20th Century Archaeological Discoveries and Research in Henan

Author: Yang Yubin, Yuan Guangkuo (editors)
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 1997-12-01
Features: The 20th century was a century of emergence and glorious development for archaeology in Henan. In the 1920s and 1930s, the excavations at the Yinxu site in Yancheng and the Yinxu site in Anyang gave birth to Chinese archaeology. Over a century, numerous world-shaking discoveries have been made in Henan. The discovery of Nanzhao hominids expanded the geographical distribution of the Paleolithic culture in China; the discovery of the Peiligang culture traced the origins of the Yangshao culture; the discovery of late Longshan period city sites revealed the dawn of civilization; the discovery of the Erlitou culture marked a major breakthrough in exploring the Xia culture. The splendid bronze culture of the Shang Dynasty in Yanshi's Shixianggou, Zhengzhou's Shang Dynasty city, and Anyang's Yinxu was truly astonishing, and the large number of oracle bone script discoveries further confirmed that China is one of the birthplaces of human civilization. The discovery of Han Dynasty iron smelting sites represented the world-leading production technology of that time. The tri-color, Ru porcelain, Jun porcelain, and other exquisite artifacts from the Tang and Song dynasties were dazzling and renowned worldwide. In archaeological research, the "Three Superimposed Layers" at Anyang's Hougang marked the establishment of archaeological stratigraphy in China, while the typological classification of artifacts along Luoyang's Zhongzhou Road was a milestone in the development of archaeological typology. All these archaeological discoveries and research hold extremely important positions in the history of Chinese and even world archaeology. In the globally renowned national "Project for the Dating of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou Dynasties," archaeological data from Henan will also serve as crucial references and standards. This book provides a systematic and detailed review and summary of Henan archaeology over the century, which not only holds significant value for exploring Chinese civilization but also promises to have a certain impact on the study of world civilization history.