How did ancient humans conquer the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau?
Where is the exact location of the Tomb of emperor Wen of Han?
What is the relationship between the ancient Shu civilization and the Central Plains civilization?
……
Where do we come from?
Why China? Why Huaxia?
Archaeology has solved our doubts empirically.
Recently, the final evaluation meeting of the top ten new archaeological discoveries in China in 2021, sponsored by China Cultural Relics Newspaper and China Archaeological Society, was held in Beijing in the form of an online conference. After the project report, comprehensive review, the judges voted to select ——
Top 10 new archaeological discoveries in China in 2021
Archaeology sees the original intention!
From an ancient civilization to a cultural power
"Culture is the soul of a country and a nation. Culture rejuvenates the country and prospers, and culture strengthens the nation. In the report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed that without a high degree of cultural self-confidence and the prosperity of culture, there will be no great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping has attached great importance to cultural relics and archaeology. On September 28, 2020, Xi Jinping stressed at the 23rd collective study of the Politburo of the Central Committee that it is necessary to build archaeology with Chinese characteristics in Chinese style and style, and better understand the long-standing and profound Chinese civilization. On October 17, 2021, Xi Jinping sent a letter congratulating Yangshao on the 100th anniversary of the cultural discovery of Yangshao and the birth of modern Chinese archaeology, emphasizing the importance of carrying forward the fine tradition of rigorous and realistic hard work, hard work and dedication, and striving to build an archaeology with Chinese characteristics and Chinese style.
Under the great attention and cordial care of General Secretary Xi Jinping, archaeological work has flourished. The State Administration of Cultural Heritage will soon issue and implement the "14th Five-Year Plan for Archaeological Work", focus on major historical issues and strive to make new breakthroughs, implement the "archaeology first, then transfer" system to protect and inherit the historical context, vigorously develop scientific and technological archaeology to promote the application of modern science and technology in archaeology, strengthen the construction of institutional teams, continuously grow professional forces, deepen international archaeological cooperation and exchanges, and promote civilization exchanges and mutual learning.
Cultural relics and archaeologists conscientiously implemented the spirit of the important instructions of General Secretary Xi Jinping, solidly promoted archaeological work, and achieved fruitful results. The project selected as one of the top ten new archaeological discoveries in China in 2021 is a vivid interpretation of the historical process of the early human origin, prehistoric culture and development of Chinese civilization, and the unification of multi-ethnic countries, showing the colorful, long-standing, broad and profound Style of Chinese civilization.
Establish a great historical outlook,
Let the archaeological influence continue to grow!
The people are the creators of history and the fundamental driving force for pushing history forward. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "The people are the creators of history and the real heroes. "The jiangshan is the people, the people are the jiangshan, and fighting the jiangshan and guarding the jiangshan is the people's heart." The glorious achievements of Chinese civilization shown by archaeology are the history created by the people.
For the Chinese people, archaeology not only enriches knowledge, but more importantly, obtains spiritual strength from the Chinese cultural genes accumulated for thousands of years, enhances cultural self-confidence, and each new archaeological discovery deepens the understanding of an academic field, and also puts forward a new clue and research direction that needs continuous attention.
The early stone silkworm pupae excavated from the shicun site in Xia County, Shanxi, is the earliest image of the silkworm pupae found in China;
The ancient rice fields at the Shi'ao site in Yuyao, Zhejiang are the largest, oldest, most complete cultural series and most well-documented rice farming relics found in the world;
The Zhouyuan site in Baoji, Shaanxi, provides evidence for the confirmation of the Pre-Zhou National Center, and further proves that the Zhouyuan was the place where the father of the ancient Gonggong moved to Qi;
The high-grade mound tomb group in Qujiangxi Zhou, Zhejiang, is most likely the royal tomb area of the Gu Contempt State, filling the gap in the archaeological research of the Gu Contempt State...
Although these projects are unfortunately not selected as the top ten new archaeological discoveries in the country in 2021, it can be seen that the strength and influence of the top ten projects selected are strong and influential.
The implementation of major academic topics such as "Comprehensive Research on the Origin and Early Development of Chinese Civilization" and "Archaeological China" has become a strong driving force for the development of Chinese archaeology, not only shouldering the heavy responsibility of exploring the long history of Chinese civilization, but also shouldering the heavy responsibility of enhancing national self-confidence!
FY2021
Top 10 new archaeological discoveries in the country
(Sorted by era morning and evening)
Sichuan Daocheng Pyro ruins
Located in Daocheng County, Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province, the site of Piluo is located at an average altitude of more than 3,750 meters above sea level on the third terrace of the Pinghe River, a second-class tributary of the Jinsha River. The site is about 2,000 meters long from north to south, about 500 meters wide from east to west, and has a total area of about 1 million square meters. The site has established a scientific surface collection system, which records in detail the types, weathering and abrasion of all typical stone products on the surface, greatly fills the gap of limited excavation area, and systematically restores the spatial distribution of relics from different periods within the entire site, and has collected more than 3,000 typical stone products.
