On February 26, the preliminary evaluation results of the 2021 National Top Ten New Archaeological Discoveries were announced, and the 20 projects shortlisted for the final evaluation had a variety of ruins, rich site connotations, and wide geographical coverage, fully demonstrating the development results of Chinese archaeology's continuous expansion in depth, the gradual clarification of the site pattern, and the continuous enrichment of cultural connotations. Nandu reporter noted that two archaeological excavation projects in Guangdong Province had previously been eligible for election, both of which were located in Guangzhou, namely the Huangpu Pitouling Site and the Zengcheng Jinlan Temple Site.
Nandu reporter learned that in 2021, more than 1,700 archaeological excavations have been approved nationwide. The candidate projects were all voluntarily declared by each excavation qualification unit, and after review by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, 32 entries were finally determined, and two projects, guangzhou Huangpu Pitouling Ruins and Zengcheng Jinlan Temple Ruins, were selected.
Panoramic distribution of tombs under the site of Kinransa Temple.
According to public information, the site of Jinlan Temple is located in JinlanSi Village, Shitan Town, Zengcheng District, Guangzhou City, and has been excavated three times from 1958 to 1961. In order to cooperate with the construction of the Guangzhou-Shantou high-speed rail project, the Guangzhou Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology began to carry out archaeological excavations at the site in November 2020. It is reported that the excavation of more than 40 late Neolithic tombs, most of the tomb skeletons are relatively well preserved, in the Pearl River estuary and even in the Lingnan region are very rare, for the study and interpretation of the micro-evolution of ancient humans in the prehistoric period of South China and the evolution of Ancient Homo sapiens in China, the migration interaction of people in the prehistoric period of Qinghua South China and the transformation of life and industry methods are of extremely important academic significance.
Schematic map of the distribution of the remains of the Pitouling ruins.
In addition, the Huangpu Pitouling site in Guangzhou also won the 2021 National Top Ten Archaeological New Discoveries qualification. Pitouling is located in Guangzhou Huangpu District, Guangzhou Sino-Singapore Guangzhou Knowledge City. From 2016 to 2017, the Guangzhou Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology conducted rescue archaeological excavations at the Pitouling site. From mid-October 2020, rescue archaeological excavations were carried out again on the site. As of July 2021, the actual archaeological excavation area is about 4,000 square meters, and a total of 68 tombs, 383 ash pits, 151 column holes and 14 ash ditches have been cleaned. The Pitouling site is a cultural relic of the late Neolithic period to the Xia Shang period and the middle and late Warring States period to the early Nanyue Kingdom of the Western Han Dynasty. This archaeological discovery provides an important clue for the exploration of ancient Panyu before qinding lingnan, and is of great value for the historical and cultural research of the Pearl River Delta and even the late Neolithic period to the Nanyue period in the Lingnan region.
It is reported that 2021 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of modern Chinese archaeology. This time, there are many important archaeological achievements participating in the preliminary evaluation of the top ten new archaeological discoveries in the country. Some of the archaeological findings were unanimously approved by the judges, and many projects received the same number of votes, and the competition was fierce. In the end, 20 projects, such as the Sichuan Daocheng Piluo Ruins and the Shicun Ruins in Xia County, Shanxi Province, entered the preliminary selection list, and the above two projects in Guangzhou were ultimately regrettably rejected.
Written by: Nandu reporter Yang Lingyan