Source: People's Daily Overseas Edition
Fine stone leaf stone cores excavated from the sites of Jilin and Longdadong.
and the scene of the excavation of the stone leaf stone core at the site of Longdadong.
More than 800 pieces of sealing mud were unearthed in the abandoned pile of buildings in the ruins of the ancient city of Shandong. The picture shows the "Seal of Qicheng" (late Western Han Dynasty) unearthed at the site.
A book unearthed at the Jinzhongdu site in Beijing.
A few days ago, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage reported the important progress of four major "archaeological China" projects: the ruins of Jilin and Longdadong, the ruins of Maanqiao Mountain in Chaoyang, Liaoning, the ruins of Zoucheng and the ancient city of Zou Guo in Shandong, and the Jinzhongdu site in Beijing.
The relevant person in charge of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage said that this release focuses on important archaeological discoveries from the Paleolithic period to the Song and Golden Dynasties, and the relevant important achievements are a strong testimony to the outstanding continuity, innovation, unity, inclusiveness and peace of Chinese civilization.
Jilin and Longdadong Ruins:
One of the first sites in Northeast Asia to use obsidian to make stone tools
Helong Dadong site is located in Dadong Village, Chongshan Town, Helong City, Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture, Jilin Province, located at the eastern foot of the Changbai Mountain Range, about 80 kilometers west of the Tianchi of Changbai Mountain, distributed on the gentle basalt terrace at the confluence of the Tumen River and the Hongqi River, is a late Paleolithic wilderness site.
Since 2021, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage has supported the Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology of Jilin Province, together with Liaoning University and other units, to carry out continuous active archaeological investigation and excavation.
"The core area of the Helongdadong site covers an area of about 500,000 square meters, dating from 50,000 to 15,000 years ago." Xu Ting, an associate researcher at the School of Archaeology and Museum of Liaoning University, said, "Archaeological discoveries have found cultural remains from three periods, and nearly 20,000 stone products and animal fossils have been unearthed. ”
The cultural relics unearthed in the ruins of Helongdadong are extremely rich. Among them, the first phase of the remains dates from 50,000 to 30,000 years ago, mainly simple stone core-stone chip stone tools, accompanied by a large number of animal fossils; The second period is dated from 28,000 to 24,000 years ago. Xu Ting introduced that in this period, there were early fine stone leaf technology products with stone leaves as blanks, and the tool types were mainly carvers, and the earliest local polished stone tools and pressed peeling technology products in northern China were also found, indicating that the Changbai Mountain area was a key area for the origin of fine stone leaf technology in China.
The third phase of the Helongdadong site dates from 17,000 to 15,000 years ago, and the types of tools are mainly carvers and end scrapers.
Relevant experts said that the Helongdadong site is the earliest and most complete late Paleolithic site in Changbai Mountain area of China, and it is also one of the earliest sites in Northeast Asia to use obsidian to make stone tools, which clearly shows the important process of the transformation of the stone tool industry in this region from stone chip stone tools to "stone leaf-fine stone leaf" technology, and enriches the relevant understanding of the evolutionary diffusion, cultural development and livelihood mode of modern people in Northeast Asia.
Regarding the next work plan, Xu Ting revealed that the basic work will be further strengthened: more information on human activities will be obtained, such as fossils related to ancient humans, as well as important relics such as tombs, residential sites, fire ponds and ornaments; Understand the Longdadong site from the perspective of site groups, select more sites for small-scale excavation, and clarify the distribution range and functional zoning of the site; Taking the chronological framework and cultural sequence of the Helong Dadong site as the yardstick, the chronological and cultural nature of the special investigation materials of the Changbai Mountain Paleolithic Archaeology were systematically sorted out, and the established academic goals were completed.
Liaoning Maanqiao Mountain Site:
To provide data for the study of the form of Hongshan cultural settlements
Located in Jianping County, Chaoyang City, Liaoning Province, the Maanqiao Mountain Site is a settlement site with the early stage of the Hongshan culture as the main body. Since 2021, under the framework of the "Archaeological China" Hongshan Cultural and Social Civilization Process Research Project, the Liaoning Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology has carried out continuous active archaeological excavations on the Maanqiaoshan site.
According to Fan Shengying, a research librarian of the Liaoning Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, the academic goals of the archaeological excavation include finding the core settlement site of the Hongshan culture, revealing the connotation of the Hongshan cultural settlement site in Liaoning, supplementing the socio-economic factors of the "Hongshan civilization", clarifying the relationship with the large-scale sacrificial site of Niuheliang, and exploring the relationship between the Hongshan cultural settlement site in Liaoning and the West Liaohe area.
"Through excavation and exploration work, it has been preliminarily confirmed that the total area of the site is about 200,000 square meters, dating from about 7,700 to 5,500 years ago, including the remains of the Xinglongwa culture and the Hongshan culture." Fan Shengying said.
According to Fan Shengying, the Hongshan Cultural Settlement consists of a sacrificial area and a residential area. Located in the eastern part of the site, the settlement covers an area of about 54,000 square meters and is surrounded by a ring moat with a circumference of nearly 900 meters. The sacrificial area is located in the northern part of the site, and a total of 42 sacrificial pits and 3 burning relics have been found. The whole sacrificial area has been carefully planned, designed and built twice, the first construction is to rely on a small hill in the north, the east, west and north slopes are repaired to form a three-story "terraced" shaped sacrificial place; The second construction was to pad soil in the southern part of the sacrificial area where the first construction was built to form a new sacrificial place. Intact pottery, stone axes, stone knives, stone ploughs, stone millstones and stone grinding rods, as well as deer bones and shellfish, were unearthed in the sacrificial area.
