Volume 24, Issue 1

In 2021 and 2022, archaeological surveys and major excavations were conducted at the Xuetang Liangzi site in Areas B, C, and E. These efforts uncovered archaeological remains that include a complete sequence of Paleolithic cultures in southern China. The history of prehistoric human activity at the site spans more than one million years, covering the early to late Paleolithic period. The No. 3 skull of Yunxian Man, unearthed from Layer 3 in Area B, dates to approximately one million years ago and is the best-preserved hominin cranium found on the Eurasian continent of its period.

Neolithic remains at the Sitai site, uncovered from 2020 to 2022, are categorized into five groups. Notable findings include over 40 houses and a variety of artifacts made from pottery, stone, bone, and shell. Groups I and II’s remains reveal distinct cultural characteristics, identifying the early Neolithic Sitai culture. Group III provides evidence of domesticated agriculture dating back to around 7600 years ago, marking the inception of dryland farming in northern China. Group IV’s cultural elements align with the later stage of Phase II of the Yumin culture (Xinglong culture Phase II), restricting the Yumin culture’s southern extent. Lastly, Group V’s remains highlight significant exchanges with distant northern cultures, which is crucial for understanding the early Steppe Silk Road’s development.

In 2021 and 2022, excavations of the Nanzuo site focused on the large rammed-earth structures in the northern part. Trial excavations were conducted on the west side, including the west edge of Platform 3 and the west moat, complemented by investigations and extensive surveys. The site spans over 600ha, with its core area being the “nine platforms” surrounded by double moats, which form the core of the settlement. Artifacts unearthed include pottery, bone, stone, and turquoise objects, along with carbonized rice, foxtail millet, broomcorn millet, pig bones, and deer antlers. The Nanzuo site represents a large-scale, high-ranking central settlement with capital city features on the Loess Plateau, dating back to the late Yangshao culture, about 5000 years ago. This suggests that the Longdong region in eastern Gansu was in the early stages of statehood or a civilized society at that time.

In 2021 and 2022, an extensive survey was conducted north of the Huanhe River, focusing on the Shang royal mausoleum area at Yinxu. Two moats encircling the boundary of the mausoleum area and more than 470 sacrificial pits were discovered. In 2022, four sites were excavated, yielding clear stratigraphic and material evidence that the two moats were in use during the late Shang dynasty (Dayi Shang period) and served as “dry moats” around the royal mausoleum area. The Western Zhou remains, located southwest of the mausoleum area, have also been excavated and dated to the early Western Zhou.

From 2021 to 2022, extensive excavations at the Hebosuo site uncovered large building foundations, roads, river channels, ash pits, wells, and tombs. A vast array of artifacts including numerous slips and boards, stamp seals, and objects made of bronze, iron, bone, and stone or jade were unearthed. The site’s timeline predominantly spans from the Western to the Eastern Han dynasties. These findings substantiate the historical establishment of the Yizhou Commandery during the Western Han period. Particularly significant are the stamp seals and slips and boards, which reveal the administrative structure and operations of the Yizhou Commandery. These discoveries are crucial for understanding governance and ethnic integration in the southwest frontier during the Western and Eastern Han dynasties.

In 2020, the complete Xixia porcelain kiln site at Suyukou was excavated. A large number of fine white porcelain products and various kiln furniture items were unearthed. Surrounding the kiln site, mining pits for raw materials and fuels, such as porcelain clay, coal, quartz, and limestone, were discovered. The kilns are designed as horseshoe-shapedt cross-draft mantou kilns, traditional in northern China. These newly discovered kilns can be referred to as Helan kilns. For the first time, remains necessary for a full technological sequence of porcelain-making were discovered. Additionally, the porcelain firing site used by the Xixia imperial house was also found. The highly advanced firing technology at this kiln site is unprecedented in previously excavated archaeological sites.

A joint excavation led by the Shandong Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and the College of Liberal Arts of Shanghai University was conducted in the southern Gangshang site in Tengzhou between September 2020 and January 2021. This excavation revealed a cemetery with 16 vertical earthen pit tombs from the late Dawenkou period. The tombs, categorized as large, medium, or small, displayed significant hierarchical differences, variety of grave goods, and types of burial containers. These findings provide valuable insights into the social stratification, burial practices, funerary rites, and the evolution of ritual systems during the late Dawenkou period.

