Latest archaeological results of Jinsha site announced
What was the staple food of Jinsha ancestors 3,000 years ago?
◎Crop remains are the main component of this batch of carbonized plant seeds, and the types are relatively rich, including rice, millet, broomcorn millet, etc.
◎The proportion of weeds is relatively low, indicating that agriculture was the main economic activity of society at that time
◎Rice was the main crop in this area during the Twelve Bridges Culture period. The discovery of the rice base also shows to a certain extent that the unearthed rice remains are likely to come from local cultivation.
◎Among the two northern dryland grains, millet and broomcorn millet, millet is clearly dominant in quantity.
Recently, the Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology announced the research results of plant remains unearthed from the "Huangzhong Primary School" site in Jinsha. Archaeologists used the flotation method to "salvage" carbonized plant seeds from the soil, revealing the agricultural system of Jinsha's ancestors who relied mainly on rice and supplemented by millet. It also reflected the ancestors' profound understanding of crop growth habits and their farming wisdom based on local conditions.
Among crop seeds, rice has the largest number
"Huangzhong Primary School" is located about 1,100 meters south of the Jinsha Site Sacrifice Area and is within the legal protection scope of the Jinsha Site. Excavations by the Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology have confirmed that the site of "Huang Zhong Primary School" is dominated by cultural accumulations from the Shang and Zhou dynasties. 262 remains including ash pits, ash ditches, kiln sites and tombs were discovered. A large number of pottery from the Twelve Bridges Culture period was unearthed, as well as a small number of bronzes, stone tools and animal bones. Based on the characteristics of various relics and relics, researchers initially believe that this site should belong to the remains of a general residential settlement.
In order to uncover the agricultural life of Jinsha ancestors during the ancient Shu period, the archaeological team selected 35 types of relic units such as ash pits, pottery kilns, and tombs to collect soil samples. A total of 50 samples of 246.6 liters were collected for plant flotation, and the sorting and identification of carbonized seeds were completed in the laboratory with the help of a microscope.
Dr. Han Fei from the Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology said that the flotation results showed that crop remains were the main component of this batch of carbonized plant seeds, and the types were relatively rich. Among them, there were 284 crop remains, accounting for about 89.6% of the total number of charred plant seeds unearthed, including rice, millet, millet, etc.; 33 weed seeds, including Gramineae, Chenopodiaceae, Leguminosae, Rosaceae, Cyperaceae, Asteraceae, etc., as well as a small number of unknown weed seeds whose species have not yet been identified. The low proportion of weeds indicates that agriculture was the main economic activity of society at that time.
Among the crop remains, rice has the largest absolute number, with a total of 218 carbonized grains, accounting for 76.8%, indicating that rice was the main source of food for Jinsha ancestors. At the same time, two northern dryland grains, millet and broomcorn millet, were also unearthed from the site. Among them, the number of millet was obviously dominant, with a total of 51 grains, and the number of millet was small, with only 4 grains. In addition, 11 pieces of millet/millet were also found.
The flotation results of this batch of botanical archaeological materials show that rice was the main crop in this area during the Twelve Bridges Culture period. In addition, the discovery of rice base plates also indicates to a certain extent that the unearthed rice remains are likely to come from local cultivation. Combined with the crop remains unearthed from another general residential settlement at the Jinsha site (Site No. 5C), it was found that rice crops and millet crops coexisted during this period. This shows that the general residential settlement area at the Jinsha site was mainly planted with diversified crops consisting of rice and millet crops during the Shang and Zhou dynasties. "But rice occupied the main position in agriculture during this period, and millet crops were auxiliary crops." Han Fei said.
Among millet and millet, the ancestors of Jinsha preferred millet.
The Chengdu Plain has superior agricultural environmental conditions and is an important area where human activities began earlier in the Sichuan Basin. The results of flotation and phytolith research of large plant remains show that the crops grown during the Guiyuanqiao Phase I and Baodun Culture periods in the Chengdu Plain were mainly broomcorn millet and millet. Academic circles generally believe that rice farming in the Chengdu Plain was mainly influenced by the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, while millet farming may have been influenced by the Majiayao culture in the Gansu and Qinghai regions, and was introduced to the Chengdu Plain through the mountains of northwest Sichuan and along the canyons. After millet farming arrived in the Chengdu Plain, it showed a trend of spreading from the mountains to the hinterland of the plains. In the early days, millet and millet were still dominant. Later, due to the landform and environment of the Chengdu Plain, which was suitable for growing rice, by the Baodun Culture period, the proportion of rice far exceeded that of millet and millet. Eventually, an agricultural system developed with rice as the mainstay and millet as the auxiliary.
Millet and broomcorn millet are both dry land crops in the north. Why did the ancestors of Jinsha prefer to plant millet?
Han Fei introduced that both millet and broomcorn millet are dryland crops with strong stress tolerance, but when compared, millet has a higher yield per unit area than millet, has a better taste, and is easier to store. Although the growth of millet requires more water than millet, the Chengdu Plain has abundant water resources and a warm and humid climate, which can fully meet the growth needs of millet. The ancestors of Jinsha fully understood the growth habits of the two dryland crops, combined with local natural conditions, and finally gave priority to planting the higher-yielding millet. A small amount of millet is grown as a supplement. This planting pattern reflects humans' adaptive choices in the living environment of this region. This resulted in the formation of an agricultural system dominated by rice, with more millet and less millet. It had a certain ability to resist risks and adapt to the environment, and promoted the sustainable development of the agricultural society at that time.
A small carbonized seed leaves behind the historical code of three thousand years ago. Different from the large number of high-grade gold, jade, ivory and other cultural relics unearthed in the Jinsha ruins sacrificial area, the "Huangzhong Primary School" is a living settlement of ordinary people. The plant remains here truly restore the production and life of ordinary people in ancient Shu. The ancestors of ancient Shu not only made good use of the mild climate of the Chengdu Plain to develop rice cultivation, but also rationally introduced and improved northern dryland crops, and arranged farming production according to local conditions. It was this survival wisdom that ultimately supported the glorious ancient Shu civilization.
(Sichuan Daily, Sichuan Daily all-media reporter Wu Xiaoling)
