Volume 17, Issue 1

From December 2012 to January 2016, the First South China Archaeological Team, Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Hainan Museum conducted excavations to the Qiaoshan and Lianziwan Sites in Lingshui County and Yingdun Site in Sanya City, all in Hainan Province. The unearthed artifacts showed that the polished red-coated pottery wares and sandy pottery wares found in the south of Yingdun Site clearly belonged to different archaeological cultures, based on which the cultural remains of the Yingdun Site are divided into the early and late phases. The artifacts belonging to the early phase are pottery wares, stone tools, strung ornaments made of fish bone and large amount of marine and terrestrial animal remains. The Lianziwan Site in Lingshui County yielded potsherds, stone tools and large amount of animal remains. The cultural remains of the Qiaoshan Site can be also divided into the early and late phases. The early phase yielded pottery wares and stone tools, and the features of the late phase were mainly the surface of the Stratum 3 and burials, the artifacts of which were pottery wares and stone tools. Based on the stratigraphicalrelationships and the characteristics of the unearthed artifacts, the basic chronological sequence of “Cultural remains of Yingdun Site → Cultural remains of Lianziwan Site → Cultural remains of Qiaoshan Site” can be established.

In October 2011 to December 2015, the Institute of Archaeology, Nanjing Museum conducted two terms of excavations to the Jiangzhuang Site located in the administrated areas of Xinghua and Dongtai Cities, Jiangsu Province. The main work was the large-scale uncovering of the settlement of the Liangzhu Culture located in the west zone of the site, the features recovered from which included burials, house foundations, ash pits, water wells, ash ditches, etc. In the cemetery of the Liangzhu Culture in the northeast of the west zone of the site, burials were densely arranged; most of the burials had burial receptacles, and the skeletons were well preserved, the burial positions of which included primary burials and secondary burials. The discovery and excavation of the settlement of Liangzhu Culture at Jiangzhuang Site revised the traditional viewpoint of the academic field that the north border of the Liangzhu Culture was limited by the Yangtze River and provided new materials for the comprehensive and in-depth researches on the civilization and society of the Liangzhu Culture. The large amount of human skeletons unearthed from the burials of the Liangzhu Culture will also effectively improve the indepth researches on the burial custom, social organization and relationship and racial attribution of the people of Liangzhu Culture.

In the years 2014 and 2015, the Joint Excavation Team at Zhouyuan conducted excavations of the rammed-earth foundations in the northern area of Hejia Village, a residential-burial area, a chariot-and-horse pit and a horse pit centered by the Fengchu palace complex, as well as five ponds and canals in a water reticulation system. The artifacts found in the rammed-earth foundations include golden foil objects, turquoise pieces, protoporcelain artifacts, lacquer objects, jades and cowry shells. The features found in the residential-burial area include burials, ash pits and house foundations, and these features contained artifacts such as bronzes, pottery and proto-porcelain vessels, jades, stone implements and lacquer objects. The excavations of the five ponds and canals in the water reticulation system and the previous fieldwork results showed that there was a well-planned water reticulation system consisting of the natural river system and an artificial canal system including water ponds, headwater canals, trunk canals and branch canals of different levels at the Zhouyuan Site.

Since March 2011, Jiangxi Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and other institutions conducted excavation to Marquis of Haihun’s tomb of the Western Han Dynasty located on the Guodun Hill in Datangping Township, Xinjian District, Nanchang City. Marquis of Haihun’s tomb consisted of the burial mound in the shape of a truncated pyramid, the grave in a 甲 -shaped plan and the rectangular wooden coffin chamber. The wooden coffin chamber was partitioned into the main chamber, the passage, the ambulatory-shaped storage quarters and the corridor. The artifacts unearthed from the tomb included gold objects, bronzes, jades, lacquered and wooden wares, textiles, pottery wares, bamboo slips and wooden tablets, etc. Referring to the unearthed artifacts and the relevant historic textual materials, the occupant of this tomb is estimated to be Liu He, the first generation of the Marquis of Haihun of the Western Han Dynasty. The site of the Purple Gold City, the graveyards of the Marquises of Haihun of all of the generations and the cemeteries of the noble and common peoples formed the largest and best preserved settlement site of marquisate of the Han Dynasty found to date with the richest connotations.