The tombs of Dai Zhou and his wife, née Wan, were discovered and excavated in 2014 in Chang’an District, Xi’an. Dai Zhou served as the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue during the reign of Taizong in the Tang dynasty. Both tombs, placed side by side from east to west in the same cemetery, are shaft tombs with a long sloping ramp, multiple ventilation shafts, and a single rectangular chamber. Over 100 artifacts were unearthed. Well-preserved murals, depicting sword-bearing guardian warriors, servants, and musicians, were found in Dai Zhou’s tomb. The epitaphs from these tombs provide new insights into the late Sui and early Tang history.

Based on the typology of ceramic wares and analysis of the spatial distribution, origin, and dispersal of other categories of archaeological remains, it can be determined that three grand cultural spheres existed on the Holocene Eurasian Continent prior to the rise of the Silk Road. These were the Early Eastern Cultural Sphere, centered around the Yellow River valley and the Yangtze River valley; the Early Western Cultural Sphere, centered around the Tigris-Euphrates River valley (Mesopotamia); the Early Northern Cultural Sphere, located to the north of the Eastern and Western Cultural Spheres. Due to cultural interactions, collisions, and exchanges, there were large intersection zones between the three grand cultural spheres.

Chinese painted pottery probably originated during the early Neolithic and developed through the middle to the first half of the late Neolithic period. Flourishing between 6000 and 5000 years ago, it was initially heavily distributed in the middle and lower Yangtze River areas and Haidai region, then spread northward to the middle Yellow River area, and finally reached its zenith during the Taosi culture period. In this process, painted pottery transitioned from “non-ritual vessels” to “ritual vessels.” In certain regions, painted pottery emerged either independently or through the integration of exotic and local traditions; while in others, its use was due entirely to external cultural influences.

Through the examination of Olmec jade objects at the Dumbarton Oaks Museum and Maya jade artifacts from the Chichén Itzá site housed in the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, two categories of drilling techniques have been identified: practical and ritual. Practical drilling encompasses drilling positioning, sequential drilling for decoration and openwork. Ritual drilling imbues jade objects with symbolism related to breath and life. In Neolithic China, two systems of drilling techniques for jade processing have been reconstructed: axial rotary drilling and bearing rotary drilling.

Through typological analysis and pattern comparison, this study demonstrates that the Seima-Turbino-type bronze spearheads unearthed from the Xiawanggang site date roughly to the end of the third millennium BCE or the beginning of the second millennium BCE. Considering their similarities to the Okunev culture, the Shimao culture, and the iconography of the post-Shijiahe culture, this study suggests that the appearance of Seima-Turbino-type bronze spearheads in the Yangtze River valley resulted from north-south cultural exchange. Understanding this cultural exchange is significant for comprehending changes in China’s prehistoric cultural patterns during the Longshan-Erlitou culture period.

This study examines the “export” of Chinese bronze mirrors and their destinations from the ninth to the tenth century, focusing on three shipwrecks—Belitung, Intan, and Cirebon—discovered in the Java Sea, Indonesia. Approximately 70 Chinese bronze mirrors were recovered from these wrecks. Through a comprehensive analysis of the styles, assemblages, and spatial distribution of the mirrors found on these shipwrecks, and by comparing them with contemporaneous examples unearthed from tombs, pagodas, and hoards, this study argues that the distinction between “export” bronze mirrors and those “domestic” lies in the coexistence of new and old mirrors in the export cases. These export assemblages featured a higher proportion of heavier and more exquisitely crafted “old mirrors.” This distinction is attributed to the specific demands of overseas markets such as Southeast Asia, West Asia, and Central Asia for high-quality Chinese bronze products.

The domestication of plants and animals was a unique evolutionary process influenced by human behavior. In the early stage of domestication, the morphological and genetic characteristics of plants and animals still exhibited wild traits, making the concept of the “earliest” crops and domestic animals relative. Human behavior, acting as an unconscious selection mechanism, influenced the process and rate of domestication, making it a crucial factor in identifying domestication. Archaeological evidence of early cultivation and a sedentary lifestyle indicates that the domestication of rice and the origin of rice agriculture in China spanned four to five thousand years, with significant advancements occurring approximately every two thousand years. The origin of rice agriculture began around 10,000 years ago, entered a critical stage around 8000 years ago, and was completed around 6000 years ago. After this period, farming replaced gathering and hunting as the core of the subsistence economy, leading to the establishment of agricultural societies where agricultural production became the driving economic force.