Changguogou cultural site

Changguogou cultural site

Changguogou site is a Neolithic site in kuangu of the middle reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River. It is located in the semi fixed sandy land of changguogou, a tributary of the North Bank of the Yarlung Zangbo River. It is under the jurisdiction of Changguo Township, Gongga County, Shannan City, Tibet.

brief introduction

Controlled by the river course and mountain trend, the sandy land where the site is located is roughly in the north-south direction, with a length of about 1.5 km from north to South and a width of about 0.6 km from east to west. The altitude ranges from 3636 m to 3645 m, and the overall fluctuation is small. The sand and loess deposits, wind erosion depressions and mobile dunes are staggered in the gullies, in which the sand and loess particles are coarse, and due to the influence of wind erosion in the later stage, more profile heads are developed on the edge.

There are stones, pottery pieces and stone tools scattered in the depression. The site was first discovered in 1991 by the cultural relics survey team of the Tibet Autonomous Region Cultural Administration Commission. In the summer of 1994, the Tibet team of the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Cultural Administration Association of Tibet autonomous region formed a joint investigation team to investigate and excavate the Neolithic cultural site of changguogou. This investigation and excavation collected more than 1000 relics, including stone tools, grinding stone tools, pottery pieces, etc., and tried to dig a large ash pit (H2) to obtain barley, wheat, peas and other crops and cash crops from the west, as well as millet and other plant remains from the Yellow River Basin, which made the site play an important role in the study of cultural exchanges between the East and the West and the spread of crops. The charcoal dating results from the ash pit are corrected to 1370-1002 BC, and the bone dating results from the same ash pit are corrected to 1113-834 BC, which belongs to the late Neolithic age.

At the end of October 2018, the second Qinghai Tibet Plateau comprehensive scientific investigation team, composed of Institute of Qinghai Tibet Plateau, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of cultural relics protection of Tibet Autonomous Region, Lanzhou University, Institute of geology, China Seismological Bureau, and Northwest University, conducted another geological and geomorphological survey of changguogou site Check. It is found that the changguogou site is basically covered by modern sand dunes, and some wind erosion depressions have pottery and stone tools exposed on the surface. In this investigation, pottery pieces and stone tools were collected. At the same time, samples were taken from two outcrops of high profile within the site, one of which was excavated and cleaned, and a burning remains was cleared. The details of the trial excavation and cleaning of the ash pit are as follows:

According to the needs of the investigation work of the scientific research team, the outcrop of a sand section found in the investigation was cleaned up, and the stratum conditions of the outcrop section were divided: the first layer was brown yellow silt soil layer, loose soil, including low shrubs and roots; the second layer was brown yellow fine sand soil layer, compact soil, including some plant roots. The first layer was cleared horizontally downward, and a layer of ash surface appeared about 0.35 meters deep from the surface. A range of ash pit was delineated by combining the plane and profile. The plane of the ash pit is in a semi elliptical shape. From the sand section, the structure of the ash pit is a "U" shape with small mouth and large bottom, numbered 2018gch2. H2 opens under the first layer and breaks the second layer. Within the scope of the ash pit, there is an obvious ash surface, with a large amount of carbon chips distributed. It has a clear color with the surrounding second layer of loess stratum, with a clear boundary. The measured area of the ash pit is 0.6 × 0.7m, with a depth of about 0.24M. There is a aeolian sand layer about 0.5m thick at the bottom of the ash pit, without bottom.

Dissect and clean the ash pit, extract soil samples and charcoal samples, and when the ash pit is cleaned down about 8 cm, there are three regular stones suspected of artificial masonry; so the ash pit is completely removed and cleaned, and when the depth of the whole ash pit is about 8-10 cm, a circle of regular round stone frame built by block stones is cleaned up, and there are burning marks on the blocks. The whole relic is 0.48 meters long in outer diameter, 0.2 meters long in inner diameter, 0.5 meters long in outer diameter and 0.3 meters long in inner diameter. It is 8 cm away from the north wall, 9 cm away from the south wall, 4 cm away from the west wall, 10 cm away from the East wall and 8-12 cm away from the pit mouth.

After the ash pit was cleared to the bottom, the preliminary observation showed that the burned remains were built by a layer of broken stones, and the shape was more regular and round. The ash pit contained a large amount of ash soil and a small amount of carbon chips, and no other remains were unearthed. The ash soil and carbon chips in the ash pit were sampled. After the ash pits were cleared to the bottom and the remains were completely uncovered, photographs, words and drawings were taken to record the ash pits and burned remains.

