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Borneo Post
a day ago
- Science
- Borneo Post
'More advanced than imagined': Archaeologists tracing origins of Chinese civilisation at Mount Tai
An aerial drone photo shows the Dawen River (upper left), Dawenkou Site Museum (upper right) and the core area of the Dawenkou site in Tai'an, east China's Shandong Province. – Xinhua photo JINAN (June 1): At the foot of Mount Tai in east China, archaeologists work carefully in fields abloom with flowers, gently brushing soil from exposed ruins. The remnants are vestiges of a once-great civilization that prospered approximately 6,100 to 4,600 years ago. This is part of a new phase of excavations at the Neolithic Dawenkou site. The dig, launched in 2024 and set to continue through 2028, will help archaeologists uncover more information about how early human communities lived, worked, and built their societies, said Zhang Baowei, head of the Dawenkou Cultural Heritage Preservation Center. He said the team had already unearthed intriguing discoveries – including an 85-metre-wide trench, possibly used for defense, that could shed light on the early development of social organisation or even statehood. Mount Tai, a Unesco World Heritage Site and one of China's most sacred mountains, has long been culturally and spiritually symbolic. Now, its foothills are offering new insights into the origins of Chinese civilisation. The Dawenkou Culture, which preceded the better-known Longshan Culture, once spread across more than 200,000 square kilometres. It was centered around Mount Tai and Dawen River in present-day Shandong Province. First identified in the 1950s during railway construction, the site has yielded thousands of artifacts over the years – from pottery and jade to burial sites and dwellings. Some items are marked with symbols that some researchers believe may be early precursors to Chinese writing. Archaeologists have marveled at the sophistication of the Dawenkou Culture. Liu Yunlong, an archaeologist working at the site, said patches of red burnt earth uncovered were believed to be the remains of collapsed house walls. According to Liu, these walls may have been deliberately fired in their entirety to enhance structural stability, suggesting that people at the time had already mastered the ability to control extremely high temperatures. In modern attempts to replicate the technique, Liu added, archaeologists fired a similar structure continuously for four days at nearly 800 degrees Celsius – but were unable to reproduce the same result. 'Our Neolithic ancestors were far more advanced than we imagined,' he said, noting that even the layout of the dwellings showed signs of deliberate and sophisticated design. Excavations indicate that the Dawenkou people had already engaged in barter trade, and early handicrafts such as brewing, pottery-making, and textile production were beginning to emerge. Photo shows pottery displayed at the Dawenkou Site Museum in Tai'an, east China's Shandong Province. – Xinhua photo Artifacts found in burial sites suggest the presence of social stratification and a clear division of labour. Some graves contain a wealth of goods, implying the emergence of private property, social classes, and even rudimentary forms of royal authority. These burial practices also reveal the existence of ritual systems aimed at regulating interpersonal relationships – an early form of what later became known in Chinese history as 'Li'. Zhang noted that the Dawenkou ritual system likely influenced other civilisations of that time, as well as those of the later Shang and Zhou dynasties (1600BC – 256BC). After being systematised by Confucius (551 BC-479 BC), these rituals continue to profoundly shape Chinese civilisation to this day. The ongoing excavations are also part of China's broader effort to explore the origins of its ancient civilisation. Around the same time of the Dawenkou Culture, multiple early cultures developed across the vast land of China, contributing to a pluralistic yet unified framework that underpins the origins of Chinese civilisation. In the 21st century BC, China's first dynasty – the Xia – was established, whose existence has been confirmed through archaeological findings. Before the Xia Dynasty, the Liangzhu Culture, which emerged in the south, is also believed to have exhibited features of an early state. The Dawenkou Culture represents another prominent example of early social complexity, shedding light on the origins of Chinese civilization. Shan Jixiang, former curator of the Palace Museum, once remarked that the discovery of Dawenkou relics pushes the origins of Chinese civilisation back by 2,000 to 3,000 years. 