The stoneware, pottery and other cultural relics I collected originated from Shiquan Mountain. After the dating of these artifacts, it tells us that human beings have been active here thousands of years ago. Why did ancient human beings choose to establish themselves and live in Shiquan Mountain? What is the difference between the cultural relics of Shiquan Mountain and the cultural relics of human sites in other places? While collecting the cultural relics of Shiquan Mountain, I have observed and pondered, and I have gained some superficial understanding of the cultural relics of Shiquan Mountain.
The area where Shiquan Mountain is located belongs to the central subtropical monsoon climate, with four distinct seasons, mild climate, large temperature difference between day and night, and abundant rain. This warm and humid climate provided a good ecological environment for the ancients. The slopes to the west and north of Shiquan Mountain, as well as the towering mountains in the distance are continuous forests, which are a paradise for all kinds of birds and animals, and there are rivers, lakes and wetlands in the northeast, east and south of Shiquan Mountain, where fish, shrimp, crabs, snails and other aquatic animals are abyss. This provided the conditions for fishing, hunting and gathering of ancient ancestors. The cave of Shiquan Mountain can shelter from the wind and rain, can also keep out the cold and heat, and can also avoid the attack of fierce beasts, which is the ideal habitat and breeding place for the ancient ancestors. Compared with other discovered human sites in Guangdong, Shiquan Mountain is uniquely blessed. This may explain why ancient humans chose to establish themselves in Shiquan Mountain and thrive here for a long time.
In my opinion, in addition to the characteristics of the natural geographical environment mentioned above, the cultural relics of Shiquan Mountain also present the following characteristics:
The times are long
The cultural relics collected here include fossils, stone tools, pottery, bronze tools, and iron tools, and they belong to the era from the late stone tool period to the Han Dynasty, and there are cultural relics from various periods, and the context is clear.
There are many types
Among the cultural relics collected in Shiquan Mountain, there are fossils, stone tools, pottery, bronze tools and modern production and living utensils. In the stone tools, there are gravel (stone core), stone anvil, stone adze, stone axe, stone knife, stone spear, stone arrowhead, stone chisel, stone guillotine, stone shovel, stone ring, stone bi, stone spinning wheel, etc.; in the pottery, according to the material and the degree of firing, there are red pottery, sand pottery, hard pottery; from the use of points, there are pottery ding, pottery pots, pottery bowls, pottery spinning wheels, etc.; from the ornamentation, there are cloud and thunder patterns, rope patterns, diamond patterns, hollow patterns, checkered patterns, zigzag patterns, etc.
There are a lot of them
The cultural relics collected in Shiquan Mountain are not large, but there are many cultural relics collected. In addition to some of the collected cultural relics sent to the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the Guangdong Provincial Cultural Relics Management Commission, and the Liannan County Cultural Bureau, there are still more than 800 pieces of stone tools (including fragments), more than 3,000 pieces of various pottery (including fragments), and more than 100 pieces of animal bone fossils.
There are many fragments
The stone tools and pottery collected are mainly concentrated in the east and northeast of Shiquan Mountain, although there are many of them, but they are not relatively complete. In places where there are many stone tools, there are many stone rings and fragments of stone bibs scattered. Where the pottery was found, there were piles of pottery shards, and there were a large number of stumps of pottery tripods of various sizes. I think this conveys two messages: first, the high level of human activity, which may explain why so many stone tools and pottery can be collected in the small area of Shiquan Mountain, and second, there used to be a stone tool processing workshop at the foot of Shiquan Mountain.
埋藏浅
Shiquan Mountain is densely vegetated, the surface is not greatly affected by rainwater erosion, and soil erosion is very rare. The production and living utensils left by ancient human beings in Shiquan Mountain are all on the surface of the earth, which are covered by rotten branches and leaves. In 1958, due to the cutting of trees to burn charcoal, the great smelting of steel, the trees of Shiquan Mountain were swept away, and the bare Shiquan Mountain was washed away by the storm, and the loose humrid layer was washed away, exposing the rocks, and also exposed the stone tools and pottery left by ancient humans. Today, more than 50 years later, the vegetation of Shiquan Mountain has gradually recovered, and it is no problem to pick up a stone on the ground, but it is difficult to pick up a stone tool left by ancient humans. The villagers knew that I had a hobby of collecting cultural relics, so they gave me a few pieces of stone and pottery they had picked up. In addition, the stone tools and bone tools I collected were all collected from the surface of Shiquan Mountain for decades, and none of them were excavated from the ground.
