Qugong cultural site

Qugong cultural site

In October 1984, Tibetan archaeologists excavated Qugong village in the northern suburb of Lhasa, and found a village site of Lhasa ancestors 4000 years ago, which pushed the civilization history of Lhasa to 4000 years ago. Qugong cultural sites are distributed in the lower part of the slope to the north of Qugong village and the General Hospital of the military region. On the slope are exposed cliffs, and on the slope is the Lhasa River Valley. This ancient village is about 150 meters from the east to the West and 30 meters from the north to the south, with a total area of more than 10000 square meters. It is one of the sites with the highest altitude, the earliest age, the larger area, the thicker cultural layer and the extremely rich cultural connotation found in Tibet so far. Known as the "half slope" of Lhasa.

years

The lower limit of the age of Qugong cultural site is about 1500 BC, and the upper limit is no later than 1750 BC. The age span is between 3500 and 3750 years ago. Of course, this upper limit is not actually the earliest time. It is estimated that it can be raised to 4000 years ago. This is the second Neolithic cultural site in Tibet after karuo site, the first Neolithic cultural site found in Tibet. Its age is slightly later than that of karuo site.

Excavation process

Qugong cultural relics and stone chamber tombs were first discovered in November 1984. Gengdui and others from the cultural relics survey team of the cultural relics administration commission of Tibet Autonomous Region discovered some cultural relics scattered on the surface in Qugong village, Niangre mountain valley, northern suburb of Lhasa. At that time, many pieces of pottery and stone tools were collected, and a small-scale trial excavation was carried out to find the cultural accumulation layer. The report of trial excavation, the report of investigation and trial excavation of Qugong site in Lhasa, was published in the 9th issue of cultural relics in 1985 the following year, which made the discovery concerned.

From July to August 1989, Wang Renxiang of Institute of archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, at the invitation of the cultural relics administration committee of Tibet Autonomous Region, visited some important ancient cultural sites and ancient tombs in Tibet, visited Qugong cultural sites for many times, collected a number of cultural relics, and confirmed that it is a rare ancient cultural site on the plateau, which has important research value. In view of the fact that the site is still suffering from natural and man-made damage, we immediately discussed the protection measures with the cultural relics management committee and began to plan rescue excavation.

From August to September 1990, a joint excavation team was formed by the newly established Tibet working team of the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the cultural relics administration committee of the Tibet Autonomous Region. It was the first large-scale excavation of Qugong cultural site and cemetery, and made major discoveries. In the first stage of excavation, nearly 10000 cultural relics were unearthed, covering an area of 500 square meters. Most of the unearthed stone tools are made of stone tools, such as stone knives, stone combs, stone mills and other agricultural production tools. Pottery includes single ear and double ear pots, big belly and high neck pots, and prismatic black pottery pots with high technological level. The tomb and four complete human skeletons were also found. The total area of the excavation reached 2337.5 square meters, revealing a number of important relics, clearing a number of stone chamber tombs, and unearthed a large number of cultural relics, basically making clear the area of the site, the age and nature of cultural accumulation. After the excavation, a preliminary arrangement was made, and two excavation briefs, including the first excavation of the Neolithic site in Qugong village, Lhasa City, Tibet, were published in the 10th issue of Archaeology in 1991. Wang Renxiang, Zhao Huimin, Gu Fang, Li Yongxian and Yao Yunshu participated in the first excavation, and the interpreter was Zidan Geli.

In August 1991, the site was excavated for the second time, with a small scale and an area of 75 square meters. In this excavation, we learned about the early natural damage of the site, and found out the destructive cutting condition of the flood gully on the site. Tang Jigen, Zhang Yan, Wang Dui CIREN (interpreter) and Wang Renxiang participated in the excavation. After the excavation, a brief report on the second excavation of the Neolithic site in Qugong village, Lhasa City, Tibet was published.

From June to July, 1992, the third excavation was carried out. The main purpose is to collect additional soil samples for analysis, and to further understand the distribution and damage of the stone chamber tombs. The excavation area is 775 square meters. Zhao Huimin and Gu Fang participated in the excavation, and the interpreter was Zidan Geli.

Participants

Xue Yuyao, Wang Haotian, Li Cunxin and other personnel from the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences came to Tibet to assist in the excavation and arrangement. Other persons in charge of the State Administration of cultural relics, the Tibet Department of culture and the Cultural Relics Administration Commission have visited and guided the excavation site.

