On March 18, 2021, the 6 field archaeological excavation projects that were finally selected for the new archaeological discoveries in China in 2021 were officially announced.
Xiaoxin takes you to see it first!
Paleolithic site of Pirao, Daocheng County, Sichuan
Hand axe and thin-bladed axe excavated from the Pirot site Courtesy of the Sichuan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology
In the southeastern foothills of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, 2 kilometers away from daocheng county, next to the Pinghe River, a secondary tributary of the Jinsha River, the ruins of Pirao, Daocheng, Sichuan, are buried with secrets.
Several exploration squares excavated at the site are about two meters deep at the most, and the exploration section strata show yellow and red interlacing, yellow represents the cold period, red represents the warm period, and each formation represents tens of thousands of years.
Multiple sections of human activity, ashel hand axes, thin-bladed axes... In September 2021, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage reported important archaeological discoveries at the Pilo site.
Experts believe that this has completely resolved the controversy over whether There is a real Ashel technical system in China and East Asia, and the academic argument that "the early human culture in the East lagged behind the West" is pure prejudice.
Neolithic site of Huangshan Mountain in Nanyang City, Henan Province
Jade-making tools excavated from the Huangshan site Courtesy of the Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology
The Huangshan Neolithic site is located in Huangshan Village, Nanyang City, about 3 kilometers away from Dushan Mountain, a famous jade mountain in China.
Through years of archaeological work, the Huangshan Neolithic site has not only unearthed a large number of important remains, but also the relevant scientific and technological archaeological achievements are also very prominent, and important achievements have been made in dating, plants, human bone DNA, jade lithology analysis, etc., and the prehistoric cultural relics are preserved layer by layer, which can be called an archaeological wonder of "three thousand years before history at a glance".
Archaeologists believe that the Huangshan Neolithic site is a large site that spans the Neolithic Yangshao culture, Qujialing culture and Shijiahe culture in the Neolithic era, involving the nature of jade tool making, and is the largest site with the largest area, the highest specifications and rich connotations that have been found in the Nanyang Basin, reflecting the social complexity and civilization process of the cultural exchange and integration of the north and the south at that time, and is a key site for exploring the origin and cultural development of civilization in the Nanyang Basin and the Jianghan Plain, and is also a key site for the study of Chinese civilization. A major discovery in Chinese Neolithic archaeology.
Sanxingdui Shang Dynasty ruins in Guanghan City, Sichuan Province
The picture shows the cultural relics in the Sanxingdui sacrifice pit. China News Service reporter An Yuan photographed
Discovered in the late 1920s, the Sanxingdui site is the largest and highest-ranking central site of the Xia and Shang dynasties currently found in the Sichuan Basin.
In 1986, Chinese archaeologists excavated more than a thousand bronze gods, bronze figures and other precious cultural relics from the Rescue Excavations of No. 1 and No. 2 Sacrifice Pits, making the Sanxingdui site truly known to the world.
The Sanxingdui site continued from the Neolithic age to the early Spring and Autumn Period, when the Chengdu Plain had both Sanxingdui culture and Baodun culture coexisting, which belonged to the first phase of the ancient Shu civilization. In the late Shang Dynasty, jinsha culture emerged as an ancient Shu culture that was in the same line as Sanxingdui and Baodun.
Jiangxi Zhangshu City Guozishan Warring States Tomb
The picture shows the public visiting the model of the National Character Hill tomb in the Camphor Tree Museum. Photo by Liu Zhankun
According to expert arguments, the Guozishan Tomb is the largest archaeological tomb found in Jiangxi so far in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, and the owner of the tomb has a high status, presumably the Yue royal family.
Although the tomb was disturbed by early theft, there are still more than 2600 sets of utensils. The types of artifacts unearthed are lacquered wood ware, as well as metalware, ceramics, and jade ware. From the perspective of utensils, it includes a variety of categories such as ceremonial instruments, musical instruments, weapons, carriage and horse tools, and daily utensils. The excavated kite is well preserved, and the tail of the kite is high, with a total length of 2.3 meters, which is the longest piece unearthed so far. The tomb also contains a bronze dove staff in the form of a seated humanoid pendant and two bronze pendants of the "Yue King" inscription.
Hubei Yunmeng County Zhengjiahu Warring States Qin Han Cemetery
Image source: CCTV news client
Zhengjiahu Cemetery is located in Chengguan Town, Yunmeng County, Hubei Province, distributed in the southeast suburbs of the Chuwangcheng City Site, about 1,000 meters west of Longgang Cemetery and about 3,000 meters from Sleeping Tiger Cemetery.
The main harvest of the excavation in 2021 is: a number of precious written materials have been unearthed, in addition to the dispatch of the strategy class of wood, the most precious is the late Warring States tomb M274 out of the wooden yao (a kind of multi-prismatic wood), 7 lines on both sides, each line is written more than 50 words, the full text of about 700 words, is the earliest "first long text" seen in the current era.
A number of rare burial instrument paintings have been unearthed, dating from the end of the Warring States period - the Qin Dynasty and the Qin and Han Dynasties, the themes are the first sight, filling the historical gap in the materials and types of Qin and Han paintings, providing important materials for the study of Qin people's funeral customs, religious thoughts, and artistic modeling; a large number of exquisite lacquered wood ware have also been unearthed, which are well preserved and have distinct regional characteristics, providing important materials for the study of the production and circulation of Qin and Han lacquerware, arts and crafts.
Wuwei City, Gansu Province, Tang Dynasty Tuguhun royal family tomb group
The picture shows the Racecourse Beach M1. Courtesy of the Gansu Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau
Gansu Wuwei Tuguhun Tomb Group is a Tang Dynasty tomb group. Among them, the tomb of Murong Zhi, the Xiwang in Chashan Village, Qilian Town, Tianzhu Tibetan Autonomous County, Wuwei City, is the only well-preserved Tomb of the Tuguhun Royal Family found so far. Murong Zhi was the third son of Murong Nuobao, the last Tuguhun king, and Princess Honghua.
The ancestors of the Tuguhun people were the Xianbei Murong clan of Liaodong, and later their branches moved west to the border areas of Qinghai, Gansu, Sichuan and other provinces, gradually developing into an independent state, and eventually submitting to the Tang Dynasty.
There are more than 800 pieces of various burial items such as textiles and lacquered wood utensils unearthed from the tomb, including wooden beds, six-curved screens, complete sets of weapons based on iron armor, pens, ink and paper and other stationery supplies, which are the first or rare discoveries of similar cultural relics in The same period in China. The tomb also unearthed the earliest white wine found in China. (End)