People's Daily, January 11, 2006
Review: China's 7 significant archaeological discoveries in 2005

Seven archaeological discoveries in 2005 are considered the most
significant in China. The selection result, unveiled on Jan. 10 by the
Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, is thought the most authoritative one.

#
An early New Stone Age human skeleton buried with bent limps that lived
about 9,000 years ago was discovered in Donghulin Village of Zhaitang
Town in Beijing's Mentouguo District.

This prehistoric site shed new light on human activities in North China
during early New Stone Age.

#
A worship site discovered in the Gaomiao ashes in central China's Hunan
province indicates the people there enjoyed a rich spiritual life 7,400
years ago, making it so far the oldest religious site discovered in China.

The site outlines a picture of prehistoric religious ceremony, providing
valuable information on ancient food structure and ecological
environment as well as the origin of husbandry.

#
Mound tombs dating back to the Zhou Dynasty (11th century- 256 BC) were
discovered in Jurong and Jintan of East China's Jiangsu Province, from
which more than 3,800 relics with South China features were extracted.

The discovery gave clues to the relations between central China and
aboriginal cultures in Zhou times as well as the integration process of
the Chinese civilization.

#
Bronzeware from a group of 3,000-year-old tombs, which archaeologists
said belonged to the royal family of Western Zhou Dynasty (1100 BC-771
BC), was unearthed at Hengshui Village of Jiangxian County, northern
China's Shanxi Province.

Some bronzeware artifacts were inscribed with epigraphs totaling 230
characters, which experts say provide valuable assets to the cultural
research in the area.

#
A total number of 65 tombs dating back to the Bronze Age were unearthed
at Liushui Village, Yutian County of Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur
Autonomous Region.

Preliminary analysis on human bones extracted here showed that 3,000
years ago inhabitants at the northern slope of the Kunlun Mount were
already highly mixed groups.

#
A grand gate of the 1,300-year-old Daming Palace, the largest imperial
architectural complex of the Tang Dynasty (618-907), was discovered in
Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

The Danfeng Gate, or Vermillion Phoenix Gate, of the Daming Palace, had
five doorways, which means it was the largest-scale imperial palace gate
in Chinese history.

#
Stable isotope analysis such as on 13C and 15N extracted from unearthed
ancient human bones has played an active role in archeological studies.
It provides an important reference for researches into ancient food
structure, environment and agriculture.

By People's Daily Online

http://english.people.com.cn/200601/11/eng20060111_234664.html

with kind regards,

Matthias Arnold (Art-Eastasia list)

http://www.chinaresource.org
http://www.fluktor.de

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