Site of Jigongshan

Site of Jigongshan

Jigongshan site, located in Jigongshan, Yingbei village, 4 km away from xiaobeimenwai, Jingzhou City, Hubei Province, is a late Paleolithic site. The original area of the site is about 1000 square meters, with a total excavation area of 400 square meters. Paleolithic and processing debris are everywhere. The cultural layer is more than 1 meter thick. There are two periods of cultural accumulation. The first period is 50000 years ago, and the second period is about 20000 years ago. The site is surrounded by pure clay layer, no rock, it can be seen that the processing stone comes from far away.

The Jigongshan site not only unearthed tens of thousands of stone tools, stone cores and stone waste, but also found a wealth of relics. In the middle of the site, there are several irregular spaces surrounded by a large number of stone tools. Jigongshan site is a long-term use and well preserved stone tool making field, filling the gap of the Paleolithic plain site in China.

geographical position

Jigongshan site is located in group 2, Yingbei village, Jinzhou District, Jingzhou City, Hubei Province. The site is about 5km away from Jingzhou City in the southwest, 500m away from the north wall of ancient Yingcheng in the Han Dynasty in the south, and 5km away from Jinan City, the former capital of Chu in the Northwest. The site is located in the hinterland of Jianghan Plain, on a small mound on the left bank of the Yangtze River. The mound is adjacent to a small branch of Changhu in the northwest. It is about 8km away from the Yangtze River Bed in the south, 300m south by Yichang Huangshi Expressway and 1km East by Jingmen Shashi railway. The site is located in the middle and west of Jigongshan mound, which is about 500m long from north to South and 100m wide from east to west.

In 1984, it was discovered during the second general survey of cultural relics in Jiangling County. In the early 1990s, due to the construction of Yichang Huangshi expressway, the archaeological investigation and excavation were carried out. Jigongshan Paleolithic site was systematically excavated and most of it was preserved. The existing site area is about 1000 square meters. The average height of the site is 26-28.5 meters.

Accumulation

Jigongshan Paleolithic site was originally located on a small mound only a few meters higher than the surrounding flat land. According to the accumulation of strata, the accumulation of Jigongshan Paleolithic site can be divided into two parts: the red brown clay with gravel stone tools under the erosion surface is the lower culture layer, and the yellow clay with small flake stone tools above the erosion surface is the upper culture layer. The upper culture layer is yellow loam with more manganese spots, about 10-25cm thick, with nearly 500 pieces of earth and stone products. Most of them are small flake stone tools, and the lithology is mainly quartz, chert and quartzite.

The main types of stone tools are small scrapers and sharp ones. The age of this layer is about 10000-20000 years ago. The lower cultural layer is brownish red clay, which contains more manganese and is about 50 cm thick. It is the main part of Jigongshan Paleolithic site. A large number of stone products were unearthed, including stone flakes, stone cores, stone hammers, stone anvil, various scrapers, pointed tools and choppers, as well as a large number of stone gravel. The age is 40000-50000 years ago.

The most important relic phenomenon of Jigongshan Paleolithic site is the active surface with an area of nearly 500 square meters exposed under 4A layer. This active surface is more than 20 meters long from east to west and nearly 20 meters wide from north to south. The plane is full of gravel, stone cores and various kinds of stone tools, and the density is far more than 4A layer. The most concentrated parts of the stone products are in the middle and north of the site. Most of the stone products have sharp edges and sharp edges.

Some of the samples are heavily weathered, which are related to lithology. Different from 4A layer, on 4B layer, the distribution of stone products and gravels is dense. Some signs should be related to human activities. These signs can be divided into two types: one is the "stone pile" formed by the dense accumulation of stone products such as flakes, stone cores and gravels. In this kind of area, there are a large number of by-products of different sizes, such as the failed sharp tools, choppers and semi-finished products of other stone tools, and there are stone hammers or anvil tools for processing stone tools, This shows that the main activity of the site owners at that time should be stone processing.

Main features

The other is composed of several "stone circles" with a small amount of processed stone tools or completely blank areas in the middle. There are mainly two kinds of stone circles: one is that the diameter of the stone circle is slightly smaller (between 1.5-1.8 meters), and finished stone tools (such as several choppers and pointed tools) are found in the blank area of the circle, while the periphery of the blank area is the distribution zone of dense gravel or by-products of stone processing, such as stone core, stone flake and debris, with a width of about 1 meter, It is generally 10-20 cm thick. Although the diameter of the other is large (between 2-2.5 meters) and the space in the circle is spacious, no remains can be seen in the blank area. There is no obvious difference between the distribution of surrounding stone products and gravels and that of the former.

Jigongshan site in Hubei Province is the first residential site of late Paleolithic age in plain area in China. Its discovery and research has advanced the history of human development in Jianghan Plain Area by 40000-50000 years. It is a milestone for Chinese archaeologists to study and explore Paleolithic human living and living in plain area.

The discovery of Jigongshan Paleolithic site, In the plain area of the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, it is the first time to reveal the stratigraphic superimposition relationship of different cultural types in the multi-layer Paleolithic age, which clearly reflects the historical process of the Paleolithic culture in South China from the typical gravel stone industry from the late Early Pleistocene to the early late late Pleistocene to the flake stone or atypical gravel stone industry in the late Pleistocene. The discovery of the active surface of the lower cultural layer of Jigong Mountain reveals for the first time the historical relics of human activities in the plain in the Paleolithic age in China, which provides valuable information for the study of people's production and life at that time. With the development of Paleolithic Archaeology in China, the focus of research has shifted from relics to ruins, which has become the key to the development of the discipline.

The excavation of Jigongshan site adopts the method of large-area plane grid excavation, which scientifically reveals the cultural remains of primitive human beings and comprehensively reflects the production and living conditions at that time. This excavation method is a beneficial attempt for the development of Paleolithic Archaeology in China. A multidisciplinary study of Jigongshan site is of great significance for the protection of this precious historical and cultural heritage and the in-depth study of Paleolithic Archaeology in China.

archaeological discovery

The excavation of Jigongshan Paleolithic site was rated as one of the top ten new archaeological discoveries in 1992. In 1996, it was announced as the fourth batch of national key cultural relics protection units by the State Council. In 1994, a protection Hall of 1227 square meters (actual net space area of 1024 square meters) and other cultural relics protection facilities were built on the site. Jingzhou museum is responsible for the cultural relics protection and scientific research of Jigongshan site.

Address: Yingbei village, Jingzhou District, Jingzhou City, Hubei Province

Longitude: 112.220479

Latitude: 30.394274

Chinese PinYin : Ji Gong Shan Yi Zhi