Since 2011, Archaeological Team of Han-Wei Luoyang City of the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences conducted coring tests and excavations to the site of Taiji Hall complex in the palace city of the Northern Wei Dynasty in the Han-Wei Luoyang City Site, by which the east half of the foundation of the main hall and that of the Taiji East Hall and the aprons, paths, courtyards, gateways, side houses and draining ditches around them were recovered, and the artifacts including bricks, tiles, tile-ends, stone slabs for paving the floor and bronze coins were unearthed. The excavations confirmed that the Taiji Hall in Luoyang was first built in the Three-Kingdoms Period and the layout of the Taiji East and West Halls flanking the main hall in the middle was also formed at that time. This layout was succeeded, rebuilt and reused by the Western Jin, Northern Wei and Northern Zhou Dynasties in the later times. This palace system and capital city planning established by the Wei Kingdom of the Three-Kingdoms Period in the Han-Wei Luoyang City were followed by the later dynasties and periods and introduced to Korea and Japan.

In 2013 and 2014, Guizhou Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and other institutions conducted large-scale excavation to the tusi (hereditary headmen system in the minority area, and also the title of the headmen) cemetery of the Yang Family in Xinpu New District, Zunyi City, which recovered three tombs of the tusi of the Yang Family. Among these three tombs, Yang Jie’s tomb was a large-sized earthen pit tomb furnished with wooden coffin chamber, which was a special structure in this cemetery; it was well preserved and yielded large amount of elaborate gold and silver wares and other exquisite grave goods. The entire cemetery had clear and tidy arrangements, diversified burial types, exact tomb occupant identities, large time span and rich grave goods yielded, all of which enriched the knowledge on the funeral system, genealogy and cultural characteristics of the Yang Family, the tusi clan of Bozhou Prefecture, made it possible to comprehensively explore the social history of the ancient Bozhou Prefecture and propelled the archaeological researches on the remains of the tusi system.

In 2013 and 2014, Guizhou Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and other institutions conducted comprehensive survey, mapping and trial excavation to the walls and passes of the Hailong Tun Site. These archaeological activities identified the walls and passes of two phases belonging to the Song and Ming Dynasties respectively and generally made clear the full layout and evolution of the relevant remains through these periods. The extant Bronze Pillar Pass, Iron Pillar Pass, Flying Dragon Pass, Flying Tiger Pass, Chaoqian Pass, Flying Phoenix Pass, Wan’an Pass, West Pass and Rear Pass and the walls built of marlstone are the remains of the Wanli Era of the Ming Dynasty and the north and south walls and the “Earthen wall” on the top of the tun (castle) and the gates associated with them are the remains of the Southern Song Dynasty. These discoveries provided important references for the chronology and periodization of the relevant remains, and also enriched the understandings to the city sites of the Song through the Ming Dynasties in the nearby areas.

In 2012 and 2013, The First South China Archaeological Team of the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Guizhou Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology conducted cooperative excavation to the Caves A and B of the Niupodong Site in Pingba County. The excavation recovered four burials, the dates of which were all early Neolithic Age. The artifacts unearthed at this site were mainly chopped microliths and related tools and products, such as stone blanks, fragments, cores, flakes and refuses, and some finished microliths, such as scrapers, choppers, points, etc. In addition, large amounts of typical microcores and microblades were also found. Pebble tools were also discovered in large amount, most of which had concaves on both sides. Very few whetstones were found. Polished stone implements were also found in small quantity, most of which were stone axes. Pottery wares were also found in small quantity and type, and badly fragmentary. These discoveries provided important materials for the researches on the characteristics and connotations of the prehistoric archaeological cultures in Guizhou, and are also significantly meaningful for the relevant researches.

From November 2012 to May 2013, the Erlitou Archaeological Team of the Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of the Social Sciences found a roughly north-south orientated rammed-earth wall (Q7) and hard-trodden road surface parallel to the wall in the vicinity of the workshop zone of the Erlitou Site. The wall was most likely erected during Erlitou Phase II and continued to be in use until the early stage of Phase IV. The trodden roads took form during Phase II and ended in Phase III or early stage of Phase IV. Together with the previous findings, the excavators postulated two competing propositions on the rammed-earth wall in question. It was the west wall of the walled workshop zone or it was the east wall of a walled enclosure has yet to be discovered to its west. The roads were auxiliary facilities of the walled zone when it was in use.

From 2002 to 2008, three terms of excavation were conducted at the Yinxu Period bone workshop site at Tiesan Road, Anyang, revealing that the overall area of this site covered about 1.76ha. The structural remains uncovered at the site consisted mainly of roads, house foundations, ash pits, and burials. Artifacts unearthed included pottery wares, bronzes, jades and bone materials, the last comprising the bulk of items discovered. The bone workshop began operating in Phase II of the Yinxu Period at the latest and lasted until the late stage of Phase IV of the Yinxu Period. The large amount of bone materials unearthed from the excavation provided important data for research on handicraft production, the economics of animal husbandry, and the utilization and supply of animal resources during the late Shang Dynasty.

