlisted for final evaluation. Among them, Shaanxi Baoji Zhouyuan Ruins and Shaanxi Xi'an Jiangcun Tomb 2 projects shortlisted for the final evaluation.
2021 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of modern Chinese archaeology, and there are many important archaeological achievements participating in the preliminary evaluation. From large Paleolithic wilderness sites to prehistoric settlements in the Yangshao period, from the large rammed earth building sites of the ZhouYuan ruins in the pre-Zhou period to the Ming Zhongdu ruins of "building without use", from the desert and inaccessible frontier beacon sites to the ancient and modern Superimposed Kaiyuan Temple South Ruins that attracted the public to watch... With the continuous expansion of Chinese archaeology, the gradual clarity of the site pattern and the increasing richness of historical and cultural connotations are reflected in the shortlisted projects.
From the perspective of site age, of the 20 projects shortlisted for the final evaluation, there are 7 prehistoric archaeology, 6 archaeology of Xia, Shang and Zhou, 1 archaeology of the Qin, Han, Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and 6 archaeology of the Tang, Song, Yuanming and Ming dynasties. The prehistoric archaeological achievements are still fruitful, followed by the archaeology of Xia Shang Zhou and the archaeology of Tang, Song and Yuanming.
From the perspective of geographical distribution, the 20 archaeological discoveries shortlisted for the final evaluation came from 15 provinces (autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government). Among them, Shanxi, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu provinces all had 2 finalists, accounting for half of the preliminary evaluation. The remaining Hebei, Heilongjiang, Anhui, Jiangxi, Shandong, Henan, Hubei, Hunan, Xinjiang, Tibet and other regions each entered the shortlist. The shortlisted projects are widely distributed in provinces and the geographical distribution is relatively uniform.
Zhouyuan ruins
Shaanxi Baoji Zhouyuan site Wangjiazui No. 1 base site
The site of Zhouyuan is a large settlement of capitals that lasted from the Pre-Zhou Period to the entire Western Zhou Dynasty.
The discovery of the city wall range of the Zhouyuan site in the Western Zhou Period is a major progress in exploring the history of city construction in the pre-Qin period of the mainland, which provides a reference background for clarifying the structure of the Zhouyuan site settlement, the understanding of the nature of the relevant remains, and the outline of the settlement and social change process, and provides an important example for the establishment of the three generations of duyi.
Gangchon Tomb
Clothed pottery figurines were unearthed from the pit outside the tomb in Jiangcun, Xi'an, Shaanxi
It is located in Baqiao District, Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province. In 2016, the outer pit of the Jiangcun Tomb was disturbed, in order to confirm the preservation status of the tomb and the distribution of the surrounding cultural relics, with the approval of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, archaeologists conducted systematic archaeological investigation and exploration of the Jiangcun Tomb and its nearby Empress Dou Mausoleum, The Southern Tomb of Empress Bo and the "Phoenix Mouth" site that is said to be the Tomb of Emperor Wen of Han, and carried out archaeological excavations of the hidden pit outside the mausoleum, and now basically confirmed that the Jiangcun Tomb is the tomb of Liu Heng, the emperor of the early Han Dynasty of the Western Han Dynasty.
Source: Xi'an Release
Editor: Zhao Zeyuan
Editor-in-charge: Liu Yunpeng
Review: Ma Jia