Fang Qi, the head of the archaeological excavation project and vice president of the Institute of Archaeology of Jilin University, introduced that in 2022, the project team excavated two stone cocoons in the early Yangshao culture more than 6,000 years ago.
Since 2019, the Institute of Archaeology of Jilin University, Shanxi Institute of Archaeology and Yuncheng Cultural Relics Protection Center have jointly investigated and excavated the Shicun site in Xiaxian County, Yuncheng. Six stone-carved silkworm chrysalis, one clay-made silkworm chrysalis and two stone-made silkworm chrysalis have been unearthed, and the unearthed stone-carved silkworm chrysalis and other important discoveries have aroused widespread concern in related fields.
“There has been a legend of Lei Zu’s sericulture in Yuncheng area since ancient times, and there is also a record of the beginning of silkworm rearing by Huangdi’s princess Lei Zu in Historical Records.” Fang Qi said, “The discovery of stone silkworm cocoons and stone-carved silkworm chrysalis reveal the important position of silkworm in the production and life of ancestors in Yuncheng Basin, the core area of the origin of Chinese civilization, more than 6,000 years ago. This provides an important clue for studying the origin of silk reeling technology in ancient China. “
In the evaluation activities, the team also showed another discovery: since 2019, many “stone balls” have been found in the archaeological excavation of Shicun site, which were initially judged as projectiles made and used by ancestors during hunting.
“In 2022, we also found a lot of’ stone balls’ in the shape of steamed bread, which are very similar to silkworm eggs. We analyzed that these’ stone balls’ shaped like silkworm eggs were probably made by people who were full of interest and reverence for silkworm life at that time. ” Based on the key discoveries of stone-carved silkworm chrysalis, stone cocoon and “stone ball” silkworm eggs, as well as the main excavation achievements and unearthed relics of the site in 2022, Fang Qi put forward a hypothesis on the settlement nature and function of Shicun site.
Fang Qi believes that in the four years since the excavation of Shicun Site was started, the teachers and students of Jida University have excavated an area of more than 6,000 square meters, and the living and living facilities such as house sites and ash pits, as well as production and living utensils such as farm tools and cookers, are not sufficient compared with the excavation scale, and the traces left by ancestors’ diets are not rich enough. It is probably not a traditional living settlement, but a primitive handicraft workshop located next to a large living settlement, which mainly focuses on sericulture and reeling.
After the Spring Festival this year, the archaeologists of the project team have completed the collection of cultural relics, surface survey and related exploration work at Yuancun site around Shicun site, and determined the focus of work and the scope of archaeological excavation in 2023. “Is the Yuancun site covering an area of 1.8 million square meters a large-scale living settlement next to the Shicun site? Is there a division of production or even trade between the two settlements? ” Fang Qi is full of expectations for archaeological excavations in the new year.
The reporter also learned from Jilin University that in 2022, teachers and students of Jilin University were in Shicun..Six houses, more than 600 ash pits, 3 ash ditches, 2 ash piles, 10 tombs, 8 urns and coffins, 3 kiln sites and more than 20 pillar caves were excavated in the site. There are more than 40 pieces of complete or recoverable pottery and porcelain, except a large number of fragments of rope-patterned gray pottery, argillaceous gray pottery and painted pottery. In addition, there are 129 pottery production and living utensils, 106 stone production and living utensils, 19 jade products, 67 bones and mussels and 13 metal products. The remains obtained can be roughly distributed in the early and middle Yangshao period, as well as the Eastern Zhou Dynasty, Han Dynasty and other periods. Among them, the early Yangshao remains are the earliest settlement sites in Yangshao era which are the closest to the ancient Yanchi in recent years. In terms of archaeological culture pedigree, it has important enlightenment for studying the process of the early Yangshao remains entering the “Xiyin culture” in the Neolithic age in southern Shanxi.
(Reporter Ren Shuang, Yang Jue correspondent Qu Jiawei)