Where is the Dadiwan cultural site?

Gansu on the Loess Plateau attracts the world's attention again and again with mysterious discoveries. At the beginning of the last century, the discovery of the Tibetan Sutra Cave in Dunhuang Mogao Grottoes in western Gansu shocked China and foreign countries. The excavation of Dadiwan site in Tianshui, Longdong, Gansu Province was rated as one of the 100 archaeological discoveries in China in the 20th century by academic circles, and Dadiwan site was praised as "a cultural miracle on the Loess Plateau".

one

It is located in the east of Shaodian Village, Wuying Township, Qin 'an County, Tianshui City, on the first, second and third alluvial platforms at the intersection of Wuying River, a tributary of Hulu River, and Yanjiagouxi on the west side of Longshan River. It is bounded by the undulating long worm beam in the south, the Qingshui River flowing horizontally to the west in the north, Gaoyagou in the east and Yanjiagou in the west. During the period of 1958, the cultural relics department of Gansu Province first discovered the Dadiwan site from 8000 to 5000 years ago. Since 1978, two rounds of large-scale excavation have been carried out, with a total area of 14752 square meters, accounting for about 1.34% of the total area of the site. However, as soon as the site of Dadiwan was opened, it made an amazing discovery, presenting the world with a scene of "a huge treasure house of ancient cultural relics".

According to preliminary excavation, Dadiwan site is a large Neolithic site. So far, archaeologists have excavated 240 house sites, 98 kitchen sites, 325 ash pits and earth pits, 7/kloc-0 tombs, 35 kiln sites and 12 ditches in Dadiwan site, and unearthed 4 147 pottery and 65,438 stone tools (including jade). It is particularly worth mentioning that the housing sites in Dadiwan are not only large in scale, but also complex in shape, which can be called "a living fossil" in the history of prehistoric architecture development in China. Experts who have been engaged in archaeological excavation of Dadiwan site for a long time believe that the cultural types, long duration, early historical origin, high technical level, wide distribution area, well-preserved appearance, large scale and rich connotation of Dadiwan site are also rare in the archaeological history of China.

According to textual research, Dadiwan site can be roughly divided into five periods of culture: pre-Yangshao culture, early, middle and late Yangshao culture and Changshan lower culture. Its historical age extends from 8000 years ago to 5000 years ago. Among them, the first phase of culture 8000 years ago is the earliest Neolithic culture in archaeological discoveries in northwest China so far.

two

The cultural relics unearthed from the fifth cultural relic of Dadiwan site provide important evidence for studying the Neolithic civilization in the Yellow River valley of China, especially for understanding the origin of Chinese civilization.

Dadiwan site is one of the cradles of agriculture in China. The carbonized plant seeds unearthed from H398 site in Dadiwan were identified as Gramineae millet (commonly known as millet) and Cruciferae rapeseed, which are the earliest specimens of this kind in China, similar to the earliest specimens unearthed from the pre-pottery stratum in Alkiza, Greece. It can be explained that more than 7,000 years ago, Qingshui Valley centered on the site of Dadiwan was the earliest planting area of grain and oil crops in China, and Dadiwan culture was one of the earliest agricultural cultures in China.

Dadiwan site is the birthplace of painted pottery in China. Up to now, 4 147 pieces of pottery have been unearthed from Dadiwan site, and 35 pottery kiln sites have been found. Among them, more than 200 pieces of painted pottery, such as three-legged bowls about 8,000 years ago, were unearthed in the first phase of cultural relics in Dadiwan, which is the earliest batch of painted pottery discovered in China so far. These pottery are single in shape, layered and uneven in color, indicating that the pottery making method and firing technology at that time were relatively primitive. By the second phase of Dadiwan about 6000 years ago, the production technology of painted pottery had advanced by leaps and bounds. The painted pottery bottle with a head-shaped mouth unearthed in the second phase is 3 1.8 cm high. The bottle mouth is a rare sculpture in the shape of a human head, and its shape symbolizes the mother's abdomen. The whole pottery integrates modeling, sculpture and painting art, and has been recognized by experts as one of the representative works of prehistoric sculpture art in China. At the same time, a series of painted pottery pots with round bottom were unearthed, and their patterns were realistic fish patterns, abstract fish patterns and deformed fish patterns in chronological order. One of the fishpattern pots is 5 1 cm in diameter, which is the largest fishpattern pot found in China at present.

Archaeologists have studied the pottery and kiln sites unearthed in the first phase of Dadiwan, and found that the ancestors of Dadiwan adopted an "internal mold mud application method" about 8,000 years ago, which is one of the earliest pottery-making methods discovered in China so far. Painted pottery unearthed in Dadiwan can be traced back to 8,000 to 7,000 years ago in China, which is roughly equivalent to the time of Ye Moyou culture and Hasana culture in the two river basins where existing painted pottery was first developed in the world. More importantly, this discovery fully shows that the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River in China is also one of the earliest painted pottery areas in the world, and the northwest Loess Plateau is the birthplace of painted pottery in China.

The painting symbols and depicting symbols on Dadiwan pottery are the earliest embryonic form of China characters. On the pottery unearthed in the first phase of Dadiwan, more than a dozen painted symbols were found, including straight lines, curved lines, vertical lines, arrow shapes, X shapes and plant patterns. These symbols are more than 1000 years earlier than the earliest discovered symbols of Xi 'an Banpo pottery in China, and some symbols are basically the same as Banpo symbols. Although the meaning of these mysterious symbols has not been solved, experts believe that they may be the earliest embryonic form of China characters. Guo Moruo, a famous late scholar, thought before his death: "Those depiction marks on painted pottery can definitely be said to be the origin of China characters or the remains of China's original characters."

