Chapter 35 Section 2 Xindian Culture and Siba Culture in Gansu and Qinghai

Bronze wares appeared in Gansu and Qinghai as early as the late Neolithic period, and small pieces of bronze wares have been found in the Majiayao culture in Gansu.For example, bronze knives and scraps from the late Majiayao Culture were unearthed in Linjia, Dongxiang, Gansu in 1978.After testing, the copper knife contains about 6%-10% tin, and its carbon-14 dating is 2740 BC.In the Qijia culture period after the Majiayao culture, more small bronze wares were discovered.For example, in 1957, 23 pieces of copper knives, cones, chisels, and rings were unearthed from the Qijia cultural site at Huangniangniangtai, Wuwei, Gansu.After testing, the copper knife and cone contain 99.63%-99.87% copper, which are red copper products.Its carbon 14 date is about 2000 BC. In 1976, a bronze mirror of the Qijia culture was unearthed at the Ga (ga Ga) Matai site in Guinan, Qinghai, and its shape and decoration are similar to those unearthed from the Fuhao Tomb at the Yinxu in Anyang, Henan.

After entering the Bronze Age, the bronze cultures in Gansu and Qinghai mainly include Xindian Culture, Siba Culture, Siwa Culture, Kayo Culture, and Shajing Culture.Brief introductions are given below. Xindian culture is named because it was first discovered in Xindian (Dian) in Lintao, Gansu.It is mainly distributed in the lower reaches of Taohe River, Daxia River and Huangshui River, which are tributaries of the Yellow River in Gansu Province.Its date is around 1000 BC. The Shuangerping settlement site in Ledu, Qinghai, excavated since 1991, covers an area of ​​100,000 square meters. There are large walls and trenches around the settlement, and houses, cellars, and ash pits were found inside. It may be the Xindian culture in Huangshui. A center of activity in the watershed.Painted pottery of the Xindian culture is well developed. Generally, the surface of the pottery is first coated with a layer of white or red pottery, and then black or red patterns are drawn on it, including S-shaped patterns, scroll patterns, double-hook patterns, parallel patterns, and broken line patterns. , dog pattern, etc.For example, a painted pottery pot collected by the Palace Museum is 19.6 cm high and 11.8 cm in diameter.The body is made of muddy red pottery, with a wide mouth, narrow neck, folded belly, flat bottom, ears on the neck, and double hook patterns (horn-shaped) patterns painted in black on the shoulders.Residents of Xindian culture are mainly engaged in agriculture, planting millet (millet), etc., and concurrently engaged in animal husbandry.Agricultural production tools mainly include bone plows, stone axes, stone knives, stone grinding discs and stone grinding rods.Livestock mainly include sheep, pigs, cattle, dogs, horses and so on.The copper smelting industry has also developed to a certain extent.Fragments of the mouth and neck of bronze vessels were unearthed in Zhangjiazui, Linxia, ​​Gansu, indicating that large vessels could be produced at this time.In addition, bronze production tools such as chisels and awls, weapons spears and daggers, copper buckles and copper bubbles for decorations were also found.The shape of the Xindian Culture pottery girdle is similar to that of the Western Zhou Dynasty pottery girdle, and the cloud and thunder patterns on the painted pottery are similar to those on the Central Plains bronze wares.

The Siba Culture, named after it was first discovered in Siba Beach, Shandan, Gansu, is distributed in the Hexi Corridor area west of Yongchang, Gansu, and its age is about the Xia Dynasty.Its economy is dominated by animal husbandry, including sheep, cattle, horses, pigs and dogs.Concurrently engaged in agriculture, the production tools include hammered stone axes, stone hoes, disc-shaped utensils, stone balls and ground stone knives.Carbonized wheat grains were unearthed in Minle Donghuishan and Xihuishan sites, and millet (millet) grains were stored in large clay pots in Huoshaogou tombs in Yumen City.The shapes and burial styles of the tombs are various, including rectangular vertical pit tombs, burials with upright limbs, and secondary (chaotic bone) burials.The funerary objects are mainly pottery, represented by double-eared painted pottery pots, four-eared pots with lids and belly-eared pots.Painted pottery beans, double-eared painted pottery statues, square tripods, rectangular multi-child boxes, etc. have distinct local styles.And Tao Xun [xun Xun] is generally found.Funerary bronze wares are also relatively common, with Huoshaogou cemetery being the most prominent. Among the 312 tombs cleaned up, 106 buried bronze wares, including axes, chisels, 钁, knives, sickles, cones, needles, hammers, spears, daggers, arrowheads, and arrowheads. Wait.In addition, some gold, silver, jade, seashells, and jade scepter heads were also unearthed, reflecting the social phenomenon of polarization between rich and poor.In addition, some tombs with human sacrifices or human sacrifices were found, indicating that the early slavery society may have entered at that time.