In 2012, 198 burials were excavated in the Dadianshan Cemetery site in Changning County, Yunnan. The striking differences in burial structure and grave goods of these burials suggest that the cemetery was used by two different ethnic groups. The structure of the burials can be classified into earthen cave burials, earthen pit burials and urn burials. The first type has never been seen in the Bronze Age archaeology of Yunnan. They yielded rich assemblage of grave goods predominantly comprising bronze artifacts, the main types of which were sabers, spearheads, bracelets, yue -battle axes, swords, buckles, etc. They were likely associated with the ancient Ailao people of the late Spring-and-Autumn to late Warring-States Periods. The second burial type was prevalent in Bronze Age Yunnan. These burials yielded small number of or no grave goods. In addition to bronze, the grave goods assemblage also comprised of iron, bimetallic, stone and pottery artifacts. They were likely associated with the Di and Qiang people during the mid Warring-States Period to the late Western Han Dynasty.

The main body of the site of Huahaizi No. 3 in Qinghe (Qinggil) County, Xinjiang, is a stone cairn surrounded by a stone circle with cross-shaped spokes. Around it, stone circles and stone cairns for sacrifices are located. In addition to two deer stones, shield-shaped stones, a simple wooden frame structure and fragments of human bones and sheep teeth used as sacrifices were found. The scientific data and the style of the deer stones show that this site was in use from around the 9th century BCE. The archaeological remains and artifacts show that this site and similar remains are for sacrificial activities, which might be related to the worship of sun, the moon and other celestial bodies or phenomena. The Sandaohaizi Site and similar remains found nearby as well as at the Arzhan kurgans in Tuva, Southern Siberia would have been left by the same people; Sandaohaizi was the summer ritual center of this early nomadic society and Arzhan was its royal necropolis.

In July through September 2012, the tomb of Mme Yi, the De Consort of the Later Tang Dynasty was excavated. It was a brick multi-chamber tomb consisting of the passage, the entrance, the corridor, the main chamber and the side chambers, the full length of which was 24.1m. 208 pieces (sets) of grave goods were unearthed from this tomb, including porcelains, silver and bronze wares, iron objects, bone implements, lacquer wares, architectural parts and the epitaph. This tomb show more styles of the Han Culture, which was special among the tombs of the Liao Dynasty of the same time. The content of the epitaph made up the insufficient records of the historical textual materials and provided important materials for the researches on the relationship between the Khitan and the Later Tang and Later Jin Dynasties in the Five-Dynasties Period.

The discoid core and the Levallois core are important symbols of the Middle Paleolithic Age in the west of the Old World. The two types of artifacts show not only technical relationships but also differences. The discoid core can be classified into two sub-types, namely the unifacial and the bifacial classes. In China, discoid cores may have appeared in the upper Middle Pleistocene, and prevailed in the lower and middle Upper Pleistocene, which corresponded to the middle Paleolithic Age in Europe and to the Middle Stone Age in Africa. The discovery and study of discoid cores provide significant insight into the culture of the Middle Paleolithic Age in China.

It was generally considered that it is a technological advancement from bonfire firing to kiln firing. In fact, both of the firing methods possess certain advantages as well as disadvantages. To a specific community, firing technique is a technological choice rather than an outcome of technological development. The technological choices should correspond to the local environments, social contexts, and cultural traditions. Bonfire firing evidences are found in northern and southern China. However, issues of the specific bonfire firing technology as well as the relationship between bonfire firing and kiln firing in both regions need further studies.

In the Six-Dynasties Period, the burial system of China underwent a process of development from the “Han System” to the “Jin System”. Both at ground level and within the underground structures, high-ranking burials of the Six-Dynasties Period all had sculptures or figures of mythical animals meant as guardians or quellers of evil. The motifs and styles of these included not only components inherited from the burials of the Han Dynasty, but also newly emergent cultural elements, and in particular a system of auspicious beasts represented by lions. This new auspicious beast complex was related to the prior “Han System” of burial decoration but also showed clear differences. These changes reflected the symbolic features expressed through the formation of the “Jin System” in another aspect. Their influence reached down to the burial systems of the Tang and Song Dynasties.

This paper presents preliminary scientific analytical results and discussion on the murals unearthed at the Shimao Site in Shenmu County, Shaanxi Province. The murals were composed of pigment layer, plaster base layer and daub layer. The pigments used include hematite, goethite, glauconite and carbon black. Same with the floor plaster layer of the house foundations in the site, the plaster layer of murals is made of calcium carbonate. For the painting procedure, a draft had firstly been designed by engraved lines, and then the murals were painted with various pigments. A tentative comparative study shows that the manufacturing technology and painting techniques of the Shimao mural are similar to that of the murals of the Han and Tang Dynasties. It indicates that the fundamental manufacturing technology of mural had probably been established in the Erlitou Period at latest, which was just followed and enriched over the Han and Tang Dynasties.