On the whole, the Piluo site is a rare super-large Paleolithic wilderness site with special spatio-temporal location, grand scale, well-preserved strata, clear cultural sequence, rich relics, distinctive technical characteristics, and superposition of various cultural factors, which has important academic significance.
Huangshan Ruins in Nanyang, Henan
The Huangshan ruins are located in the southeast of Huangshan Village, Pushan Town, Wolong District, in the northeast of Nanyang City, on the west bank of the Baihe River, and are distributed in and around a small 17-meter-high earth hill composed of a five-level terrace. Among them, the Yangshao Cultural Fangju-style building complex is one of the best preserved prehistoric buildings in China, with high walls, complete internal facilities, and a large number of relics preserved in situ, reproducing the basic scenes of the ancients' manufacturing of jade and life.
The Huangshan site is a central settlement site with distinct characteristics of Neolithic Yangshao culture, Qujialing culture and Shijiahe culture jade tool making, which has the largest site area, the highest specifications and rich connotations in the Nanyang Basin, reflecting the basic characteristics of the cultural exchange and integration of the north and south in the late Neolithic period, and providing key materials for discussing the process of social complexity and civilization in southwest Henan.
Ruins of Jiming City in Lixian County, Hunan
The ruins of JimingCheng are located in Jimingcheng Village, Linan Town, Lixian County, Changde City, Hunan Province, located in the Liyang Plain in the northwest of Dongting Lake, 13 kilometers southwest of the Chengtou Mountain Ruins. JimingCheng developed from the ordinary settlement of Pengtoushan culture to the ring trench settlement, and then developed into a city trench settlement and settlement cluster, which continued until the Xiaojia roof ridge culture period, showing that it has continuity and stability across time and culture, and has a strong internal cohesion.
The discovery of massive rice bran husks and rice fields and paddy field areas provides important information for understanding the origin of Chinese civilization and the ways and means of early state formation from the perspective of rice farming. Archaeology has revealed that the cluster of city moat settlements, water canals and rice paddy areas composed of multiple ring trenches is also the highest level of prehistoric civilization reached by the rice farming society in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River around 5,000 years ago.
Gangshang ruins in Tengzhou, Shandong
The Gangshang site is located on both sides of the Yanghe River in the east of Chengang Village, Dongshahe Street, Tengzhou City, and can be divided into three parts, east, west and south, according to the river and highway, and is the site of Dawenkou Cultural City with the largest area found in Haidai area. Judging from the stratigraphic relationship and excavated pottery pieces, the era of the city site is the late Dawenkou culture.
The discovery of a large city site at the Gangshang site, together with a number of coffin systems showing the sharp division of society, the concentration of wealth in large tombs, the protruding utensils box, and a set of ceremonial utensils represented by pottery and jade bone and tooth ware, provide first-hand materials for the empirical Haidai region and even the 5,000 years of Chinese civilization.
Sichuan Guanghan Sanxingdui ruins sacrifice area
The Sanxingdui site is located in the western suburbs of Guanghan City, Sichuan Province, in the Tuojiang River basin in the north of the Chengdu Plain, with an area of about 12 square kilometers. Since the start of excavations in March 2020, a total excavation area of 1,202 square meters has been excavated, and the distribution range and internal layout of the sacrificial area have been preliminarily clarified. 6 "sacrifice pits" unearthed more than 12,000 pieces of numbered cultural relics, including more than 1,000 pieces of bronze, more than 520 pieces of gold, more than 530 pieces of jade, more than 120 pieces of stone tools, 13 pieces of pottery, and more than 450 pieces of complete ivory were extracted, important cultural relics include gold masks, bird-shaped gold leaf ornaments, bronze-crowned kneeling figures, jade zhang, sacred tree pattern jade, etc. The shape and ornamentation of some cultural relics have never been seen before.
The newly discovered unprecedented relics and cultural relics have further enriched the cultural connotation of the Sanxingdui site, and will also deepen the study of the sacrifice scene and sacrifice system of the Sanxingdui site and the ancient Shu civilization, and make up for the shortcomings and gaps in the previous research in this regard. At the same time, it further empirically demonstrates and explains the basic understanding that "ancient Shu civilization is an important part of Chinese civilization".
Hubei Yunmeng Zhengjiahu Cemetery
Zhengjiahu Cemetery is located in Chengguan Town, Yunmeng County, Hubei Province, the southeast suburb of the site of Chuwangcheng, with a total area of about 150,000 square meters, and about 3,000 meters west of the Sleeping Tiger Cemetery. A number of precious written materials have been unearthed at the site, including the Shu Ce, the Tongding Inscription and the Changwen Wooden Yao. Among them, the full text of the late Warring States Mu Yao is about 700 words, recording that the strategists lobbied the King of Qin to sleep in the army and establish righteousness, and the style and style of writing are similar to the "Warring States Policy", which is the earliest "China's first long literary style" seen in the current era, with rare shape, rich connotation, and great academic value.