The burning remains are located in the changguogou site, in a high land in the middle of the sand. According to the preliminary investigation of the stratigraphic section, it is judged that there is a suspected cultural layer, and the traces are uncovered through trial excavation. We have carried out the flotation of the burned relic sediments, and have carried out the C 14 dating of the fruit shells obtained from the flotation in the beta laboratory. The results are 1397-1216 BC, which are similar to the previous dating results. It shows that the burned relic is a relic left by early human activities in the same period as the changguogou relic.

In the area where the changguogou site is located, the modern aeolian sand material mainly comes from the alluvial and proluvial materials of the Yarlung Zangbo River. Controlled by the prevailing wind in the dry season, it continuously moves upward through the process of transportation accumulation re transportation re accumulation, and finally deposits in the piedmont area where the changguogou site is located, and develops into contiguous sand and climbing sand dunes.

In the stratigraphic sequence of the section where the burned remains are located, the sediments are obviously different in different periods. The sediment grains of the stratum where the site is located are fine and compact, and it is sandy loess, which is close to the modern farmland soil of changguogou, so it is relatively suitable for people living at that time. The coarsening of sediment particles indicates a stronger sandstorm environment, and no active remains are found, which indicates that there may have been an environmental deterioration earlier than that of the ancient people living in groups corresponding to the fire. Above the fire ruins, the sediment particles gradually coarsened and the wind sand activities increased, which indicates that the deterioration of the environment has forced human beings to give up their original residence and migrate to other places, leaving the ruins where they once lived.

The changguogou site has an early history, which is of great significance in the study of the activities of the ancient people in the middle reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River in southern Tibet, as well as the origin, migration and diffusion of Tibetans. Therefore, further archaeological work on the site is helpful to further understand the heritage phenomenon and its historical changes within the scope of changguogou site. The research team will make a clear analysis and judgment on the activities and living environment of the ancient people in the Yarlung Zangbo River Valley in southern Tibet, so as to promote the in-depth study on the interaction between the activities and environment of the ancient people in the Yarlung Zangbo River Valley.

Peripheral tourism

·Yangzhuoyong Lake in Shannan, Tibet

·Yalong River in Shannan, Tibet

·Yongbulakan, Shannan, Tibet

·Sangye temple in Shannan, Tibet

·Tibetan tombs in jidui, Tibet

get accommodation

Shannan Changsha Hotel star level: Deji Road, Gongga County

Shannan Hotel Star No.13, Naidong Road, Zedang Town, Shannan

Shannan Hotel (formerly Shannan guest house) is a project aided by Hubei Province. It was officially opened on May 1, 2001 and won the title of "two stars" on May 8, 2002. It is a designated unit for foreign tourism. The hotel is located in the downtown of Zedang Town, Nanshan, Tibet

Star of Shannan Post Hotel No.10, Naidong Road, Zedang Town, Shannan

scenic spot

Shannan Post Hotel in Tibet is located at the foot of gongburi mountain, the birthplace of the Tibetan nationality. It is located in Zedang Town, the center of the national Yalong scenic spot. It is 100 kilometers away from the airport and 200 kilometers away from Lhasa, the holy land. The transportation is very convenient. Shannan

Shannan region of Tibet (region location: Zedang Town, NAIDONG COUNTY) is located in the valley south of Gangdise mountain to Nyainqentanglha mountain, in the middle reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River, on the southern border of Tibet. There are 12 counties, 24 towns, 56 townships and 596 administrative villages in the region, with a total land area of 79700 square kilometers (excluding 28700 square kilometers of India), a total population of 318000, and 14 ethnic groups including Tibetan, Han, Menba and Luoba, of which Tibetan accounts for 96%.

The average annual temperature of the whole region is 7.4-8.9 ℃. The summer is short and cool, the winter is long and dry, the wind is strong and frequent, the freezing time is long, the temperature difference between morning and night is large, and the frost free period is short. It is known as "South Tibet Valley". The average altitude is about 3700 meters. It is adjacent to Lhasa in the north, Shigatse in the west, Nyingchi in the East, India and bhutan in the south, with a border of 630 kilometers.

Shannan is the cradle of the Tibetan nation and the birthplace of Tibetan culture. Many outstanding figures in Tibetan history were born here. With her broad mind and intelligence, she created a magnificent and colorful Yalong culture and many firsts in Tibetan history. Shannan area has a large number of cultural relics and ancient books and very rich tourism resources: both magnificent mountains and rivers, and mysterious holy mountains and lakes; both picturesque primeval forests, and the vast grassland; both the majestic Yajiang waterfall, and the long-standing famous cultural relics and ancient books. Yalong scenic spot alone has seven scenic spots and 58 scenic spots, which is a place integrating entertainment, leisure, scientific research and exploration.

Yalong River scenic spot is one of the five famous scenic spots of the State Council

Chinese PinYin : Chang Guo Gou Wen Hua Yi Zhi