Wu Fuping: Distribution and understanding of shell hill sites in the Beibu Bay area of Guangxi

【Abstract】Since the discovery of shell hill sites in Dongxing, Hepu and other places in the 1950s, with the census of cultural relics and archaeological surveys, more than a dozen shell hill sites have been found along the coast of Guangxi Beibu Bay. In this paper, a statistical analysis of these shell hill sites is carried out, and it is believed that the shell hill sites in the three coastal cities of Beibu Bay in Guangxi show uneven distribution characteristics in terms of quantity and time series, which are related to the superior natural environment along the coast of Guangxi, the changes in the lifestyle of primitive residents and the changes in the natural environment.

【Keywords】Beibu Bay area Shell Hill ruins

【Author】Wu Fuping Fangchenggang Museum Fangchenggang 538001

Beibu Bay is a semi-enclosed bay located in the northwestern South China Sea. Guangxi's Beibu Bay area refers to the area including the three coastal cities of Beihai, Qinzhou and Fangchenggang, which is bordered by the northern part of the Beibu Gulf in the south, surrounded by 100,000 mountains in the northwest, with many coastal peninsulas and islands, dense river network, convenient transportation and superior geographical environment. It is located in the subtropical oceanic monsoon climate zone, with abundant sunshine and abundant rainfall. The rivers along the coast are Qinjiang, Nanliujiang and Beilun rivers flowing into Beibu Bay, with high seawater purity and abundant marine biological resources.

Shell hill sites are a type of ancient site that is characterized by a large number of shells discarded by ancient human food in the cultural layer. The age is mainly from the Neolithic age, and some continue later. The shell hill sites are mainly distributed along the coast, inland lakefront and riverfront areas. In addition to shells, there are stone tools, pottery, fish bones, animal bones and other relics in the accumulation of ruins, and some also have remnants such as house foundations, cellars and tombs. According to the natural geographical distribution of the site, the shell hill site can be roughly divided into three types: caves, riverside terraces, and seashores. [1] Shell hill sites in the Northwest Bay area are of the coastal type.

I. Overview of the discovery of the Shell Hill site in the Beibu Gulf area

In 1958, when the Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Culture conducted an archaeological survey in the Hepu and Dongxing areas, it picked up a stone tool on the bank of the River in Jiangpingwei (now Jiangping Town, Dongxing City) in Dongxing County, and two pieces of ground stone tools in Yabo Mountain in Shijiao Village. From June to August 1959, the cultural relics museum training class held by the Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Culture and the Zhanjiang Special District Cultural and Educational Bureau conducted a cultural relics census in Dongxing and found three sites: Yabo Mountain, Malanzui Mountain and Cup Bishan Mountain. Subsequently, the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Guangdong Provincial Museum, the Department of History of South China Normal University, the Department of History of Sun Yat-sen University, and the Shaoguang Municipal Bureau of Culture and Education formed an investigation team to observe and collect the three sites, and conducted test excavations of the YaboShan and Malanzui sites [2].

In 1978, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Cultural Relics Task Force investigated and discovered three ruins in Fangcheng County, namely Crab Ridge, Fantaoping and Sheshan, and in 1983, during the cultural relics census of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, two coastal shell mound sites of Shangyangjiao and Bajiaodun were found in Qinzhou County, as well as the high piers of Baihutou in Beihai, Yingpan Village in Fangcheng Maoling, and The Oyster Lake and Dadun Island in Jiangshan [3]. In 2009, during the third national cultural relics census, the site of the Golden Dunling Shell Hill was found in Qinzhou.

2. Distribution and characteristics of shell hill sites in the Beibu Gulf area

From the overview of the site discovery, it can be seen that the ruins of shell mounds have been found in the three coastal cities of Fangchenggang, Qinzhou and Beihai in the Beibu Bay area of Guangxi. The following is an introduction to the distribution of shell hill sites and their characteristics in three prefecture-level cities.

(1) Fangcheng Port

Fangcheng Port has now found 9 shell mound sites, distributed in 1 in Dongxing City and 8 in Fangcheng District.

