Abstract:Archaeological evidence in recent years shows that around 4,000 years ago, there were signs of cultural exchange and interaction between the Shijia culture in the Loess Plateau and the Houshijiahe culture in the Jianghan Plain, especially in typical jade objects such as Yazhang, Yingzhen and Hutou. The route of exchange and interaction between the two may be the "corridor" zone between the Hetao area, the Guanzhong area, the Nanyang Basin and the Jianghan Plain, and the interaction mode may be understood as the "upper level communication" in the context of remote communication.
According to existing research, there is a large overlap in the existence time of the Shijia culture and the Houshijiahe culture (the absolute age is 4300-3800 years ago and 4200-4000 years ago, respectively). In terms of geographical distribution, the core distribution range of the Shijia culture is the Hetao area at the junction of Shaanxi, Shanxi and Inner Mongolia, and the Post-Shijiahe culture takes the Jianghan Plain as the hinterland. The two archaeological cultures are named after their core settlements, the Shaanxi Shenmu Shi'an Site and the Hubei Tianmen Shijiahe Site, which are more than 900 kilometers in a straight line, located in the middle reaches of the Yellow River and the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, which are difficult to see in terms of climatic type, geomorphological characteristics, and cultural features, but there is a certain connection between representative jade artifacts such as Yazhang, Yingzheng, And Hutou, and some other "cultural factors", or can be called "remote communication".
According to the current findings, from the perspective of quantity, age and exquisiteness, Yazhang can be regarded as a representative artifact of the Jade of the Shijia culture, and the Eagle Fence and the Tiger Head can be used as typical artifacts of the Jade of the Houshijiahe Culture. If this is the case, the background of the remote communication must be considered in the excavation of The Shijiahe Cultural Distribution Range, and vice versa, and the Houshijiahe Eagle And Tiger Head found within the distribution range of the Shijiahe Culture should also be considered in this way.
The discovery and characteristics of Shi Yazhang
In the early period (before the Xia Dynasty), Yazhang was mainly found in Shi'an and various sites in The Huadizui area of Gongyi, Henan and Haidai, Shandong, of which the largest number of sites were found in Shi'an.
From 1976 to 1979, Mr. Dai Yingxin collected 127 pieces of jade during the investigation and excavation of the Shi'an site, numbered SSY1-SSY127, which were initially considered to belong to the "Longshan culture" jade, and later specifically pointed out that SSY45 "Yuqi" was excavated from the non-Shi'an site, and it came from an earthen tomb with a copper belt hook, which was later. Therefore, there are 126 pieces of "Shiya Longshan Cultural Jade" in this batch of jade, of which Yazhang accounts for a relatively large proportion. According to the information seen so far, there are 28 pieces of tooth zhangs with complete morphology and easy identification in the Shi'a Longshan cultural jade, numbered SSY1-28. Checking the "Shiya Jade Statistical Table", except for SSY18 collection in 1976 and SSY20 collection year is not indicated, the remaining 26 pieces of tooth zhang are collected in 1978. In general, in the northern Shaanxi region where the Shi'an site is located in the 1970s, the credibility of the collection of cultural relics is quite high, coupled with the investigation and visits during the archaeological work of Shi'an in recent years and the analysis of the excavation of jade artifacts in the surrounding area, including Yazhang, we have reason to believe that the above 28 Pieces of Yazhang are relics of the Shi'a culture and can represent the general characteristics of Shi'ayazhang. For the sake of convenience, this article refers to the newly collected ShiYazhang collected by Dai Ying from 1976 to 1979, referred to as "78 Years of Yazhang". In addition, according to the published photos and line drawings, SSY29, SSY30, and SSY84 should also be shovels and knives made of Yazhang, as the collector of this batch of jade, Mr. Dai Yingxin has long held this view. Therefore, there are no less than 31 pieces of tooth zhangdang in 78 years.
It must be noted that due to many reasons, the background of the excavation of Yazhang in 78 years is now difficult to identify, but with the development of the archaeological work of the Shiya site system in 2011, it has been learned that the important clues of the excavation site of Yazhang in 78 years may be located on the loess liangjia not far from the east side of the east gate site of the outer city. More importantly, in the excavation work in recent years, yazhang has been excavated at the site of the east gate of the outer city and the imperial city platform, which provides an accurate reference and proof for the 78-year-old yazhang.
