Achievements of the fifth stage of the Chinese civilization exploration project

Achievements of the fifth stage of the Chinese civilization exploration project: new discoveries have been made in the archaeology of Liangzhu and Erlitou sites.

On February 9, 2023, at 65438, National Cultural Heritage Administration held a press conference in Beijing to introduce the latest achievements of the Chinese civilization traceability project. Li Qun, Vice Minister of Culture and Tourism and Director of National Cultural Heritage Administration, attended the press conference.

Li Qun introduced that since the implementation of the fifth phase of the Chinese Civilization Sourcing Project, the space-time scope of research has been further expanded. Around 29 core sites such as Liangzhu in Yuhang, Zhejiang, Shenmu Shimao in Shaanxi and Erlitou in Yanshi, Henan, while deepening the overall understanding of the origin and early development stage of Chinese civilization, we focused on key time nodes and major events, carefully designed multidisciplinary comprehensive research, and made a series of progress.

Since the implementation of the fifth stage of the Chinese civilization traceability project, the multidisciplinary collaborative research has been deepened. Chronological research focuses on the spatial layout of Shimao Huangchengtai, inner city and outer city, and on the white ash field of Bicun site in Xing County, Shanxi Province, which fills the technical gap in China.

The collaborative research of animal archaeology, plant archaeology, environmental archaeology, stable isotope analysis and ancient DNA analysis shows that the industrial economy has shown obvious regional differences since 7000 years, and the central plains and northern regions have shown a mixed agricultural production system with millet as the mainstay and millet, beans and rice as the supplement.

The important paddy field remains found in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River show that different rice farming patterns have a symbiotic relationship with the early complex social structure. According to the research of rival industries, it is found that the handicraft production technology in the Central Plains has undergone qualitative changes around 3800.

The first three stages of the Chinese civilization exploration project

In the first stage of ancient times, it was about 5800-5200 years ago. Taking Niuheliang Site in the West Liaohe River Basin as a representative, archaeological excavations found and confirmed that the first site of this site was a large platform complex consisting of nine platforms. The famous "Goddess Temple" and various clay sculptures unearthed are located on one of the abutments. This abutment is large in scale, with the remaining height exceeding 4.6 meters at present. This discovery is of great significance to understand the architectural relationship and sacrificial nature of Niuheliang First Station.

The second stage of ancient times was about 5200-4300 years ago. Hongshan Culture in the West Liaohe River basin began to decline, while the civilizations in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River and the Yangtze River embarked on different development paths. Social differentiation is further highlighted, and the ability to mobilize social resources is strengthened.

The third stage of ancient times is about 4300-3800 years ago. The social development in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River stagnated, and the Central Plains and the northern regions came from behind, starting a new round of civilized development, thus forming a historical trend centered on the Central Plains and laying the foundation for the historical development of China.