Relevant experts said that the main body of the Maanqiao Mountain site is an early medium-sized settlement of the Hongshan culture that has been carefully built and has both life and ritual functions, which provides valuable data for studying the form and social hierarchy of the Hongshan cultural settlement. The newly discovered sacrificial relics are of great value for discussing the form of sacrifice and the formation and development of spiritual beliefs of the Hongshan cultural population.
Ruins of the Ancient City of Shandong:
A microcosm of urban changes from the Eastern Zhou to the Qin and Han dynasties
Located in Zoucheng, Shandong Province, the ruins of the ancient city of Zhaoguo are the capital of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty and the county seat of Zou County during the Qin and Han Dynasties. Since the "Thirteenth Five-Year Plan", the State Administration of Cultural Heritage has supported Shandong University, Zoucheng Cultural Relics Protection Center and other units to carry out systematic archaeological investigation and excavation of the ruins of the ancient city of Zhuoguo, and achieved important results.
According to Lu Guoquan, a professor at the School of History and Culture of Shandong University, the total area of the ruins of the ancient city of Zhuguo is about 6 square kilometers, and the plan is nearly rectangular. During the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, the palace area, the noble burial area, and the bronze workshop area were located in the north-north, north, and southwest of the central part of the city. In addition, settlements and cemeteries of this stage were found in the southern and western parts of the city.
"From the Qin and Han dynasties to the Wei and Jin dynasties, the central part of the city was the official office area of Zou County in the Qin and Han dynasties, and the southern and southwestern parts of the city became ordinary residential areas, and the western part of the city was still a residential area and cemetery." Lu Guoquan said that since 2022, archaeologists have focused on excavating the north-central part of the city, revealing a large rammed earth building site, with a large area and complete structure, pillars, courtyards, gates, roads, movable surfaces, etc. are well preserved, and it is initially judged that the building was built in the Warring States and later used as a county office in the Qin and Han dynasties.
It is worth noting that 821 seals of mud and 243 pieces of pottery were excavated in the ash pits and ash ditches around the foundation site of the building, with the largest number of contents such as "the seal of the horse" and "the field of the pavilion", including a number of township seals and kuyin under the county of Qi, as well as the seal of the county of Cheng in more than 10 neighboring counties, covering the Qin Dynasty, the Western Han Dynasty to the Xinmang period.
Relevant experts said that the new archaeological findings of the ancient city site of the Zhao Kingdom revealed the changes in the appearance of the city during the transformation of the capital of the Eastern Zhou kingdoms to the rule of Qin and Han County, and was a precious epitome of the historical process from the juxtaposition of princes to the great unified dynasty.
Beijing Jinzhongdu Ruins:
Witness the history of multi-ethnic exchanges, exchanges and blending
The Jinzhongdu site is located in the Xicheng District and Fengtai District of Beijing. Since 2020, in cooperation with Beijing's urban construction, the Beijing Institute of Archaeology has carried out archaeological exploration and excavation in the Kaiyangfang area of the outer city of Jinzhongdu, located in You'anmen Square, Xicheng District, and found a large-scale building foundation site, unearthing precious cultural relics such as jade books, copper seals, porcelain, and building components.
According to Wang Jihong, a research librarian at the Beijing Institute of Archaeology, the large-scale building site can be divided into two phases. In the early days, it was a courtyard surrounded by cloisters on all sides, and its south nave is relatively well preserved. The late building consists of two large temple sites in the north and south on the same axis and symmetrical galleries in the east and west, with a complete structure and clear layout. The base site of the south hall sits north facing south, with a "convex" plan, and is a nearly square building with a platform in front; The base of the north nave sits north facing south and has a rectangular plan. The east and west sides of the central axis of the courtyard are symmetrically distributed with gallery-style buildings.
"The unearthed jade books, official seals, imitation copper porcelain ceremonial vessels, glazed components, 'ku' character porcelain and other cultural relics are speculated to be related to royal sacrifices. According to documents, there was a Yijing Jingshe outside the Kaiyang Gate in Nanjing, Liaoning, and the 'Dajue Temple' was given during the Jin Dading period, which contained the imperial hall and had the function of storing royal archives and sacrificial supplies, speculating that the late building may be part of the Dajue Temple, a royal temple in the Jin Dynasty. Wang Jihong said.
Relevant experts said that the newly discovered large-scale building foundations and cultural relics unearthed at the Jinzhongdu site are important materials for studying the urban planning, architectural layout and royal etiquette system of the Jin Dynasty, and are also vivid witnesses of the history of multi-ethnic exchanges and blending in ancient China.
Further reading
The major project "Archaeological China" focuses on the origin of human beings, the origin of civilization, the formation of Chinese civilization, the establishment and development of a unified multi-ethnic country, and the important position of Chinese civilization in world civilization in China.
(Reporter Zhao Xiaoxia, the pictures in this article are provided by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage)
People's Daily Overseas Edition (October 09, 2023 Version 11)