Venue: Loulan Kingdom Site of Han Dynasty, located in Ruoqiang County, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, northwest of China.
Year: 3rd to 4th century.
Excavation year: 1900.
Jane:
The site of Loulan Ancient City is the site of Loulan Kingdom in Han Dynasty, with a total area of about 6,543,800 square meters. The city plane is an irregular square, with the east wall 333 meters long, the south wall 329 meters long and the west wall and the north wall 327 meters long. There are residential areas, temples, yamen, beacon towers, tombs and other relics found in the city site. Unearthed in the city are coins, lacquerware, wood, jade, bronze, beads, gold and silver rings, earrings and other China cultural relics.
Meaning:
The discovery of the ruins of Loulan ancient city provides valuable information for understanding the relationship between the Central Plains dynasty and ancient western countries, and for studying the cultural exchanges between the East and the West and the Silk Road.
Ancient City of Loulan
Participants: The invincible Milan Dynasty (revised in 2005-12-1218: 32: 33), the world-famous ancient city of Loulan, an important historical site in Xinjiang, is located in the west of Lop Nur, at the hub of the western regions and occupies an extremely important position on the ancient Silk Road. Silk and tea in Chinese mainland, horses, grapes and jewelry in the western regions were all traded through Loulan at the earliest. When many caravans passed through this oasis, they had to rest there temporarily. Loulan Kingdom was founded before 65438 BC+076 BC, and died in 630 AD, with a history of more than 800 years.
The kingdom ranges from Guyangguan in the east, Niya Ancient City in the west, Altun Mountain in the south and Hami in the north. However, with the passage of time, this kingdom gradually disappeared in the world. Why it became extinct is still a mystery.
1900 In the spring, the Swedish explorer Sven Hedin was exploring the western part of Lop Nur, and his Uighur guide Ardica got lost in a storm when he returned to the investigation camp to get his lost hoe. But this witty and brave Uighur guide, with the faint moonlight, not only returned to the original camp and found the lost hoe, but also found a tall stupa and dense ruins, where there were beautifully carved wood and ancient copper coins half buried in the sand. The ruins discovered by Ardica in the boundless darkness were later discovered and proved to be the ancient city of Loulan.
Our country's expedition overcame many difficulties and reached the ancient city of Loulan. The tallest building in Loulan City is the pagoda tower in the east of the city, with a height of l0.4, which is made of adobe and wood. The tower foundation is square, and each side is about19.5m long. To the south of the tower, there is a large construction site, with a lot of wood piled up, all of which are finely processed.
The most conspicuous architectural relic in Loulan City is the "three rooms" in the city. The walls of these three rooms are the only adobe bricks in the city, facing south and facing south. The houses at the east and west ends are all wooden structures with red paint on the wood, some of which are 6.4 meters long. From the analysis of the location and structure of this group of buildings, this may be the location of the yamen mansion of the ruler of Loulan City.
The expedition team also found the remains of an ancient river that runs from east to west and passes through the city, which may be the direct water source for the residents of Guloulan City. A large number of fragments of thick pottery jars, stone mill fragments, broken wooden barrels, coins, rings, earrings and China wooden slips were also found in the city. These objects are priceless for studying the history of Loulan ancient city. Ancient relics
The remains left by various human activities in ancient times. Including architectural groups built by human beings for different purposes, such as houses, palaces, yamen, temples, workshops and various architectural remains such as villages, castles and towers in a wider scope; It also includes some places left by human's utilization and processing of the natural environment, such as caves, quarries, ditches, silos, mines and so on. Most of the ancient sites in different historical periods have long been lost, while others have become ruins in the desert. Through the investigation and excavation of various types of ancient sites, many ancient sites can be revealed, and then the relevant social conditions can be investigated, so it has attracted much attention in cultural relics protection and archaeological research. There are more than 1000 ancient sites that have been declared as cultural relics protection units at all levels in China, including 85 national key cultural relics protection units, including various representative sites.