1. Sheshan Shell Hill Ruins. Located on a sheshan mountain in the southwest of Jiaodong Village, Jiangping Town, Dongxing City, it is about 10 meters above sea level and has an area of about 1,500 square meters. In the spring of 1958, when villagers were digging the foundation of the wall by building a cattle pen on the side of the mountain, they found that in the same year, the cultural relics investigation team of the Guangdong Provincial Museum had visited here and found oyster shells, Jomon pottery pieces, stone axes and so on. In 1973, the Guangxi Museum visited the area several times and collected sand-filled Jomon pottery pieces, ground stone tools, animal remains and a large number of shells. In 2012, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Archaeological Institute conducted archaeological excavations at the site, and unearthed stone tools, pottery pieces and other relics.

2. Apolar Hill Shell Hill Ruins. Located in Jiangshan Township, Fangcheng District, Xinji Village, Shijiaodu Yabo Mountain, south of Pearl Harbor, surrounded by mountains on three sides, the site is 12 meters above sea level, covers an area of more than 2300 square meters, and the thickness of the cultural accumulation layer is 1.6 meters. After trial excavation, the site has unearthed stone tools, jomon pottery pieces, pottery net pendants, human and animal bones, etc., and stone tools such as chopping tools and grinding stone axes.

3. Marantsui Shell Hill Ruins. It is located on the slope of Malan Tsui Mountain, about 200 meters south of Xinji Village (Ma ba Ji Village) in Jiangshan Township, Fangcheng District. The site is bordered by Pearl Harbor to the west and rises about 10 meters above sea level. The distribution area of the site is about 32 meters long from east to west, 20 meters wide from north to south, and the thickness of the cultural layer is about 1 meter. After investigation and excavation by the Guangdong Provincial Museum, stone tools, bone mussels, coarse sand pottery pieces, human and animal bones have been excavated. Stone tools are mainly made of stone tools, and the number of ground stone tools is small.

4. Dadun Island Shell Hill Ruins. Located two kilometers southeast of Xinji Village in Jiangshan Township, Fangcheng District, Dadun Island is surrounded by water on all sides, with an area of more than 20,000 square meters, which was originally 3 meters above sea level. The oyster shells and snail shells of the site are thick.

5. Oyster Pond Point Shell Hill Ruins. Located in the back ridge of the Zhenbian Group in Jiangshan Village, Jiangshan Township, Fangcheng District, the site distribution area is about 25 meters wide from east to west and about 22 meters long from north to south, the oysters and snails are abundant, the accumulation layer is about 1 meter thick above the ground, and the accumulation is hard.

6. Fantaoping Shell Hill Ruins. It is located one kilometer south of Chong Dai Group in Dawangjiang Village, Fangcheng District. The area of the site is about 2500 square meters. The accumulation is mainly oyster shells and snail shells[4].

7. Ruins of the old Yingpan Shell Hill. Located in the old Yingpan Village, one kilometer south of the beautiful village office in Maoling Township, Fangcheng District, it was discovered by a survey of the Guangdong Provincial Museum in 1958. The distribution area is about 100 square meters, and the surface of the site can be seen with oyster shells and snail shells. In 1923, the masses dug out a copper drum while digging the ground in the old camp, in 1972 the masses dug up charcoal, bowls, etc. in the digging of the house, and in 1986 the masses dug up several clay pots when they took soil.

8. Cup more pier shell mound ruins. It is located in the heart of the river about four kilometers southwest of Maoling Wei in Maoling Township, Fangcheng District. Surrounded by water on all sides, the site is about 10 meters above the water surface and covers an area of more than 7,500 square meters. The accumulation layer is divided into two layers, the upper cultural layer is 0.4 meters thick, the lower shell layer is 2.2 meters thick, and the accumulation layer is hard. In 1959, the Guangdong Provincial Museum and other units had done test excavations, and unearthed relics such as sand-sandwiched Jomon pottery pieces, stone axes, and stone stones, and there were slightly fewer stone tools, and there were more grinding stone tools and sand-filled stoneware pieces.

9. Crab Ridge Oyster Shell Horn Shell Hill Site. It is located about three kilometers northwest of the Datao Village Committee of Maoling Township, Fangcheng District, at the sea (fork) of the Snake Ridge River. The site is distributed in the southwest slope of the hill about 50 meters long, and the accumulation is dominated by oyster shells and snail shells. In 1958, when the people's commune was communalized, soil was taken here as fertilizer, and stone axes, pottery pieces and other relics were collected.