The range is small
This mainly refers to the range of stone tools found in Shiquan Mountain. Ancient human beings have been active in Shiquan Mountain for a long time, and the range of their activities is relatively large, but the range of stone tools is small. The remaining stone tools are mainly within twenty or thirty meters of the perimeter of the foot of the mountain. Until the early fifties of the twentieth century, this area was still overgrown with ancient trees and remained in their original state. Twenty or thirty meters away from the foot of the mountain, human beings have been active here, first cutting down trees and weeds to plant crops, and then building houses on this land, and after the houses collapsed, they planted crops on them, and the cultural layer was destroyed. Therefore, few of the stone tools I collected were found twenty or thirty meters away from the foot of Shiquan Mountain.
pottery
Among the cultural relics of Shiquan Mountain, pottery is the majority, and I think it is basically certain that there was a pottery industry here? Because, there are raw materials for making pottery at the foot of Shiquan Mountain, and the locals call it "white clay". There are several ponds under Shiquan Mountain, which do not lead to ditches, and the locals call them "dry ponds" (as the name suggests, drought means no water). Chen Kaiyuan, a resident of Lianhong Village, dug up "white sticky mud" when he was digging the foundation for building a house in a dry pond next to the school. It can be inferred that these dry ponds may have been formed by ancient humans digging soil to make pottery. In addition, the dense forests around Shiquan Mountain provide fuel for firing pottery. It is said that there is a pottery industry at the foot of Shiquan Mountain because this place has the necessary conditions for firing pottery.
Pottery was gradually produced and developed to meet the needs of cooking cereal food. In all the periods when agriculture was developed and crops were mainly cereals (millet rice), the pottery industry was relatively developed, and the demand for pottery was also relatively large. The pottery and pottery fragments I collected are quite numerous, varied, and exquisitely decorated, which also reflects the level of cultural development at that time in one aspect. The Sanjiang River flows through Longkou, Shazigang, Longzui, Huangcun, Shaocun, Yuantan, and Gaodui in Lianzhou, and flows into the Xiaobeijiang River (the mountain basin between Sanjiang and Lianzhou, which is likely to be the legendary ancient Kunhu Lake). In the era of inconvenient land transportation, Shiquan Mountain has the advantage of boats and has the conditions of commodity distribution center. The texture, shape, and ornamentation of the pottery excavated in various places in the lower reaches of the Sanjiang River (that is, the current Lianzhou Annexed City and other places) are similar to the pottery of Shiquan Mountain, and these pottery is speculated to have originated from the foot of Shiquan Mountain.
stoneware
Most of the stone tools I collected at Shiquan Mountain can be named and used for their material and shape. There are only many polished stone tools about 2 cm long and 0.5 cm wide, and it is not known what their names are and what they are used for. Many people are also puzzled after watching it. Although this kind of small polished stone tool is in the shape of a blade, it cannot be held when used, and can only be pinched with two fingers, so it is not suitable for cutting with high strength. I think: this could be the engraver. Stone tools of various sizes and lengths are used to carve various ornaments on pottery.
Regarding the cultural relics of Shiquan Mountain, there are still many questions to be discussed, from the processing technology of stone tools, to the method of making pottery ornaments, and then to the technology of pottery firing. To conduct research in this area, the government needs to pay attention to it, and people with professional knowledge need to do it.
Collecting, organizing, protecting, and exploring the cultural relics of Shiquan Mountain is my hobby after work. I am just an ordinary resident of Shiquan Mountain, not an expert in the study of cultural relics, out of love for my hometown, I have done my part in the cultural relics of Shiquan Mountain, nothing more. What I said above is my own opinion, very superficial, not necessarily right, if you can arouse everyone's attention to the cultural relics of Shiquan Mountain, then this wish is enough.
This article is excerpted from Xuan Zhenwen, Guangdong Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Guangdong Yao Museum, "Shiquan Mountain Cultural Relics Collection", "A Review: My View of Shiquan Mountain Cultural Relics". The content has been slightly abridged and adjusted.