The origin of human fossils and paleolithic sites Human beings originated from the end of Tertiary in geological age, and the Paleolithic Age in archaeology is equivalent to the Pleistocene period. There are more than 200 known human fossil producing areas and Paleolithic sites in China, which have been found everywhere except Xinjiang and Hainan provinces, especially in the late Paleolithic period. There are three main types of stratigraphic accumulation in these places: ① River-lake facies accumulation. Yuanmou ape-man site is a typical site. The sediments are mainly silty loam and clay, and the ape-man fossils and stone tools come from the lower part of the sediments. Ding Cun site and Shuidonggou site are human fossils and stone tools found in the gravel layer at the bottom of loess. ② Soil accumulation. In the north, human fossils and stone tools have been found in the red soil layer under the loess layer, both in Gongzhuling and Chenjiawo village of Lantian ape-man site. In the south, stone tools or fossils are found in the red soil layer under the cultivated soil layer. ③ Cave accumulation. The most representative Zhoukoudian site, 1 site (that is, the origin of Beijingers) is a huge cave about140m long and 20m wide, and the thickness of breccia accumulation is more than 30m. Jinniushan site, Hexian ape-man site and cave-piercing site are also typical cave accumulations. In addition, Dayao site is a stone tool factory widely distributed in ravines on hillsides, and Lamaxian fossil site is found in tertiary lignite beds.
Neolithic settlement sites Neolithic sites include houses and tombs. Sometimes you just find a place to live, but you can't find a place to bury, or you just find a place to bury, but you can't find a place to live. Ancient sites on the vast plains are often located at the bend of a river or the intersection of two rivers. Due to the erosion and subsidence of the riverbed, most of the ancient sites on the loess plateau in northwest China are located on the secondary platform higher than the current riverbed and villages. Ancient sites in river networks such as Jianghuai are common in mounds (mounds) with higher terrain. The ancient sites on the seashore and the banks of rivers and lakes are called "North Hill" sites in archaeology because their sediments contain a large number of shells.
At present, there are about 1000 known Neolithic sites in China, of which nearly a thousand have been excavated. The representative Neolithic sites can be roughly divided into two categories: ① the discovery sites of the main archaeological cultures in the Neolithic Age. For example, the Cishan site in Wu 'an, Hebei Province was discovered by magnetic mountain culture, the Yangshao village site in Mianchi, Henan Province was discovered by Yangshao culture, the Banpo site in Xi 'an was discovered by Yangshao culture, the Majiayao site in Lintao, Gansu Province was discovered by Majiayao culture and its Majiayao type, the Machangyuan site in Minhe, Qinghai Province was discovered by Majiayao culture, the Dawenkou site in Tai 'an, Shandong Province was discovered by Dawenkou culture, and Cheng Zi ② was a well-preserved residence or burial place. The scope of Neolithic sites is often very large, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands or even millions of square meters. Banpo site and Lintong Jiangzhai site are composed of residential area, pottery workshop area and tomb area. Houses in residential areas are arranged around the central square, surrounded by artificial trenches. As many as 240 houses have been excavated from the Dadiwan site in Qin 'an, Gansu. Yangshao culture in the pre-Yangshao stage and early and middle stage is a semi-crypt building, and Yangshao culture in the late stage is a ground building. Hemudu site in Yuyao, Zhejiang Province adapts to the geographical conditions of Jiangnan water town, and the main building found is wooden bridge. In the central area of Niuheliang site in Lingyuan, Liaoning Province, there are goddess temples and stone piers, with a distribution range of more than 2 million square meters. Sites in the late Longshan culture, such as Pingliangtai Ancient City Site in Huaiyang, Henan Province, are the earliest urban sites in China.
Archaeologists gradually understand the cultural connotation of Neolithic cultures in various places through systematic excavation of typical sites, and on this basis, explore their relationships and carry out research on regions, departments and types. The chronological system of Neolithic culture was established in the Yellow River basin, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the Great Wall area. Facts show that the origin of Neolithic culture in China is not one center in the Central Plains, but several centers, which are inseparable from each other and present a pluralistic and unified development pattern.