Siwa Culture, named after it was first discovered in Siwa Mountain in Lintao, Gansu, is mainly distributed in the east of Lanzhou, Gansu, and its age is from the late Shang Dynasty to the late Western Zhou Dynasty.Many bronze weapons have been found, including daggers, spears, knives, and arrowheads.In addition, copper bells, copper bracelets and copper bubbles were also found.Residents of Siwa culture were engaged in agriculture, but animal husbandry still accounted for a large proportion. The remains of sheep, cattle, and horses were often found in the burial objects of the tombs.The Ma'ankou amphorae are typical artifacts of the Siwa culture, and some depiction symbols have also been found on the pottery.In addition, pits for martyrs and chariots and horses were also found in some tombs, indicating that they may have entered a class society at that time.It is worth noting that clay pots containing ashes were found in the Siwa culture, indicating that cremation had already taken place at that time.According to the records in ancient documents about the cremation practiced by the Diqiang people in ancient times, some scholars speculate that the Siwa culture may be the culture of the Diqiang people in ancient times.

Kayao Culture, also known as Kayao Culture.It is named after it was first discovered in Kayo, Huangzhong, Qinghai.It is mainly distributed in the upper reaches of the Yellow River and its tributaries, the Huangshui River Basin in Gansu and Qinghai, and its age is about 900 BC to 600 BC.Residents of the Cayo Culture are mainly engaged in agriculture, and their production tools are mainly stone shovels, stone axes, stone knives, and bone plows.Millet is the main food crop.In addition, livestock sheep, dogs, cattle, horses and so on are raised.Archaeological discoveries have square semi-crypt or ground building sites.The tombs are mainly secondary burials, most of which are sheep, dogs, etc., and a few are human burials.Two tombs built with rammed earth mounds were discovered in Suzhi, Xunhua, Qinghai.The mounds are oval in shape, with a long diameter of 20 meters or 24 meters, a short diameter of 16 meters or 18 meters, and a height of 1.5 meters.There are 16 or 10 single tombs in the two mounds respectively. This special burial system is relatively rare.The bronze wares discovered in the Cayo culture include axes, axes, knives, awls, sickles, daggers, spears, arrowheads, rings, copper bubbles and small ornaments.It is particularly noteworthy that a bronze ge was unearthed in Xishangen, Baojiazhai, Xining in 1963, with a height of 15.4 cm and a diameter of 11.8 cm.It has an extravagant mouth, narrow neck, deep abdomen, crotch-pocket feet, and high roots. There are two semicircular standing ears on the edge of the mouth. It is similar to the late Shang Dynasty bronze ge unearthed in Baijiazhuang, Zhengzhou.

Shajing Culture, named after it was first discovered in Minqin Shajing, Gansu.It is mainly distributed in Zhangye, Wuwei and Yongdeng in the Hexi Corridor of Gansu Province, and its age is about 800 BC to 600 BC.The bronze wares found include copper knives, three-edged copper arrowheads, copper bells, copper buckles and various decorations, such as deer-shaped ornaments, eagle-head ornaments, scroll-shaped decorations, dog-shaped plaques, and bead-shaped copper ornaments. Trim etc.Judging from the shape of its copper knife and copper arrowhead, it has a certain connection with the bronze culture of the Central Plains. In the 1970s, a city site of manhole culture was discovered in Shangjiagou, Shuangwan, Yongchang. The plane is slightly triangular, 154 meters long from north to south, and 132 meters wide at its widest point from east to west.Residents of Shajing Culture are mainly engaged in agriculture, and also engaged in animal husbandry. The production tools include stone axes, stone knives, stone arrowheads and bone arrowheads.The daily utensils are mainly pottery, and there is a certain amount of painted pottery, most of which are painted with red patterns on red pottery clothes.Among them, the pottery pots painted with bird pattern ribbons are the most distinctive, and the bird patterns are vivid and lifelike.