There are abundant Neolithic cultural remains in the Yangtze River basin. Neolithic culture in Ningshao Plain-Taihu Basin is the most distinctive cultural series in the south of the Yangtze River. Hemudu culture, discovered in Hemudu, Yuyao, Zhejiang Province in 1973, is regarded as the earliest and most representative Neolithic remains in the south of the Yangtze River. The Majiabang culture or Caoxieshan culture developed later has a wider distribution. Typical sites that have been excavated include Majiabang in Jiaxing and Caoxieshan in Wuxian, which developed into a well-developed Liangzhu culture about 6 years ago.
An ancient city with an area of 2.9 million square meters was found in Liangzhu ruins area from 53 to 4 years ago, and its age is not later than the late Liangzhu culture. The specific architectural age needs further archaeological determination. Archaeologists point out that this is the first city site discovered in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River during the Liangzhu culture period, and it is also the largest city site discovered in China at the same time. At that time, "Liangzhu" forces occupied half of China, and the newly discovered ancient city was equivalent to the capital of Liangzhu.
Some experts believe that the dating of Chinese dynasties should be rewritten from now on: the earliest dynasties were replaced by Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, and changed to Liangzhu.
led by the staff of Liangzhu Management Committee of Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau, the reporter came to the ruins of the ancient city in Pingyao town. The four city walls, east, west, north and south, are now lying quietly in the farmland, surrounded by a small number of homes.
The wall left traces of the domestic garbage of the original residents
A pit was also dug in the north wall, which is the same loess and stone. The only difference is that "this wall pit is exquisite, and the rammed soil layer from the bottom to the surface is alternating with mud and sand, and it is very regular. The sand layer is gradually thickened from top to bottom, and the mud layer is gradually thinned, which is very exquisite in workmanship". According to Liu Bin's speculation, those black sundries on the wall should be left by the original residents.
The south and north of Liangzhu Ancient City are branches of Tianmu Mountain, and the distance between the north and south and the mountain is roughly equal. Dongtiaoxi and Liangzhu Port flow eastward from the north and south sides of the city respectively, and two natural hills, Fengshan and Luoshan, are used to the southwest corner and northeast corner of the city wall respectively. Therefore, experts infer that the ancient people obviously carefully surveyed and planned their geographical location when building the city.
the discovery of the site of Liangzhu ancient city was very unexpected, which was due to an infrastructure project in June last year to relocate farmers' houses in the protected area.
At that time, the Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology discovered a north-south river ditch in Liangzhu period when excavating on the west side of the highland of Putaofan site in Pingyao. This made Liu Bin feel that there was a chance, and then he led the archaeologists to dig deeper. Luoyang shovel goes down one by one (Luoyang shovel has a long handle and its shovel head is semi-cylindrical. When it is driven into the ground and lifted, the shovel head can bring out a barrel of soil to distinguish the soil structure, color, density and inclusion). At a depth of more than 4 meters, the shovel head touches a stone, and then shovel it in another place, and it touches the stone again at a similar depth. When the soil was dug up layer by layer, a large piece of stone was exposed. After local anatomy, it was found that this highland was artificially piled up, with a width of more than 6 meters and a depth of nearly 4 meters.
as a result, archaeologists found that the whole land was actually rammed by hand-the soil was loess, which was obviously transported from the outside by hand, unlike the gray-black silt in Liangzhu area. Under the loess, there is a layer of stones, which are smooth and should be picked from the surrounding areas. Later excavation proved that this pile of loess is the west wall of Liangzhu ancient city, and the ditch under the rice field is a moat.
the west city wall is about 1 meters long and 4-6 meters wide, connecting Fengshan in the south and Tiaoxi in the north. Next, the south city wall, the north city wall and the east city wall were discovered in turn, which were also paved with stones at the bottom and rammed with a lot of loess; The city wall surrounds the ruins of Mojiao Mountain in the middle.
Compared with the western city wall, the other three walls are relatively more exquisite: the paving stones are much sharper, obviously artificially excavated; The stone on the outside of the city wall is relatively large, and it gets smaller as it goes in; A layer of black clay is sometimes added to the piled loess layer, which increases the waterproof ability of the city wall.