'The remarkable achievements of ancient Chinese civilisation make people today feel proud,' said Zhang. Photo shows a zun, a type of Chinese ritual ceramic wine vessel with a vase-like form, displayed at the Dawenkou Site Museum in Tai'an, east China's Shandong Province. – Xinhua photo China places great importance on the protection and transmission of its ancient culture. With a history that spans thousands of years, Chinese civilisation represents the unique spiritual identity of the nation, serves as the cultural foundation of contemporary China, and remains a vital link connecting Chinese communities around the world. It is also a rich source of inspiration for cultural innovation, he said. Experts note that the significance of archaeology goes beyond understanding the past; it also holds relevance for modern life. In 2016, the Dawenkou national archaeological site park was established, serving as a base for historical and cultural education as well as youth programmes. The park receives nearly 100,000 visitors annually. 'It is a source of pride to live on the land of our ancestors,' said Zhang Yiqiang, Party secretary of Dawenkou Township. 'The perseverance and creativity of early peoples inspire us to do better.' In recent years, Dawenkou has developed an industrial park and launched pilot projects for high-yield farmland, helping raise local incomes. At the foot of Mount Tai, a company draws inspiration from traditional culture to develop health products made from polygonatum, a traditional Chinese herb. The business of Taishang Polygonatum Biotech Co Ltd has helped lift more than 40,000 farmers out of poverty. 'What our ancestors left us is more than physical nourishment; it is a spiritual and civilisational legacy,' said Wang Qian, the company's executive vice general manager. – Xinhua ancient archaeology China Chinese civilisation Mount Tai Xinhua
Indian Express
3 days ago
- General
- Indian Express
A photography exhibition puts the spotlight on the oldest Buddhist site in Jammu & Kashmir
Artefacts yielded from an excavation of Ambaran between 1999 and 2000, an archaeological site in Jammu's Akhnoor, form the subject of an ongoing photography exhibition at Delhi's National Museum. Titled 'Ambaran: The Historic Buddhist Citadel of J&K' the show by journalist and photographer Vijay Kranti features images of terracotta heads, pottery, coral jewellery and silver coins. Situated on the bank of Chenab, the site is located at the entry point of Akhnoor, about 30 km north of Jammu. Kranti notes that the Buddhist site, most probably a monastery, remained active for about 900 years between the 2nd century BC and 7th century AD, a period belonging to the Pre-Kushan, Kushan and Post-Kushan Gupta periods. One of the photographs show a circular stone and brick base which helped archaeologists conclude the existence of a spoked wheel stupa. 'It was the most distinguishing proof,' the exhibition notes, adding, 'This circular base of eight-metre diameter, presents eight spokes, distributed in typical geographic Buddhist style, is supported on the outside by a 1.20 metre thick wall of baked bricks.' A version of the exhibition was showcased in 2011, first in Delhi and then in Jammu, after Kranti was invited by the late Congress politician from the state, Madan Lal Sharma, to photograph the findings in order to put Akhnoor on the map. 'As a photographer, I have always been interested in the Buddhist way of life, as a result of which I had extensively photographed Tibet and its people. When I was invited to photograph Ambaran, I was more than happy to take it up,' says Kranti adding, 'When I reached there, I realised that the artefacts lay scattered across different locations in Jammu.' While some were displayed in the small one-room Site Museum at Ambaran, some were at the Dogra Art Museum in Raja Mandi and others at the local ASI office in Gandhinagar. 'In the end, I had a good collection of artefacts to be photographed,' says Kranti. While the pottery items – basins, bowls, spouts, lids, lamps, storage jars – point towards a noteworthy terracotta workmanship, figure moulds show the skills of the artisans in carving statues and reproducing them in large number. If gold caskets evidence the burying of precious things along with bodies, iron nails establish the knowledge of metallurgy during this period. Besides photographs, the exhibition also features images of scenic locations from present-day Akhnoor, including the Gurdwara Shri Tapo Asthan, Jia Pota Ghat and the Akhnoor Fort. 'I believe Jammu has been left out of the tourist circle. I wanted to show people that there are equally beautiful, if not better, places there as well,' says Kranti. The exhibition closes on May 31.