Judging from the published color and line maps, compared with the Gongyi Huadizui and Haidai areas, Shi'an 78-year-old Yazhang has the following typical characteristics.
1. The form is distinguishable. It mainly includes two types: vegetarian teeth and flower teeth. The morphology of the diaphragm teeth is symmetrical single tooth, but according to its detailed characteristics, it can be roughly divided into two categories and five types. It should be noted that in this article, the description of the morphology of the teeth is horizontally placed as an observational perspective.
The first category, vegetarian teeth. This type of tooth zhang is generally slender, the appendix is obviously divided, the teeth are simple and simple, and the top of the tooth is inclined to the body. (Figure 1: 1) This type of tooth zhang accounts for the largest proportion, is the main form of the 78 years of tooth zhang, from the perspective of the shape of the front teeth, it can be subdivided into three types: type I. type, hook tooth type, the top of the tooth is flatter and the curved arc of the zhang body is in the form of an inner hook; type II., concave tooth type, the top of the tooth is curved and concave; type III., flat tooth type, the tooth body is vertical, and the top of the tooth is more oblique and flat. The above three types of tooth zhang, the number of flat tooth types is the largest, about the sum of the hook tooth and the tooth type tooth zhang, the number of hook teeth and the tooth type is equivalent.
The second category, the flower teeth. This type of tooth is generally wide and flat, and the teeth are complex and complicated. (Figure 1: 2) The number is small, only 4 pieces. According to its specific form, it can be divided into two types: I. type, bull head type, 3 pieces, no division of the diaphragm, concave at the top of the tooth, symmetry left and right, shaped like a bull's head, there are grooves on both sides, this type of front teeth do not appear alone, in its upper part of the Zhang, and carved out of the fine small teeth; TYPE II, chicken crown type, only 1 piece, the appendix has a score, the top of the tooth is slightly curved and convex, the lower end is carved out of the V shaped groove, the upper part is engraved W shape groove, the overall asymmetrical form, can be roughly described as a side view of the crown. The bottom of this type of tooth zhang body also has a parallel and crossed fine line pattern engraved with yin, and the two sides of the parallel fine line are deliberately carved with convex edges, which are divided into three small teeth in a group of two groups.
The above analysis shows that the main form of the 78-year-old tooth zhang of Shi'an is vegetarian teeth, with a small number of flower teeth. In addition, the oblique and straight bottom of the handle is also its prominent feature.
2. The times are sooner or later. The age of vegetarian teeth generally predates the flower tooth zhang. According to the types divided above, with the morphology of the front teeth as the main external feature, there is a possibility of staging. Recent field excavations have revealed the hierarchical relationship between flower teeth that appear later than vegetarian teeth. Generally speaking, it can be roughly attributed to the middle period of the Shiya culture, the emergence of the flower tooth zhang may be in the late Shiya culture, the absolute age of the two types of tooth zhang is about 2000 BC and 1900 BC to 1800 BC.
3. The size is more uniform. At present, there are 21 pieces of length that can be counted, and the length of early (plain teeth) is between 25 and 36 cm, and it is most common to about 30 cm. Late period (flower teeth) are also more common about 30 cm, and at the same time there is a phenomenon of "giganticization", such as SSY17, up to 49 cm long, which is a flower tooth type bull head type tooth zhang.
4. The body has a positive and negative. The cross-section of the 78-year-old tooth zhang is curved, the body has a front and back, the front is concave, smooth, the back is convex, the smoothness is not as good as the front, and there are often edges left by the cutting of the cutting.
5. The color is more consistent. It is predominantly jet black with a small amount of dark green.
According to the above analysis, we summarize the above five indications as typical characteristics of 78 years of tooth zhang, and also represent the general characteristics of the stone culture tooth zhang. Archaeological discoveries of Yazhang with the above 5 indications should consider their relationship with Shiyazhang.
Ii. The discovery and characteristics of the Houshijiahe Eagle Fence
According to the currently published data, a total of 6 cases of jade eagles in the Post-Shijiahe cultural distribution area were found. Among them, there are 3 sites of Sunjiagang in Lixian County, Hunan, M9:5, M120:15 and M136:7; 1 site of Zaolingang in Jingzhou, Hubei Province, JZWM1:2; 1 site of Xiaojia roof ridge of Shijiahe Site in Tianmen, 1 piece, 012; 1 site of Zhongxiang Liuhe (Gaoershan) site, M1:4. The above eagle fence can be subdivided into long and short types. (Figure 2) In addition, Sunjiagang M9:1, M60:2, Zaolingang JZWM30:1 and other jade fences are obviously simplified forms of typical eagle fences.