Archaeologists speculate that these traces indicate that the west wall was first built by the ancients, and they gained more experience when the other three walls were built.
The influence of ancient city civilization once influenced half of China
Yan Wenming, a famous archaeologist and professor of Peking University, said that to explain the significance of Liangzhu ancient city, we should start from the height of "the influence of Liangzhu culture on China". According to the location, layout and structure of the Liangzhu site that has been discovered, experts believe that there was a palace at that time, where kings and nobles lived, and now the city wall has been found, which is equivalent to the capital of Liangzhu.
Liangzhu culture is mainly distributed in Taihu Lake Basin, including Liangzhu in Yuhang, Jiaxing South, Shanghai East, Suzhou, Changzhou and Nanjing. Further out, there is the expansion area, which goes to Anhui and Jiangxi in the west, to northern Jiangsu in the north and close to Shandong. Liangzhu people once fought a battle to occupy this place. Further out, there is the influence area, all the way to the southern part of Shanxi.
It can be seen that Liangzhu forces occupied half of China at that time, which would have been impossible without a high level of economy and culture.
Some archaeologists believe that the ancient city of Liangzhu is actually "the ancient city of Liangzhu". With the discovery of Liangzhu ancient city, some people think that the dating of China's dynasties should be rewritten from now on-from the earliest dynasty now thought to Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, to Liangzhu.
The area of the ancient city is similar to that of the Summer Palace
The city wall is 2-4 times wider than that of Xi 'an
The Zhejiang Institute of Archaeology recently released a major archaeological achievement-after 18 months, an ancient city with an area of 2.9 million square meters was found in the Liangzhu ruins area, which is similar to that of the Summer Palace in Beijing. According to the ceramic fragments unearthed in the city wall, the age of this ancient city is not later than the late Liangzhu culture, and the specific architectural age will be determined after further archaeological work. Among the great sites that represent the early civilization in China, Liangzhu site is the largest and the highest level, and it is one of the regions with the largest scale and level to prove the history of Chinese civilization for 5, years.
this ancient city is about 1,5-1,7 meters long from east to west and 1,8-1,9 meters long from north to south, with a slightly rounded rectangle, facing the north-south direction. The residual height of some sections of the city wall is more than 4 meters, and the method is exquisite: the bottom is paved with stones with a width of 4 ~ 6 meters (the most complete existing ancient city wall in China-the ancient city wall of Xi 'an built during the Hongwu period of the Ming Dynasty, with a bottom width of 18 meters and a top width of 15 meters), and pure loess is piled on it and compacted.
Yan Wenming, a famous archaeologist and professor from Peking University, commented on the ancient city: it is the largest contemporary ancient city discovered in China at present, and it can be called "the first city in China"; It changed the original understanding that Liangzhu culture was just a glimmer of civilization, which marked that Liangzhu culture had actually entered a mature stage of prehistoric civilization development. It is another important discovery in China archaeology after the discovery of Yin Ruins in Anyang, Henan Province in the last century, which will greatly promote the research process of China civilization history and the development of archaeology.
Liangzhu culture is a famous prehistoric archaeological culture distributed around Taihu Lake, dating back 53 ~ 4 years. Liangzhu site is the central site and cultural naming place of Liangzhu culture, located in Liangzhu and Pingyao towns, Yuhang District, Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province. In 1986, the Liangzhu anti-mountain site was first discovered, and 11 large tombs were excavated, including more than 1,2 pieces of pottery, stone tools, ivory and jade-inlaid lacquerware. In recent years, the number of Liangzhu cultural sites has increased from more than 4 to 135, with various remains such as villages, cemeteries and altars.
Liangzhu, with a long history and outstanding people, is regarded as the dawn of Chinese civilization-the birthplace of Liangzhu culture. Liangzhu culture is a late Neolithic culture represented by black pottery and polished jade distributed around Taihu Lake basin. It was named after it was first discovered in Liangzhu in 1936, 53-4 years ago. The dawn of China civilization rises from Liangzhu, which is the holy land of Chinese nation and oriental civilization. National Cultural Heritage Administration has officially listed Liangzhu site in the World Cultural Heritage List.