The ruins of Du Yi in Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties and the ruling center of Xia and Shang Dynasties are all in the middle reaches of the Yellow River. Erlitou site in Yanshi, Henan Province, which is closely related to the excavation of Xia culture, found two large-scale palace bases around the Zhou Dynasty, but there are different views on whether it belongs to Xia or Shang. Shexianggou shopping mall site in Yanshi and Shang Dynasty site in Zhengzhou belong to the early Shang Dynasty, and important relics such as city walls and palace base sites with a length exceeding 1000 meters have been discovered. In the late Shang Dynasty, the Yin Ruins in Anyang, with a total area of about 30 square kilometers, included the palace ancestral temple area, tomb area, handicraft workshop area, civilian residential area and its tomb area. The cultural characteristics of Shang Dynasty remains, such as Panlongcheng site in Huangpi, Hubei Province and Sanxingdui site in Guanghan, Sichuan Province, have both strong influence of Central Plains culture and obvious local characteristics. During the Western Zhou Dynasty, large-scale architectural sites, many tombs and bronze cellars were excavated in Joo Won? site and Fenghao site. It belongs to the site of Liu Lihe, the capital of Yan State in the early Zhou Dynasty, including small-scale city sites and aristocratic cemeteries, and some tombs have unearthed bronzes recording the early historical facts of Yan State.
Almost all the capital ruins of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty were built on the alluvial plain adjacent to the big river, and they were generally well preserved. Some of them have rammed earth walls and palace foundations. The city sites in various countries that have been investigated and excavated are: the ancient city of Qi in Linzi, the ancient city of Qufu Lu, the site of Houmajin, the site of Yuwangcheng (Wei Chu), the site of Zhenghan, the ancient city of Zhaohandan, the site of Yanxiadu, the site of Chujin 'an, the site of Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum and the site of Xuecheng. Generally, the length of a week is more than 10 km, which is twice that of rammed city walls, and the plane is irregular. The palaces are all concentrated in a certain area and built in Miyagi. The layout can be roughly divided into two types: ① The palace area is surrounded by Guo Cheng, such as Qufu, Xuecheng and Yuwangcheng; (2) Most city sites and palaces are located in one corner or one side of Guo Cheng, and there are various handicraft workshop sites in or around the city.
The capital cities in Qin and Han dynasties and later periods are the most concentrated, which reflects the economic and cultural development of each historical period. Over the years, the main sites that have been comprehensively surveyed are: Xianyang City Site in Qin Dynasty, Chang 'an City Site in Han Dynasty, Luoyang Old Town in Han and Wei Dynasties (Eastern Han Dynasty, Cao Wei, Western Jin Dynasty and Northern Wei Dynasty), Yecheng Site (Cao Wei, Sixteen Kingdoms, Eastern Wei Dynasty and Northern Qi Dynasty), Chang 'an City Site in Sui and Daxing, Luoyang City Site in Sui and Tang Dynasties, Tokyo City Site in Northern Song Dynasty, Beijing Site in Liao Dynasty and Huining House in Jin Dynasty. Through investigation, the distribution of the city gates, main roads, palace areas, Li Fang and other important sites in most city sites has been basically clear. During the Han Dynasty, Chang 'an, Luoyang and Miyagi accounted for about one-third or one-half of the whole city, which basically belonged to the cities dedicated to emperors and nobles. Since Yecheng and Cao Wei, the layout of the capital has changed obviously. By the Tang Dynasty, everything was Beijing, and Miyagi and Imperial City accounted for about one tenth of the whole city, which had become the political, economic and cultural center of the whole country. The capital was changed from Miyagi and Waiguo to Miyagi, Imperial City and Waiguo. Miyagi has developed from being distributed in the south of the city to being concentrated in the north and the city, with the south gate as the main entrance and Qianjie as the central axis of the city. Residential areas and commercial areas are located in the north of the city, not in the south of the city, and the division and arrangement tend to be regular from irregular. Large-scale excavations have been carried out in and around the capitals of past dynasties, such as the palace ruins in Xianyang, Weiyang Palace, armory and temple in Qin and Chang 'an, Lingtai in the Eastern Han Dynasty, Yongning Temple in the Northern Wei Dynasty, Daming Palace, Xingqing Palace, Qingyuan Temple and other places in Chang 'an. Some sites of the Forbidden City far from Beijing have also attracted people's attention because of archaeological excavations, such as the Jiangnvshi site from the Qin Dynasty to the early Western Han Dynasty, the Hengshan site in Beidaihe, and the Jiuchenggong site in the Tang Dynasty. These are all important physical materials for studying social life at that time.