In terms of morphology, these jade eagles can be roughly divided into two parts, the upper part is a winged standing eagle, lifelike, there are obvious folding edges below the eagle's tail, and the folded edges are generally blunt and cone-shaped. In addition, a hole is seen in the tail of the eagle, or the phenomenon of drilling a hole at the bottom. The lower features may indicate that the Houshijiahe Eagle Fence is an eagle-shaped jade that is connected to other "components" and together constitute a composite artifact.
In terms of size, the length of the long eagle is generally about 15 cm, and the short type is generally not more than 10 cm. The length of the eagle is around 5 cm.
The discovery and characteristics of tiger heads in the Houshijiahe River
According to statistics, in the Jianghan Plain where the Houshijiahe culture is located, a total of 18 pieces of jade tiger heads have been excavated. (Figure 3) Among them, there are 7 Xiaojia roof ridge sites at the Shijiahe site, W6:16, 19, 53, W71:6, AT13:1, 04, 010; 3 Zaoling ruins, M1:1, M37:1, M41:1; 3 Sites of Tanjialing at shijiahe sites, W9:10, 49, W8:6; 2 Liuhe sites, W4:2, W14:4; 2 Sunjiagang sites, M71:2, 3; 1 Site of Luojiabailing at Shijiahe Site, T7:6. In addition, two tiger-shaped "crown ornaments" (W9:60, 62) were unearthed in the W9 of the Tanjialing site of the Shijiahe site, and their head shape is very similar to that of the general jade tiger head.
The faces of these tiger heads are generally about 2 to 3 cm square, according to their overall shape can be roughly divided into three categories: flakes, rings and blocks, of which flakes are the most common, 13 pieces have been found, mostly have transverse perforations; there are a small number of rings; also see individual blocks, with vertical perforations. The face of the tiger head is meticulously carved, and the facial forms such as ears, nose and eyes are vivid.
IV. Physical evidence of exchange
As mentioned above, the distance between the Shi'an site and the Shijiahe site is more than 900 kilometers, 4,000 years ago, which can be described as distant, but representative jade belonging to each other has been found within the core range of both sides.
On the one hand, in the hinterland of the Houshijiahe culture, the "Shijia class" Yazhang was found. In 1995, the site of Wangjiawuchang in Jingzhou, Hubei Province, surveyed and collected 2 pieces of stone tooth zhang, both of which were black. (Figure 4: 1) Sign: 2, morphological integrity, length 35.6 cm, "one-horned" diaphragm, asymmetrical on both sides, sharp angle "V" shaped blade, two tips with height; sign: 3, the blade should be modified to cut, now straight, 41 cm long, there are symmetrical "bull's head", diaphragm on both sides of the appendix, more concise. According to the investigation, the above two pieces of Yazhang and some stone tools were excavated half a meter below the surface, with reference to the collection of pottery pieces such as ding, cylinder, urn, pot, pot, bean, etc. The investigator believes that the age of these two pieces of Yazhang is about the "late Shijiahe culture", dating back to about 4200 to 4000 years ago.
Judging from the published photos and line drawings, the 2 pieces of yazhang collected by Wang Jiawuchang are similar to Shiyazhang in terms of color and tooth type, but from its size and overall morphology, it may belong to the "imitation" of The late Shiya culture, and this article tends to presume its dating from 1900 BC to 1800 BC.
On the other hand, representative jade artifacts of the Houshijiahe culture have also been found at the site of Shi'an, the core settlement of the Shi'an culture, the Eagle Fence and the Tiger Head. At present, there are 2 eagle fences and 1 tiger head. (Figure 4: 2)
Eagle Fence 1, formerly known as "Jade Locust", number SSY125, is 7 cm long. The image is realistic, with a rounded beak, a shallow carved fine line of wings, a slightly convex abdomen, and a pronounced undertail fold; Eagle Fence 2, number SSY126, 6.5 cm long. Small round beak, slender neck, hook-shaped mouth, bascarped wings, square tail, multiple lines representing feathers; tiger head, number SSY124, slightly circular, about 2 cm square, the body across a round hole. The tiger's head has large square ears, a round forehead and a thick kiss, and the eyes and nose are patterned and concave.