Hemudu
The early Neolithic site in southern China, a national key cultural relic protection unit, is located in Hemudu Town, Yuyao City, about 2 kilometers away from Ningbo City, with an area of about 4, square meters. It was excavated in 1973 and is one of the earliest Neolithic cultural sites discovered in China.
Hemudu site was discovered in 1973, with a total area of 5, square meters, overlapping four cultural layers. It has been determined that the lowest age is 7 years ago. Through two scientific excavations in 1973 and 1977, nearly 7, pieces of production tools, daily necessities, decorative handicrafts, relics of artificially cultivated rice, dry-column building components, animal and plant remains and other cultural relics composed of bone wares, pottery, jade, wood and other materials were unearthed, which fully reflected the prosperity of matriarchal clan in primitive society in China. The excavation of Hemudu site provides extremely precious physical evidence for the study of eastern civilizations such as agriculture, architecture, textile and art at that time, and it is one of the most important archaeological discoveries since the founding of the People's Republic of China. The cultural relics unearthed from Hemudu site have been exhibited abroad many times, which deeply shocked the whole world.
Hemudu site is a world-famous Neolithic site, with a total area of about 4, square meters and a stacking thickness of about four meters. There are four cultural layers stacked on top of each other, and the age of the fourth cultural layer is about 7, years ago, which is one of the earliest Neolithic strata discovered in China. The third and fourth cultural layers have preserved a large number of plant remains, animal remains, wooden building remains and components, as well as thousands of pottery, bone utensils, stone tools, wood products and so on.
Neolithic culture in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River in China. It was named in 1976 because it was first discovered at Hemudu Site in Yuyao County, Zhejiang Province. It is mainly distributed in Ningbo and Shaoxing Plain on the south bank of Hangzhou Bay, and reaches Zhoushan Island across the sea. According to radioactive carbon dating and correction, the age is about 6 BC. The discovery and establishment of Hemudu culture expanded the research field of Neolithic archaeology in China, which showed that splendid and ancient Neolithic culture also existed in the Yangtze River basin.
At present, the only large-scale excavation of this culture is Hemudu Site. In 1973-1974 and 1977-1978, two excavations were conducted under the auspices of Zhejiang Cultural Management Association and Zhejiang Museum. In 1982, the State Council was declared as a national key cultural relic protection unit. In addition, the late remains of Hemudu culture have been found in Chenjiao, Yinxian, Zhejiang, Baziqiao, Zhoushan, Bai Quan and Daju.
Hemudu site is located in Jinwumiao Village, Hemudu Town (formerly Langshuqiao Village, Luojiang Township). It was discovered when local farmers built a drainage station in the summer of 1973, with a total area of about 4, square meters. Four cultural layers are stacked from bottom to top. According to the determination of Peking University Carbon 14 Laboratory, the fourth cultural layer is about 7-65 years ago, the third cultural layer is about 65-6 years ago, the second cultural layer is about 6-55 years ago, and the first cultural layer is about 55-years ago. In the winter of 1973 and 1977, the site was excavated twice, with a total area of 2,63 square meters. More than 6,7 cultural relics such as production tools, household appliances and original works of art were unearthed, as well as abundant cultivated rice, large-scale wooden building remains, bones of hunted wild animals and domestic animals, collected plant fruits and a small number of tombs. All these provide extremely precious material data for studying the origin of agriculture, architecture, ceramics, textiles, art and oriental civilization in ancient China and the evolution of paleogeography, paleoclimate and paleohydrology. The unearthed cultural relics in the first and second cultural layers of Hemudu site are similar to those in the lower layer of Qiucheng site in Huzhou and Majiabin site in Jiaxing suburb. The unearthed cultural relics in the third and fourth cultural layers are newly discovered in our province, and it has a relatively developed dry-column building with tenon and mortise technology, and its production and living standards are in a leading position in contemporary sites in China. Therefore, it is a brand-new archaeological culture, temporarily named Hemudu. After the discovery of Hemudu Site, it caused great repercussions in academic circles at home and abroad. In order to make it public as soon as possible, in April 1976, the Cultural Bureau of National Cultural Heritage Administration and Zhejiang Province held a "Symposium on the First Excavation of Hemudu Site" (actually a seminar), with experts and scholars from Beijing, Shanghai, Shaanxi, Guangdong, Fujian, Anhui and Zhejiang, and representatives from Yuyao County and Luojiang Township. Experts and scholars attending the meeting believed that the discovery of Hemudu site proved that the Yangtze River basin also had a prosperous primitive culture 7 years ago, and it was the birthplace of ancient Chinese culture like the Yellow River basin. It was the most important archaeological discovery since the founding of New China, and they unanimously agreed to name Hemudu culture. From 198 to 1981, Zhejiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, together with relevant municipal and county cultural management committees, conducted a general survey of Neolithic sites in Ningshaoping. In recent years, some sites have been discovered in the capital construction. So far, 47 Hemudu cultural sites have been discovered, which are distributed in the coastal areas south of Qiantang River and Zhoushan Islands, among which Yaojiang Plain is the densest, with 25 in total. Therefore, Yuyao is the hometown of Hemudu culture.