This excavation cleaned up a number of rare Qin culture water-filled tombs, greatly enriched the integrity of Qin tomb data, and revitalized the historical scenes of important nodes in the process of the great unification of the Qin and Han Empires.
Great Tomb of Jiangcun in Xi'an, Shaanxi
Jiangcun Tomb is located on the eastern outskirts of Xi'an city, on the Bailu Plain, about 2,000 meters north of the "Phoenix Mouth" that was handed down as the tomb of Emperor Wen of Han. Archaeological data show that the jiangcun tomb and its surrounding remains form a relatively complete mausoleum area, which is similar to the morphological elements such as the Hangao Ancestral Changling Tomb and the Hanjing Emperor Yang Mausoleum, with similar layout, the overall scale is comparable, and there is an obvious development and evolution trajectory. Combined with the literature, it can be confirmed that the Jiangcun Tomb is the tomb of the Han Emperor.
This archaeological work negates the traditional understanding that "Phoenix Mouth" is the tomb of Emperor Wen of Han, determines the accurate location of the Tomb, and solves the problem of the name of the Eleventh Tomb of the Western Han Dynasty. The basic grasp of the scale, shape, layout and connotation of the Western Han Emperor's mausoleum, including the Han Emperor's Mausoleum, provides detailed archaeological data for the study of the formation, development and evolution of the Western Han Emperor's mausoleum system, and lays the foundation for the in-depth study of the ancient Chinese imperial tomb system.
Gansu Wuwei Tang Dynasty Tuguhun royal family tomb group
The Tuguhun Royal Family Tomb Group of the Wuwei Tang Dynasty in Gansu Province is located in the southwest of Wuwei City, Gansu Province, at the northern foot of qilian Mountain, mainly distributed on the hills on the north bank of the Binggou River and the middle and lower reaches of the Dashui River in the Southern Mountains of Wuwei. The tombs all have the basic characteristics of high-grade tombs in the Central Plains in the early and middle Tang Dynasties, mainly based on the Tang Dynasty burial system, and have cultural factors such as Tuguhun, Tubo, and Northern Grassland.
The discovery of this tomb group enables us to vividly reveal the historical facts of the tuguhun people's gradual integration into the Chinese civilization system from the literal and physical level, and glimpse the changes in historical details such as the ideological concepts, material life, and cultural identity of the Tuguhun people in the Tang Dynasty, providing typical cases for enhancing national cultural self-confidence and casting a solid sense of the Chinese national community, and providing academic support for the implementation of the "Belt and Road" initiative.
Xinjiang Weili Keyak Kuduk Beacon Site
Located in a desert no-man's land 90 kilometers southeast of Yuli County, Xinjiang, the Site of The Queyak Kuduk Beacon is one of the peacock river beacon groups of the national key cultural relics protection unit. The site has accumulated more than 1,450 pieces (groups) of various relics, all of which are practical artifacts for the daily life and work of Shubian soldiers. Among them, 883 documents are the most eye-catching, which is not only the largest number of Tang Dynasty documents excavated from domestic sites, but also the first discovery of tang Dynasty Han Chinese wooden specimens.
The archaeological excavations have revealed for the first time the full picture of the Ruins of ShaduiFeng in the Tang Dynasty, providing first-hand information for understanding the life of Shubian in the Tang Dynasty, understanding the political management system of Qiangfu Prefecture, and studying the ancient military system, especially the operation of the Biansai Beacon Institution.
Anhui Fengyang Ming Zhongdu ruins
Mingzhong was the capital city built by Zhu Yuanzhang, the ancestor of the Ming Dynasty, in his hometown of Fengyang. The site of the castle consists of three castle walls and covers an area of 50 square kilometers. The city walls, palaces, altar temples, central official offices, military facilities, together with the road network, water system, kiln sites and stone factories at the time of the founding of the city, constitute a huge group of Mingzhongdu ruins.
The shape of the palace in the former dynasty district of Mingzhongdu has been a mystery due to the unknown historical records, and the excavations in 2015-2021 have clarified the layout of the main hall and outbuildings of the former dynasty of Mingzhongdu, solved the speculation and controversy for more than 40 years, and greatly promoted the understanding and research of Mingzhongdu. The clarity of the layout and structure of the palace makes up for the key link materials in the transformation of the palace system from the Song and Yuan dynasties to the Ming and Qing dynasties, and physically confirms the historical role of the Ming and Zhong capitals in the planning of ancient Chinese capitals.
With a series of archaeological excavation projects
Smooth development,
Archaeology is under study
Human Origin and Evolution
and Chinese civilization
Origin, formation, development at different stages
The important position continues to be highlighted.
This time shortlisted for the final evaluation project
Presented characteristics,
Fully reflect this trend,
Let's see one
More exciting, refined, exquisite
Culture China!
END
China Literature and Art Network New Media
Source | People's Daily, Guangming Daily, the official website of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the WeChat public account of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, and the WeChat public account of the cultural and expo circle
Edit | Angela Bai