China announced its "Top Ten Archaeological Discoveries of 2001" in
Beijng Friday, unveiling ancient mysteries including traditional
herbs in prehistoric times, natural disasters along the Yellow
River of 4,000 years ago, the decline of world-renowned
Sanxingdui
Ruins, and southwest China's lost Yelang Ancient Kingdom.
In
ancient legend, a man called Shennong tasted hundreds of herbs and
cured thousands of people. In east China's Zhejiang
Province, an item pottery was found containing boiled herbs,
demonstrating the ancient Chinese in Neolithic times recognized the
medical value of natural plants.
In
west China's Qinghai Province, human bones in unusual poses and
house ruins were discovered as evidence of earthquakes and floods.
They tell of a series of natural disasters in the upper part of the
Yellow River 4,000 years ago, and echoed the records in Chinese
ancient history.
The Sanxingdui Ruins in west China's Sichuan Province, a relics
site covering three square kilometers in Chengdu again drew much
attention. The site holds more than 2,000 antique items and tons of
ivory as well as large amounts of tusks and antlers.
According to experts, Chengdu probably became a center of politics,
economy and culture after the decline of Sanxingdui. So it is
believed to be a key to solving the riddle of the Sanxingdui's
decline.
One of the discoveries included 108 tombs in southwest China's
Guizhou Province which showed different burial forms of the ancient
Yelang Kingdom, a once-strong kingdom in ancient history, and now a
lost civilization in Chinese written texts.
Chinese prehistoric archaeology also achieved fruitful results last
year, as a relic site in central China's Shanxi Province fully
showed the unique culture of the western part of the ancient China,
dating back to 10,000 to 20,000 years ago to Paleolithic times.
The other five discoveries respectively represent the culture of
Zhujiang River Delta in Shang Dynasty (1600 to 1046 BC), the way of
keeping sutra in Leifeng Tower in east China's Zhejiang Province,
pottery making in different historical periods in Henan and
Zhejiang, as well as the imperial garden style of the Southern Song
Dynasty (1127-1279 AD).
The annual selection, initiated in 1991, has so far promoted 120
influential archaeological discoveries, recording 10 years of
archeology development in China.
(Xinhua News
Agency April 12, 2002)