Editor's note:
Red imprints, ethnic customs, history and culture...... In the land of Guizhou and Guizhou, the vivid cultural relics everywhere embellish the "cultural thousand islands" Guizhou more splendidly, and museums stand among them, engraved with colorful Guizhou humanistic temperament, telling people about the history, culture and customs of this land. May 18 is the 48th International Museum Day, let us go to representative museums in Guizhou and start a "dialogue" across time and space.
Recently, new progress has been made in the cleaning and protection of cultural relics unearthed from the Dasongshan Tomb Group in Gui'an New District, one of the "Top Ten New Archaeological Discoveries in the Country": so far, more than 1,200 pieces of ceramics, 224 pieces of ironware, and more than 3,000 pieces of utensils and tomb maps have been restored. A complete database and database have been established one after another, which has laid the foundation for the compilation of archaeological reports and academic research in the future.
Restored ceramics.
As an archaeological work with national influence in Guizhou in 2022, the Dasongshan Tomb Group in Gui'an New Area was rated as one of the "Top Ten New Archaeological Discoveries in China" in 2022. In just 6 months, the archaeological team excavated a total of 2,192 tombs at an average rate of 12 tombs per day, and unearthed more than 4,000 pieces (sets) of cultural relics mainly based on daily necessities and decorations, becoming the largest and longest tomb group in the archaeological history of Guizhou. It not only profoundly reflects the close connection between Guizhou and the Central Plains, but also becomes a vivid example of the historical process of the formation of the sense of community of the pluralistic and integrated Chinese nation.
In July 2023, the Dasongshan Tomb Group started protective backfilling work. Nowadays, the tombs of different periods are planted with different colors of vegetation, showing the huge scale, formation process and development of the ancient tomb group in an open way of protection and display. The cleaning and protection of more than 4,000 pieces (sets) of unearthed cultural relics are ongoing.
Iron Restoration Room.
"After all the unearthed cultural relics are transferred to the warehouse, we carry out a series of fine, rigorous and tedious work such as fine classification and sorting, cleaning, photography, restoration, recording, and data entry on the artifacts one by one." Hu Changguo, one of the persons in charge of the site of the Dasongshan tomb group and director of the data room of the Guizhou Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, told reporters that the discovery of relics and cultural relics is only part of the archaeological excavation. Restoration, photographing, description, drawing, sorting out relevant materials in accordance with the style of the archaeological excavation report, and compiling a detailed archaeological report are the "whole industry chain" of archaeological excavation work.
Hu Changguo introduced the progress of the work.
Through the restoration and identification of cultural relics, archaeologists have discovered some historical details. "For example, in the restored pottery, the difference in the size of the mouth edge, or the cultural characteristics that reflect the characteristics of different regions, have not appeared in previous archaeological excavations." Hu Changguo revealed that the Jomon patterns on some clay pots have also appeared in other sites, and combined with the differences in styles and techniques, spread to fusion, it may be inferred that the ancestors of Dasongshan interacted with foreign countries, ethnic migration and inter-ethnic exchanges.
In the past year, the archaeological team numbered and counted more than 4,000 pieces of cultural relics unearthed, cleaned, assembled and bonded the relics fragments, and mapped, rubbed and recorded the artifacts. Laboratory testing of artefacts, environmental and chronological specimens obtained. "These materials will be aggregated, and the database and database will be established, which will lay a good foundation for future report compilation and academic research." Hu Changguo told reporters that in the past year, the Guizhou Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, together with Sichuan University, Sun Yat-sen University, and Peking University, has carried out indoor sorting of cultural relics unearthed from the Dasongshan tombs, and 30% of them have been completed.
Next, the Guizhou Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology will continue to invite archaeological experts and scholars into the warehouse to carry out research from different perspectives such as the modeling, craftsmanship and decorative art of artifacts. At the same time, it cooperates with Jingzhou Cultural Relics Protection Center and other cultural preservation institutions to consult and study the optimal restoration plan for the unearthed cultural relics.
Planning/Huang Wei, Chen Xi, Zhao Xiangkang
Text/Guizhou Daily Tianyan News reporter Shu Chang
Photo/Guizhou Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology
Editor/Liu Lichao
Second Instance/Yao Man
Third Trial/Chen Xi