Yinjiacheng of Sishui

The archaeological site of Yinjiacheng is on an irregularly shaped terrace of 10 meters high, located about 100 meters to the southwest of Yinjiacheng, a village in Jinzhuang town, Sishui county, Shandong Province. Now the area covers about 4000 mas.

Shandong Team of the Institute of Archaeology, Academia Sinica found this site while pursuing archaeology investigation in the Sishui County in 1963. The Archaeology Section of the Department of History, Shandong University, has excavated this place in five successions from 1973 to 1986, covering an area of more than 2000 ma.

The cultural deposit of Yinjiacheng is about 2.8 meters thick in average, 4 meters at the thickest. It covers a period of over 4000 years, including Dawenkou culture, Longshan culture, Yuehshi culture, cultures of Shang, Zhou, Han, Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties, among which those of Longshan and Yueshi are richest in remains. This report publishes source materials concerning periods of pre-Han and Han dynasties.

As for the Dawenkou culture we only found a tomb of adult males and females buried together, of the late mid-period of this culture.

The remains of Longshan culture are relatively rich and could be divided into relics and artifacts.

The relics mainly include house buildings, ash pits and tombs. Two kinds of 20 houses are found, the square ones and rectangular ones. Architecturally these building can be classified into two kinds: half-underground and aboveground houses, the former belonging to the early period and the latter mostly to the late period. There are 245 ash pits, round, oval, square, rectangular and irregular in shape; among them round ones are most common. 65 tombs are uncovered, all in east-west direction except for two cases in north south. Tombs chambers are rectangular earth pits, half of them using wood burial cases. A few large tombs have one or two outer coffins containing an inter-coffin, heralding the multicoffin systems in burials of the later Chinese dynasties. Funerary objects are unearthed in most of the tombs, and the dominant are pottery objects, others are objects of jade, stone, bone and shell, etc. Customs of holding teeth of river deer in the dead’s hands are found in some tombs. The big differences in the sizes of tomb chambers and the numbers of funerary objects, the existence or non-existence of coffins in these tombs show that the social relations saw great changes in the period of Longshan culture.

The artifacts mainly include jade, stone, bone, horn and shell wares and pottery and a large amount of animal bones and carbonized plants. Most stonewares are cutting tools, especially implements and weapons such as axes, battleaxes, adzes, chisels, spades, sickles, knives and arrowheads. Most bone and horn wares are everyday utensils such as awls, needles, ji, etc. Shell wares are implements of agriculture and collection such as spades, sickles and knives. Most numerous artifacts are pottery, and about 1300 pieces of them are reparable. Black pottery characteristic of lacquer-like finish shows signs of widespread use of pottery’s wheel. Plainly decorated with lines of arc, piles, baskets, ropes and squares, these earthen wares embrace chiefly jar, ding (something like a tripod) and tubs; and other utensils such as dishes, bowls, boxes, cups, big jars, covers, etc. According to the relation of layers and category of objects, the remains of Longshan culture may be divided into four periods and six sections that have obvious successional relations with each other and cover the whole span of Longshan culture, about 2600-2000 B.C.

The remains of Yueshi culture of Yinjiacheng also include relics and artifacts.

In the relics we found mainly houses and ash pits. All the 11 houses found are aboveground buildings, square and rectangular ones. Numerous ash pits are quite complex jin shape, and more rectangular ones are found in contrast to the Longshan culture. Trapezoid ones are newly discovered.

The artifacts of Yueshi culture are abundant. The discovery of arrowheads, knives, awls and rings, all made of bronze, shows that Yueshi culture belongs to the early Bronze Ages of China. But most common artifacts were made of stone by grinding, amounting to 600 pieces or more, most of which are tools such as axes, battle-axes, adzes, chisels, saws, picks, spades, sickles and arrowheads. Bone and horn wares include weapons and everyday utensils. Shell wares are mainly spades, sickles, knives, arrowheads and ornaments. That obviously more implements for agriculture are found is a typical mark of Yueshi culture. Pottery wares are generally thick and rough, but the decorations are more complex with some color paints added to lines of piles, arcs, ropes, squares, “Z”, stamps, etc. The red paints dominate, with some white and rarely with yellow. Red and white are often found used in company. Colored patterns of lines embrace signs of comma-like figure, worm line, ring band, zigzag line and dragon. Wares in shape resemble tripod, jar, tub, cup, stemmed cup, bowl, dish, ship-like utensil, and other containers and covers of containers and covers of containers. According to the relations of layers and typical objects, Yueshi culture of Yinjiacheng may be divided into two periods, the early and late periods.

Besides, some remains of Shang, Zhou and Han dynasties are found.

The significance of the material objects found at the archaeological site of Yinjiacheng manifests in the following respects:

Ⅰ.They provide evidence for the period division of the Longshan culture, which lasted about 600 years and need a more detailed division in time for further study. The division of four periods and six sections of Longshan culture of Yinjiacheng has clarified the transitional knowledge of this culture in different areas and established a reliable standard for the research work of this culture.

Ⅱ.They provide rich source materials for the whole features of the Longshan culture and its characteristics in south Shandong province. Through 60 years’ scientific excavations, Longshan culture has found mainly in the east parts and belongs in most parts to the early periods. The site of Yinjiacheng is located in the west parts of the province and abundant in the remains of the late periods, thus bridging up the gap.

Ⅲ.They provide a basic solution for the developmental direction of the Longshan culture, which has long been investigated academically. The study of them shows that Longshan culture eventually developed into Yueshi culture, and the two cultures had inherent relations.

Ⅳ.They have great significance for the study of Yueshi culture, the recognition and confirmation of which is one of the most important achievements obtained by Chinese archaeologists in recent 10 years. Yueshi culture is parallel in time to the Xia dynasty in ancient Chinese history, and the importance of its study is self-evident. The remains of Yueshi culture of Yinjiacheng is the richest among the findings of this culture until now, therefore have great values for the understanding of this culture.

Ⅴ.The large amount of remains of Longshan and Yueshi cultures in Yinjiacheng site provide hard-to-get materials at first hand for the research of social relations and formation, production and economic life, natural environments and ecological structure, etc. during the two periods.