From the perspective of size and form, the eagle fence found at the Shijia site is more "direct" related to the Houshijiahe culture, and the Shijiahu head may be an imitation of the Houshijiahe tiger head. Hidenori Okamura believes that the Jade Eagle And the Jade Tiger Head were shipped to the Central Plains and Northern Shaanxi by products made in the Houshijiahe culture.
Undoubtedly, no archaeological culture has developed in isolation, but must learn from and absorb neighboring archaeological cultures, and even distant archaeological cultures. According to the above, Shijiayazhang may have influenced the core area of the Houshijiahe culture, and the Houshijiahe Eagle And Tiger Head were also found at the Shijiahe site, a phenomenon that reflects the exchange and interaction between the two archaeological cultures. At the same time, we also found that the two archaeological cultures may be biased in terms of degree of influence. For example, as a typical feature of the Houshijiahe culture, the jade tradition, was not developed in the Shijiahe culture before it. The results of statistical comparison show that during the Shijiahe culture period, the types and quantities of jade were very small, and no jade habits and jade system were formed, nor did they inherit and carry forward the more prosperous jade ware culture in the earlier Daxi culture period here. The number and types of jade in the post-Shijiahe culture period increased sharply, and the types of utensils, ornaments and jade-making processes were unique, forming a more systematic jade culture.
We believe that the artistic characteristics of houshijiahe jade do not rule out the possibility of learning and borrowing from the stone carvings of Taidatai foundation in the imperial city of Shi'an. Of course, local factors must be adhered to, such as the fangs commonly found in the jade carving of houshihe, but basically absent in the stone carving.
5. Communication routes are unpredictable
After identifying the typical jade artifacts of the Shijia and Houshijiahe cultures and further analyzing the phenomenon of communication and interaction between the two, the possible communication routes are analyzed. First, there is physical evidence. It is true that the epochality of the evidence is unavoidable, but there is a natural difference between jade and general artifacts such as pottery, and it has been circulated or used for much longer than pottery. Therefore, after considering the "antique" characteristics of jade, we still list the evidence such as Yazhang, Eagle Fence, and Tiger Head between the distribution ranges of the two archaeological cultures for analysis.
Shangluo Donglongshan Xia Dynasty tomb excavated Yazhang (Fig. 5: 1), excavated in M83 in 2000, the tomb pit is northwest - southeast rectangular vertical cavity, the tomb owner is a male of about 45 years old, leaning straight limbs, head to the northwest, Yazhang is located outside the left arm, the tomb owner has 1 piece of jade qi on the right chest, 1 piece of disc-shaped stone block on the right lower abdomen, 1 piece of shi gui outside the right calf, 1 piece of circular lacquered wood between the two strands and the left calf, and 3 pieces of stone bi scattered in the filled soil. Excavators have judged that the tomb dates to the early Xia Dynasty. Yazhang (M83:1) is inky jade, 27.6 cm long, and the bottom of the stalk is obliquely straight. The overall morphology is close to that of the concave tooth type of the stone esthetic tooth.
ZhouYuan Shang Dynasty tomb excavated Yazhang (Fig. 5: 2), excavated in 2010 in the southern remnant tomb of Wangjiazui Village, Jingdang Town, Qishan County, the tomb is shaped as a vertical pit, the tomb owner is straight on his back, and there is a waist pit under the hip bone. The tomb was badly damaged, and the tooth zhang and more bronze tools were found in the soil around the tomb. Yazhang ink jade, through the length of 39.1 cm. The appendix has hook teeth and small teeth, and the small teeth are connected by oblique double strands of fine lines, and the hook teeth are connected by parallel oblique three thin lines. The bottom of the stalk is not very orderly, and one corner is obliquely flat. According to the description, the tooth zhang should have a "positive back". The whole resembles the combination of the flat tooth type of the stone tooth and the cockscomb type of the flower tooth.