The sites of local cities in the Qin and Han dynasties and later periods spread all over the country, especially the cities in remote areas, the Great Wall and the beacon towers along it, which played an important role in historical research and archaeological research. Sites in the Han Dynasty, such as Chongan Seoul, Xihai County, Loulan, Juyan, Yumenguan and the Great Wall Beacon Tower; In the Tang dynasty, such as the ruins of Beiting ancient town in the northwest, Gaochang ancient town and Yaerhu ancient town in the southwest (Nanzhao), and Longquan House in the Bohai Sea in the northeast; There are also mountain cities in the early Koguryo period in Northeast China after the Han Dynasty, and the ruins of Pu and Lu ancient cities in the Jin Dynasty. They are either important frontier towns or the capital cities of China, which played an important role in the process of establishing a unified multi-ethnic country in China and occupied a relatively important position in history. The site of Ali Guge Kingdom in Tibet is rare among the known ancient sites, with a large number of existing architectural relics and well-preserved relics.
Ancient handicraft sites are found in ancient city sites, such as pottery making, copper making, iron making, coin coinage, etc., but large handicraft sites far away from the city are mostly kiln sites for firing porcelain. Kiln sites are often distributed in a large area, with a large number of kiln furniture and residual porcelain unearthed, and some also found traces of workshops for processing raw materials, making blanks and glazing. Porcelain is one of China's important inventions. Porcelain industry appeared at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty. At first, it was mainly concentrated in the northeast of Zhejiang. With the further development of Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, many southern provinces (Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian, Hunan, Sichuan and other places) have found porcelain kiln sites. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the northern porcelain industry developed rapidly, and many porcelain kiln sites were discovered, forming the characteristics of "blue in the south and white in the north". In the Song Dynasty, the porcelain industry reached a prosperous period. The discovered porcelain kiln sites are distributed in more than a dozen provinces and regions, and the number reaches hundreds. Not only has a unique kiln system been formed, but also a number of famous kilns have appeared. After the Ming Dynasty, private kilns almost spread all over the country, and most of the famous kilns in various kilns declined day by day. Only Jingdezhen has become a famous porcelain capital. The representative kiln sites that have been investigated and excavated mainly include: Yue Kiln Site of Shanglin Lake in Cixi, Zhejiang Province, Longquan Kiln Site in Longquan, Zhejiang Province, Juntai Kiln Site in Yuxian County, Henan Province, Ruyao Site of Liang Qing Temple in Baofeng, Ding Yao Site of Jianci Village in Quyang, Hebei Province, Guan Kiln Site of Southern Song Dynasty in Wuguishan, Hangzhou, Hutian Kiln Site in Jingdezhen, which is famous for firing celadon. Important folk kiln sites are: Yaozhou Kiln in Huangbao Town, Yaoxian County, Shaanxi Province, Tongguan Kiln in Changsha, Qionglai Kiln in Tang Shifang, Sichuan Province, Dehua Kiln in Qudou Palace, Jianyang Shuiji Township, Jizhou Kiln in He Yong Town, Ji 'an, Jiangxi Province, and Cizhou Kiln in Guantai Town, Handan, Hebei Province.
Mining and smelting sites mainly include: (1) copper mining and smelting sites, and copper mining tunnels and shaft furnaces are found, such as Tonglushan ancient copper mine site in Daye, Hubei.
It is one of the most famous places. Other ancient copper mine sites discovered and excavated in various places include Tongling in Ruichang, Jiangxi, Yangxinggangxia in Hubei, Jiuqu Bay in Mayang, Hunan, Dajing in Linxi, Inner Mongolia, Tongling in southern Anhui and Nanling. Most of them belong to the Western Zhou Dynasty to the Spring and Autumn Period, and some can be as early as the Shang Dynasty. (2) In the sites where iron ore is mined and smelted, smelting furnaces, forging furnace, steel blast furnaces, casting models, ironware and other relics are generally found, and some mine relics are also found not far from the sites. Representative iron smelting sites in Han Dynasty include Tieshenggou in Gongxian County, Henan Province, Guxing Town in Zhengzhou, Wafangzhuang in Nanyang and Zhaoxian Village in wen county. Some discoveries have also been made in iron smelting sites after the Han Dynasty. Coal mine remains in the late Northern Song Dynasty were also found in Hebi, Henan.