(2) Qinzhou

Up to now, Neolithic ruins such as Basho Dun, Golden DunLing, DuQi, and Shangyang Horn have been found in Qinzhou. Judging from the stratigraphic accumulation and excavated relics, the two sites that can be identified as shell mound sites are Basho Dun and Golden Dun Ridge. The Yangyiling site of the Yalu River in Qinzhou mentioned by scholars [5] is not included in the statistics after examination, which lacks archaeological investigation and confirmation of physical data.

1. Basho Dun Shell Hill Ruins. Located on a mound in the West Jingu River of Rhino Foot Danliao Village, Qinnan District, Qinzhou City, surrounded by water on all sides, there is a layer of oyster and mussel shell accumulation layers with a thickness of 0.5 to 1 meter, and the site area is about 2,000 square meters. The relics are mainly stone tools, which are mostly shaped by midges, as well as choppers, scrapers, stone axes, stone balls, etc., with only a small number of polished stone axes.[6] In March 1997, more than 10 stone axes and stone hammers made of limestone were collected, as well as a sharpened double-shoulder stone axe and a grinded stone hammer.[7]

2. Golden Pier Ridge Shell Hill Ruins. It is located in Jindun Ridge, southwest of the Yagong Frame of the Butou Village Committee of Rhinoceros Foot Town, Qinnan District. During the third national census of cultural relics, it was found that more than 10 pieces of stone tools with very obvious traces of artificial cultivation were unearthed, including scrapers, stone cores, stone chisels and so on.

(3) North Sea

One of the shell mound sites that have been discovered and confirmed in the North Sea is the Site of The High Pier Shell Mounds. The site is located on a sand dune called "High Pier" in Baihutou, Hepu County, and was found in the 1959 cultural relics census that the site had unearthed sand-filled pottery and checkered pottery pieces. In 1983, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Cultural Relics Task Force did not review the site during the census, and after the third national cultural relics census, it was found that the site had been destroyed.

The investigation in the Beibu Bay area of Guangxi found a total of 12 seaside shell mound sites, distributed in 9 in Fangcheng Port, 2 in Qinzhou and 1 in Beihai. The three coastal shell mound sites of Yabo Mountain, Malan Tsui and Cup Bishan are all on hills or small islands in the coastal zone, located at the confluence of offshore or offshore rivers, about 10 meters above the sea surface, and there are many hills nearby, also near the current village.[8] By looking at other coastal shell mound sites, the geographical location is basically similar, they are located on hills or small islands in the coastal zone, and there are small freshwater rivers entering the sea nearby.

The largest number of binhai shell mound sites in the Beibu Bay area of Guangxi province is found in the Fangchenggang area, and the time is mostly concentrated in the early and middle Neolithic periods, while in Qinzhou and Beihai, it is found less. However, in the cultural remains of the late Neolithic period, no ruins have been found in the Fangchenggang area, while qinzhou has found the ruins of the original material and the ruins of the upper sheep horn. Among them, the site is a typical late Neolithic site dominated by agricultural economy,[9] while the Upper Giethoorn site has found polished stone axes, gravel, stone chips, stone balls, etc. In beihai, there are three middle and late Neolithic sites that do not see a large number of shellfish accumulation and cementation in The Beihai.

The distribution of the Binhai Shell Hill site in the Beibu Bay area of Guangxi is uneven, first of all, the geographical distribution is very different, the Fangchenggang area is more densely distributed, and there are many distributions in the adjacent areas of Fangchenggang and Qinzhou, while only one is seen in the easternmost Beihai (see figure below). The second is the imbalance of the time series, a large number of shell mound sites are concentrated in the early and middle Neolithic periods, and such shell mound sites are not found in the late period.

3. Shell Hill Ruins and the Way of Life of the Ancients

The time of shell mound sites distributed in the Beibu Bay area of Guangxi is mainly concentrated in the early and middle Neolithic periods. The relics collected and excavated from the two sites of Yaboshan and Malan Tsui are stone tools, bone tools, mussels, pottery pieces and human bones. There are two kinds of stone tools: beating and grinding. The number of stone tools is large, the shape is complex, and all are stone core stones, the raw materials are mostly flat oval gravel, which are directly struck on both sides with stone hammers, and the shape of the tool is thick and thick, and the scars are deep and short. The shape of the vessel is most typical of oyster pecks with tips and thick blades, and hand axe-shaped stone tools. Among them, midges peck the most distinctive, as well as choppers, sharps, triangles, hammers, balls, net drops and so on. The number of grinding stone tools is small, and the type of grinding is small, the grinding is rough, and the types of tools are kettles, hammers, chisels, grinding discs, pestles, stone cakes, gravel and so on. Bone tools include cones, cymbals and perforated bone ornaments. Mussels have shovels, rings, and net drops. The pottery is sandwiched with coarse sand pottery, and the clay is covered with coarse sand grains and mussel powder, and the heat temperature is very low, and it is kneaded into powder. The pottery walls are very thin, most of them about 0.4 cm thick. The pottery color is red and gray-black, and the ornamentation is mostly jomon, with the most thin jomon patterns, and a small number of basket patterns and checkered patterns. Only one kind of small openness is found on the edge of the mouth of the pottery, and there is no flat bottom, and most of them are pots with round bottoms.