Henan Tongbaiyuehe Spring and Autumn Tomb excavated Yazhang (Figure 5: 3), 1993-1994 excavated in M1, the tomb is a north-south rectangular vertical pit wooden tomb, in the central main (tomb) room on the north and south sides of each rectangular "burial pit", the main (tomb) chamber with burial more than 400 pieces of jade and a small number of bronze ware, the north burial pit with more than 30 pieces of bronze musical instruments, weapons and jade tools, the south burial pit with the burial of bronze ceremonial (rong) utensils 9 pieces and lacquered wood utensils 9 pieces. Among the more than 400 sets of jade tools, 2 pieces of black tooth zhang were reported. M1:142, length 25.2 cm, the blade should be changed to cut, now flat and straight, the stalk is wide and short, the sides are obliquely straight, there are 3 groups of 6 teeth on both sides of the appendix, there is a circular perforation inside; M1:86, 31.4 cm long, the edge of the body should be modified, and the end blade, the teeth and so on should not be seen. According to the bronze inscription excavated from the tomb and other bronze vessels with "Yang" character inscriptions excavated around the tomb, excavators believe that M1 is the tomb of the Yang (Yang) monarch in the late Spring and Autumn Period. Researchers believe that the tooth zhang excavated from tongbaiyuehe M1 has a great degree of similarity in form and size to the stone yazhang. M1:142 The overall shape resembles the combination of the tooth type of the stone thrush tooth and the cockscomb type of the flower tooth. The same modified black tooth zhang (SSY29) as M1:86 has also been found at the Shi'an site. In addition, Wangchenggang, Lihe Township, Wancheng District, Nanyang City, also unearthed a piece of gray-brown tooth zhang, 37.8 cm long, and the overall shape is close to that of Yuehe M1:142.
Yuzhou Wadian Longshan period late tomb excavation jade eagle fence (fig. 5: 4), excavated in 1997 in the urn burial IV.T4W1:4, the urn coffin is located in the oval pit, the urn coffin inside the human bone is an adult man, under the south side of the head, buried with the jade eagle fence (called "bird" in the report) and a jade shovel. Eagle is dark green and 6.3 cm long. Round carving, eagle head, mouth expression realistic, wings with line engraving, conical tail drilled a round hole. The overall morphology is very similar to that of the Houshijiahe Eagle.
Three pieces of jade tiger heads were excavated from the Shangzhou Tomb of Gaojiabao in Jingyang (Figure 5: 5), which were excavated in 71SJGM1 and 91SJGM4 respectively, both of which are vertical pit tombs with waist pits. 71SJGM1:19, length 3 cm, width 2.6 cm, thickness 0.8 cm, topaz; 71SJGM1:20, length 2.2 cm, width 1.7 cm, thickness 0.6 cm, green jade. 91SJGM4:23, length 2.6 cm, width 2.1 cm, thickness 0.7 cm, brown jade. These tiger heads are all in a flaky overall form very similar to the Houshijiahe tiger head.
In terms of geographical units, from the hinterland of the Shi'e culture - Hetao area to the south, across the Loess Plateau to the Guanzhong region in the south, and then through the Shangluo Corridor through the Qinling Mountains to the Nanyang Basin, and then through the Suiqi Corridor, you can reach the core range of the Houshijiahe culture - the Jianghan Plain. The above-mentioned discoveries of Yazhang, Yingzhi and Hutou are highly coincident with the above routes, implying that this route may be the main route for the remote exchange between Shi'an and Houshijiahe culture. In fact, the Guanzhong region was connected to the Nanyang Basin by the Shangluo Corridor, and the Nanyang Basin was connected to the Jianghan Plain by the Suiqi Corridor, and this connection route had become an important route of the Zhou Royal Family's Southern Expedition as early as the Western Zhou Dynasty. (Fig. 6) In addition, in addition to typical jade evidence, some pottery evidence was also found, such as pottery with obvious Shi'an cultural factors excavated in Keshengzhuang (H167:21 single mane) and the Kangjia site (H29:1 double bristle, H4:3 double-glazed mane, T1:2 pipe flow cup) excavated in the Guanzhong area.
Starting from typical jade objects such as Yazhang, Yingzhen and Hutou, this article depicts the exchange and interaction between Shijiahe culture and Houshijiahe culture in "thick lines", and Shijiahe stone carvings or are inextricably linked with Houshijiahe jade. However, it should be noted that at present, archaeological materials do not see direct communication between the two in general artifacts- pottery, and the form of communication with jade as the main medium may be what Mr. Li Xinwei called "luxury exchange in the upper class".