Excavation results

The Qugong cultural site has been excavated three times for three consecutive years, and more than 10 people have successively come to Tibet to participate in this work, which has made great achievements. The excavation was carried out in two areas, and all the well preserved parts of the site were excavated. The site area is divided into zone I, with 23.5 exploration squares of 5 m × 5 m, and the excavation area is 587.5 square meters; the stone chamber cemetery is divided into zone II, with 26 exploration squares of 10 m × 10 m, and the excavation area is 2600 square meters. The total excavation area of the two areas is 3187.5 square meters. In area I, 3 early tombs, 22 ash pits and 12 late stone chamber tombs were cleared. In area II, 17 stone chamber tombs, 2 sacrificial relics and 6 sacrificial platforms were cleared. More than 10000 cultural relics were unearthed from the sites and cemeteries, with the largest number of stone tools, followed by pottery, bone, bronze and a large number of animal bones. In 1999, the archaeological report "Lhasa Qugong" was published by China Encyclopedia press, which was compiled by Institute of archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and bureau of cultural relics of Tibet Autonomous Region.

In 1991, Qugong cultural site was rated as one of the top ten archaeological discoveries in China.

The excavation area is only a part of the Qugong cultural site. If all the sites are excavated, the Qugong cultural site will bring more surprises to the world.

Site information

Living style of Qugong cultural site

Because the Qugong cultural site has been seriously damaged and the trial excavation area is very small, no houses can be found in the site. But in 1991, archaeologists found a residential site on a ground damaged by soil sampling. This is a square building site, with stone walls, and a large amount of charcoal and plant ash scattered on the living surface. The charcoal specimen No. zk-2334 was dated 3115 years ago by carbon-14 dating.

Funeral system of Qugong cultural site

There are three early stone slab tombs, 22 ash pits, two sacrificial relics, six sacrificial platforms and four complete human skeletons in Qugong cultural site. The platform is irregular oval in plane, and is made of gravel stones of different sizes. Its length is about 1 meter, and it is generally built 1-3 meters northeast of the main tomb. About 300 meters to the northwest of the late cultural remains of Qugong cultural site, a stone chamber tomb with a total area of 6500 square meters was found. 29 stone chamber tombs were excavated. The shape of the tombs is vertical pit and earth pit. There are two kinds of plane shapes: rectangular and square. The walls of the tombs are generally made of gravel stones. There are stone coffins in the tombs. The burial styles are mainly secondary burial and limb bending burial. According to the determination, the age of the stone chamber tomb in tukeng of Qugong should be around the 8th century B.C., at the latest not later than the beginning of A.D.

The relics of human sacrifice and animal sacrifice were found in Qugong cultural site. Qugong people have the custom of sacrificing animals to gods. During the excavation, complete dog skeletons and vulture skeletons were found in the ash pits and strata, which should be the remains of animal sacrifice. The complete human skeleton and circumscribed cranial bone were also found in the two ash pits, which can be regarded as the remains of human sacrifice. What we can't know for sure is: what is the motive of such human sacrifice and animal sacrifice, and what is the object of sacrifice at that time. For some important gods, ancient human beings often use the way of contributing life to show piety, and human sacrifice is the highest embodiment of this piety.

Residents of Qugong cultural site:

According to anthropologist's research, there are at least two basic human types that can be recognized in modern Tibet, which are generally called long skull type and short skull type. The former is distributed in eastern Tibet, while the latter is mainly distributed in southern Tibet. The eastern type is tall, and the Kangba people we know well are typical representatives. A complete human skull unearthed from the tomb of Qugong cultural site is identified by anthropologists as a medium long skull type. The skull index is close to Tibetan B type (Kam type), which is similar to the physical characteristics of modern residents in eastern Tibet. It can be determined that the Qugong people are the indigenous people in the Lhasa Valley, and the culture they created is the ancient indigenous culture in the hinterland of the plateau.

Agricultural development of Qugong cultural site

Qugong residents who choose to live in Lhasa River Valley have a tradition of economic life with farming as the main and animal husbandry as the auxiliary. Qugong people have a large number of cutting stone tools, which can be used to cut down shrubs and reclaim land in the valley. There are also many cutting stone tools that can be used for grain harvesting.

Tibetan sheep and yak were the main sources of meat for the villagers in Qugong, and yak and sheep were widely raised at that time. The remains of sheep, yak and dog unearthed from the Qugong cultural site fully illustrate the existence of family rearing at that time. The yak of Qugong family is small and has thin horns, which is the best known yak

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