Distribution map of shell hill ruins in the Beibu Bay area of Guangxi

These production tools excavated from the shell hill site in the early Neolithic period are of a single type and roughly made, which are closely related to the primitive economic lifestyle of the time, which was mainly based on gathering, fishing and hunting, and reflect the low level of productivity development at that time. In the middle of the Neolithic age, such as the cup pier site, the proportion of ground stone tools in production tools increased greatly. Production tools tend to be deep processing and refinement. By the late Neolithic period, such as the Qinzhou Unique Material Site, there was basically no phenomenon of a large number of shell accumulation in the site, and the production tools were mainly grinded grinding discs and fired pottery. From the early to late Neolithic development process, the living sites of coastal residents in the Beibu Bay area of Guangxi have been relocated, the economic mode has shifted from the primitive gathering, fishing and hunting economy to the agricultural economy, and the shell hill site has gradually decreased or disappeared.

4. Shell Hill Ruins and Natural Environment

A large number of discoveries of the coastal shell mound site in the Beibu Bay area of Guangxi indicate that the environment in this area during the Neolithic Period was suitable for ancient settlement. A large number of offshore shellfish excavated from the site, such as clams, kuiha, oysters, field snails, bird lices, etc., were related to the rich marine biological resources in this area at that time, providing innate conditions for the original fishing industry. The discovery of animal bones such as deer, elephants, rabbits, fish, turtles, and birds proves that the natural environment at that time was superior, and the forest resources were abundant, providing a foundation for the hunting of primitive residents. Especially in the early and middle Neolithic periods, the abundant marine living resources and superior natural environment enabled people to obtain food under simple production tools and life skills.

The faults and regional distribution of the time series distribution of the Beiqiu site in the Beibu Bay area of Guangxi have a lot to do with the changes in the natural environment. For coastal shell hill sites, climate changes and fluctuations in sea level have a huge impact on them and are the main factors affecting their emergence and demise.

Since the Holocene, the climate has warmed, causing glaciers to melt and large amounts of water to flow into the ocean, causing sea levels to rise and seawater to submerge onto land. Dating from 11,000 to 6,000 years ago, it is the process of extending the ocean to land, and the sea immersion reached its peak around 6,000 years ago. It is not difficult to explain that the shell mound sites densely distributed in the Fangchenggang area in the early and middle Neolithic periods did not continue to the late period, and the lower sea level in this area was related to the warming of the climate and seawater intrusion, the sea level rose, the original habitable coastal highlands were gradually submerged by the sea, and the original residents had to abandon their places of residence and were forced to migrate. According to the Guangxi Tongzhi. The Natural Geography Chronicle records that in the 7,000 years ago, the sea had not yet invaded the vicinity of the modern coast, and the time of late ice sea advance was about 6,000 years ago, and the coastline at that time was distributed along the ancient sea cliffs, and the estuaries of rivers such as the Qin River Delta were wide estuarine bays. In the middle and late Neolithic period, the Qinjiang Delta and other places are more suitable for habitation, and the mid- and late Neolithic sites distributed in Qinzhou and Beihai confirm this statement.

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[3] Jiang Tingyu . General Theory of Archaeology in Guangxi[M]. Nanning:Guangxi Science and Technology Press,2012:113.]

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[6] Qinzhou Local History Compilation Committee . Chronicles of Qinzhou City[M].Nanning:Guangxi People's Publishing House,2000.]

[7] Jiang Tingyu . General Theory of Archaeology in Guangxi[M]. Nanning:Guangxi Science and Technology Press,2012:114.]

[8] HE Naihan . A preliminary study on the shell hill site in Guangxi[J]. Archaeology, 1984(11).

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(This article is reproduced from the website of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region Museum)