In the Central Plains in late March, wheat is being jointed. In Wangzhuang Village, more than 10 kilometers east of Yongcheng City, Shangqiu, Henan Province, a piece of vitality is full of life, and under the green field, the secrets of civilization 5,000 years ago are buried.
The site of Wangzhuang here has become a household name with the announcement of the top ten new archaeological discoveries in the country in 2023. Over the past few days, this small village, which covers an area of less than one square kilometer and has a population of only two or three hundred, has been welcoming new visitors.
The site of Wangzhuang is located in Miaoqiao Town, Yongcheng City, which is an important archaeological discovery of Dawenkou culture in recent years, and the site can be confirmed as the middle and late settlement of Dawenkou culture in eastern Henan. The site is large in scale and high in social class, and the discovery of the Dawenkou cultural ring moat and cemetery is very important for exploring the settlement form in the prehistoric period in the eastern region.
The ruins of Wangzhuang in Miaoqiao Town, Yongcheng City, Shangqiu, Henan Province (taken on January 30). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li An
At the end of 2021, Miaoqiao Town carried out the "Beautiful Rural Construction" action, and when focusing on the renovation of the pit pond, cultural relics such as double-linked jade, jade ring, and bone arrowhead were accidentally found by the pond in the south of the village, and the local government immediately sealed the cultural relics and reported them to the cultural relics management department.
In April 2023, a joint archaeological team from Capital Normal University and Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology formed a formal archaeological excavation of the Wangzhuang site.
"Unique" is the most intuitive impression of the Wangzhuang site to the archaeological team.
Three months after the archaeological work began, Zhu Guanghua, the project leader and associate professor at the School of History at Capital Normal University, discovered a tomb of the Dawenkou culture in the south-central part of the village, and in the following months, 23 tombs of the same period appeared in a row in an area of about 100 square meters.
"Judging from the current findings, these tombs appear in groups, and each group of tombs is stacked on top of each other, and the human bones of the upper and lower tombs are almost in the same straight line, the vertical distance of the tombs is only a dozen centimeters, and the burial pottery is stacked continuously. Zhu Guanghua said that this "intentionally broken" form of burial is the unique burial custom of the Dawenkou cultural tombs at the Wangzhuang site.
Zhu Guanghua said that this kind of burial custom was rare before, and it was initially speculated that there may be a certain kinship between the tomb owners of the same group of tombs, and ancient DNA samples from some tombs have been collected and sent for testing, and the specific conclusions still need to be analyzed and confirmed.
During the excavation of the burial area, the archaeological team also experienced the unique experience of police guarding. The relics unearthed from the tombs of Wangzhuang site are abundant, and when important relics are found, the local police will be specially arranged to be on duty all night to provide guarantee for the excavation work.
The burial face decoration and schematic diagram unearthed from the IV.M6 tomb at the Wangzhuang site. Courtesy of the archaeological team of Wangzhuang site
Thanks to the smooth excavation of these tombs, the first Neolithic "jade covering" in China was unveiled.
In November 2023, when cleaning the tomb marked IV.M6, the archaeological team was pleasantly surprised to find a burial face ornament composed of more than 30 pieces of jade and turquoise shards near the skull of the tomb owner, which resembled a "jade covering".
"The general burial headdress will not cover the eyes, this group of jade objects are placed on the forehead, ears, eyes, mouth, etc., the shape and function are similar to the 'jade covering' in the Western Zhou Dynasty, the ancients believed that the burial of jade can prevent decay, usually the burial of ancient nobles with burial. Zhou Tong, the executive leader of the project and a librarian of the Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, said that only one group of jade face ornaments has been found in these tombs, which is also the first such remains found in the Neolithic period in China.
In addition, the archaeological team also found that the richness of the burial goods in the burial area was highly correlated with the size of the burial chamber. Excavations have shown that the larger the size of the tomb, the more funerary goods there are, and many tombs have unearthed stone guis with ritual properties, the number of which is proportional to the size of the tombs, reflecting the significant social differentiation at that time.
At present, the ruins of Wangzhuang are still continuing to be "new". On the eve of the announcement of the top ten new archaeological discoveries in the country, the archaeological team found another piece of jade in a high-level tomb.
"This is the fourth jade Yue unearthed at the site, some damaged, Yu is a ritual weapon, especially the jade Yue represents military power. Zhu Guanghua said that the previously unearthed artifacts with ritual properties reflect the process of social complexity and the germination of the state form in the prehistoric period of the East.
Wangzhuang site IV.M3 high-grade tombs and their burial goods. Courtesy of the archaeological team of Wangzhuang site
Pottery excavated from the Wangzhuang site (photo taken on January 30). Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li An
"The cultural appearance of Wangzhuang site is complex, and the pottery group integrates a variety of cultural factors, from the point of view of the utensils and decorative styles that have been cleaned and restored so far, there are not only typical Dawenkou cultural styles, but also Yangshao cultural elements, and at the same time, there are factors such as Qujialing culture and Liangzhu culture in the southern region, which reflects the exchange and integration of cultures in different regions in prehistory. Zhou Tong said.
"The land of the Central Plains is profound, and exploring in the fields for 5,000 years is a unique romance for archaeologists. Zhu Guanghua said that the Wangzhuang site is large-scale, and only the tip of the iceberg is currently exposed, and the next step will continue to do a good job in excavation and research, as soon as possible to find the remains of the residential site, to find out the settlement structure, to determine the age of the moat, to clarify the scope of the site, and to deepen the overall understanding of the site.
Reporter: Gui Juan, Shi Linjing
Source: Xinhuanet