[ Edit this paragraph] Features
Pottery mainly includes black pottery, red pottery with sand and red-gray pottery. In addition to plain pottery, it is popular to cross-print rope patterns on the bottom of kettles. The wide edge of pottery is often carved with geometric patterns such as parallel stripes, waves, circles, leaves and ears, and occasionally painted pottery with dark brown patterns on white ground. With flat bottom and bottom-covering as the bulk. Representative utensils are kettle, pot, bowl with handle, wide-edged shallow dish, hanging bag type, feet and so on. The pottery kettle, which is used with the supporting feet, has always been the main cooking utensil of Hemudu culture. Bone production tools are abundant, especially in the early days, the number of bone tools far exceeds the sum of all kinds of tools such as stone, wood and pottery. As far as we know, it is unique to the Neolithic culture in China. Woodwork is exquisite and diverse. Trapezoidal asymmetrical-edged stone axe, arch-backed thick-body stone hairpin, bone chisel, oblique collar bone chisel, tubular bone needle, bone whistle, wooden spear and wooden knife are all unique artifacts. A large number of mortise and tenon wooden components and the remains of dry-column buildings show the housing characteristics of Hemudu culture.
The 4th and 3rd floors and the 2nd and 1st floors of Hemudu site represent the early and late stages of Hemudu culture respectively. ① Early period: about 5 ~ 4 years ago. The pottery system is simple, and the pottery with carbon black is absolutely dominant. In addition to the plain surface, there are many rope patterns, and the geometric patterns and animal and plant patterns are prominent. The main vessel shapes are convergent or open-shouldered spine kettle, straight-mouthed barrel kettle, large-mouthed jug with two ears at the neck, wide-edged shallow dish, inclined abdominal basin, annular single-handle bowl, large-ringed beans, pot-shaped retort, block-shaped legs and so on. There are few kinds of stone tools, which are generally not polished well. Axes and hoes are thick, and no holes are found in the main stone tools. ② Late stage: about 4 ~ 33 years ago. Red pottery with sand and red-gray pottery have the largest number. The outer wall of argillaceous red pottery in the front section is red and the inner wall is black, and red pottery clothes are often applied; The argillaceous red pottery in the latter part has the same color on the outside and the inside, and it is rarely coated with pottery. Following the rope pattern, there is a hole pattern. New tripod, floor-standing handle bipedal abnormity, hanging bag type. Other main shapes are open cockscomb ear kettle, open flat-bellied kettle, ox-nose ear jar, folded edge jar, perforated bean, and hollow inclined body leg. The stone tools were polished in many ways, and there appeared a flat strip stone hairpin, a perforated stone axe, a rectangular double-hole stone knife and a stone spinning wheel.
The cultural relics discovered in Hemudu site are characterized by a large number and rich types, which provide comprehensive materials for studying people's production and life during the prosperity of clan commune seven or eight thousand years ago. If there are as many as 4, pieces of pottery unearthed in two excavations, use the same