Palace-style buildings in China are made of the earliest concrete in the world. A building with the number F90 1 was excavated in the fourth stage of Dadiwan culture 5000 years ago, which is the largest building with the highest level of craftsmanship in prehistoric times in China. This building complex, with a total area of 420 square meters, is the first of its kind in future generations with its huge scale, complex structure, regular layout, symmetrical central axis, and clear priorities. The building consists of six parts: the front hall, the main room, the back room, the left and right side rooms and the shed corridor building in front of the door.

The main entrance of the main house faces south, facing the mountain and facing the river; The building structure is symmetrical about the central axis; All the wooden pillars supporting the building are based on stones; The eight pillars of the main room divide the space into nine pieces; * * * There are 142 wooden columns used to strengthen the wall and support the whole building, in which the diameter of the central column is about 50 cm. What is even more amazing is that in the main room of 130 square meters, the ground is paved with a kind of concrete similar to modern cement. After textual research and testing, its chemical composition, physical properties and compressive strength are all equivalent to the strength of today's 100 cement mortar floor. Chinese and Japanese experts agree that this building material is the earliest and oldest concrete in the world. In addition, archaeologists also found that under the concrete floor, Dadiwan people also used a prototype of a modern "synthetic lightweight aggregate" building material, which can prevent moisture, keep warm and strengthen the foundation.

Dadiwan landscape painting is the earliest painting in China. Archaeologists found an unprecedented landscape painting at the site of Ji Fang. The length of the ground painting is about 1.2m from east to west and about 1. 1m from north to south. It has been identified that the pigment used to draw ground paintings is carbon black, which is about 5000 years ago. On the right side of the ground painting, a man with male characteristics is conspicuously outlined with lines, and his hair, trunk and limbs are represented by plane painting. The proportions of all parts of the human body are basically symmetrical, and the legs of the characters cross, but a long tail is added at the back. On the left side of the partial painting, another figure with similar style was found, which was slightly slim and feminine compared with the figure on the right. The overall pattern of the ground painting consists of figures, animals, boxes and an anti-D-shaped pattern. The figure with male characteristics in the ground painting is 32.5 cm high and 14 cm wide, with a fuzzy head, like long hair floating, and a stick in his hand. The figure with female characteristics in the ground painting is 34 cm high and 13 cm wide, with a nearly round head, a thin neck, a protruding chest and upright legs, which seems to walk. There is a long black box slightly tilted to the upper right in the middle of the ground painting, in which two animals with left heads are painted.

According to textual research, Dadiwan earth painting is the earliest independent painting in China, which has advanced the history of China painting for more than 2000 years. Experts in archaeology and academia agree that large-scale original paintings like the paintings in Dadiwan, painted on the ground of residential buildings, are so well preserved and clear that they are extremely rare in Neolithic remains and prehistoric archaeology in China, and can be called the originator of China painting.

three

The mystery of the Dadiwan site lies in its unearthed cultural relics confirming some ancient legends. Fuxi is listed as the head of "Huang San" and is the most mythical figure in ancient legends of China. He was born in ancient Ji Cheng, which is today's Tianshui area, so Tianshui is called the hometown of Huang Xi.

Also inseparable from Fuxi is the legend of Nu Wa, a great woman who tried to mend the sky by refining stones, and later combined with Fuxi to breed generations of Chinese descendants. Up to now, Loi Wo Temple has been built in Longcheng, Qin 'an County, 7 kilometers away from Dadiwan Site.

The archaeological discovery of Dadiwan scientifically proves that it is one of the earliest developed areas in China. Tianshui and its surrounding areas are undoubtedly the birthplace of Chinese culture, which is basically consistent with Fuxi legend in geography and age. In other words, ancient legends are not groundless, but have a certain historical basis and basis. Fuxi "raised sacrifices for the kitchen", so he was also called "the chef", that is to say, he guided his ancestors to take the lead in raising livestock to make up for the lack of food. Domestic pigs first appeared in Dadiwan and Huaxia nationality, which has been confirmed by the results of animal skeleton identification obtained from archaeological excavations. There are more than 7000 animal bones/kloc-0 unearthed in Dadiwan, of which pig bones account for about one third, and most of them are underage individuals under two years old.

According to legend, Fuxi also taught people to fish with nets. The fishing tools such as hooks and nets unearthed from the Dadiwan site show that fishing was one of the indispensable production activities of human beings at that time. So it can be said that archaeological discoveries have confirmed some specific contents in ancient legends. However, we still can't prove that Fuxi really existed in history. Not only that, many ancient legends such as Shennong, Suiren, Youchao are still difficult to identify. However, the deeds of these characters and the facts revealed by many archaeological discoveries can confirm each other. It is worth noting that most of the legendary figures in ancient history, such as the Three Emperors and Five Emperors, grew up in the Weihe River Basin in the northwest of China, which has been confirmed by archaeological discoveries as the main birthplace of Chinese culture.

Most of the cultural relics unearthed from similar sites in China, such as Dadiwan site, are not unique, but also rare. Since the excavation of Dadiwan site, it has long been concerned by academic circles at home and abroad.

Dadiwan site also has unique tourism value. Gansu has "Mogao Grottoes in the west and Dadiwan in the east", which has laid a big pattern of tourism in Gansu. As far as the eastern part of Dadiwan site is concerned, its conditions are also unique: it is 20 kilometers away from Maijishan Grottoes in Tianshui, the "Oriental Sculpture Exhibition Hall", less than 100 kilometers away from Fuxi Temple, the ancestor of Chinese humanities, less than one day away from Famen Temple and Joo Won? site, and it is far from the northern Taoist holy places.