By love-89.com **Title: How Does the Wangzhuang Site Evidence the Diversity and Unity of Chinese Civilization?**
**—An Interview with Zhu Guanghua, Associate Professor at Capital Normal University**
**Interviewer: Wang Yu**
The Wangzhuang site in Yongcheng, Henan province, represents the first discovery of a central settlement from the Dawenkou culture in this area and has been selected as one of the “Top Ten Archaeological Discoveries in 2023.” What are the prominent characteristics and cultural uniqueness of this site, and how does it validate the multi-faceted nature of Chinese civilization? I recently had the opportunity to speak with Zhu Guanghua, the associate professor at Capital Normal University who led the archaeological work at the site, to gain insights.
**Interviewer:** Can you provide a brief update on the archaeological progress at the Wangzhuang site?
**Zhu Guanghua:** In March 2023, a joint archaeological team comprising researchers from Capital Normal University, the Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and the Shangqiu City Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology commenced the first excavation at the Wangzhuang site. Significant progress was made during this annual excavation, including several unprecedented discoveries.
Firstly, through systematic drilling, we have preliminarily defined the site’s boundaries and scale, confirming that it encompasses over 600,000 square meters as a large prehistoric moated settlement. The site is elongated in shape, extending from north to south, with a smaller moat area of around 80,000 square meters at its center. This is the first large Dawenkou culture settlement discovered in Henan, marking it as the westernmost center of this cultural distribution.
Secondly, we have uncovered a relatively large and high-status Dawenkou culture burial ground in the core area of the site. In 2023, nearly 30 Dawenkou culture tombs were excavated, indicating a dense distribution of burials with unique funeral customs. Notably, the tombs are oriented east-west, with the deceased’s heads pointing east, and various burial ranks are concentrated in specific areas. Among these, tomb M27 stands out as a super-sized Dawenkou culture burial with an entrance approximately 4.8 meters long and 3.6 meters wide, and a total chamber area exceeding 17 square meters. Over 300 burial objects were found, suggesting that the individual interred there held a prominent status, likely that of an early ruler of eastern ancient states.
Lastly, the site has yielded a rich array of Dawenkou cultural artifacts including jade, stone, pottery, and bone implements. These artifacts, primarily from the Dawenkou culture burials, include hundreds of jade pieces and nearly a thousand pottery items. Importantly, some of the artifacts discovered here—such as the group of “stone blades” and complex “jade coverings”—are entirely new to prehistoric archaeological records in China.
**Interviewer:** What are the significant features of the Wangzhuang site?
**Zhu Guanghua:** Although the excavation of the Wangzhuang site has been limited in time, the distinctive characteristics of the remains uncovered are apparent, with a vast quantity of artifacts showcasing cultural diversity, regional customs, and a high degree of social stratification.
We found nearly a thousand pottery items, with the forms and evolution trends of ubiquitous vessels like pots, tripods, and flasks aligning with the core characteristics of the Dawenkou culture. However, the pottery uncovered here also incorporates various cultural influences that culminate in a distinct local style. Among the artifacts, we see red pottery jars and vessels influenced by the Yangshao culture from the Central Plains, wares from the Qijialing culture of the middle Yangtze River, and earthenware influenced by the Liangzhu culture from the lower Yangtze. Jade items like twin discs and conical pendants show influences from both the Hongshan culture in the Liao River basin and the Liangzhu culture.
Furthermore, the tomb customs in this area exhibit unique characteristics. For instance, the spatial structure of the tombs often reveals a subordinate position of the deceased, who were typically oriented to the side or supine, while the central space of the tomb was primarily used for placing burial items. There is also a trend of intentional disruption between tombs, where later burials would excavate earlier ones and retain the original occupants’ remains and artifacts for subsequent interment. Such practices are markedly different from those observed in other Dawenkou culture regions, reflecting unique religious beliefs and social concepts.
The Dawenkou culture burial ground at Wangzhuang displays clear stratification, with large and small tombs differing significantly in scale and accompanying artifacts. For instance, we have large tombs with chamber areas reaching 17 square meters, while smaller tombs are under 2 square meters. Larger tombs yield a wealth of jade objects, reinforcing the notion of distinct social classes within the community.
**Interviewer:** What role does the Wangzhuang site play within the context of the Dawenkou culture?
**Zhu Guanghua:** The Wangzhuang site represents a relatively autonomous and highly civilized local political entity that emerged during the westward expansion of the Dawenkou culture.
As the westernmost center settlement in the known distribution of the Dawenkou culture, Wangzhuang challenges traditional views regarding the level of Neolithic cultural development in this area. Its discovery reshapes the understanding of Neolithic archaeology in eastern Henan and northern Anhui, indicating that by the mid-Dawenkou culture period, the influence of the Eastern Yi group had already extended to this region. The presence of secondary settlements around Wangzhuang implies a significant social organization with considerable scale and population.
In terms of burial customs, the practices observed at Wangzhuang differ significantly from those documented in other regions of the Dawenkou culture. Cultural inferencing often revolves around ideological beliefs, establishing that the Dawenkou cultural group at Wangzhuang maintained a degree of independence or was a relatively distinct branch of the ancient Eastern Yi.
The discovery of the M27 large tomb illustrates that this social group may have exhibited higher complexity than many others within the Dawenkou cultural area. As the largest mausoleum of its kind discovered so far, it necessitates a reevaluation of Wangzhuang’s status within the broader framework of the Dawenkou culture, especially concerning mid-Dawenkou developments in eastern Henan and northern Anhui. This site also subtly validates that a highly developed ancient civilization had already formed by the mid-Dawenkou period in the region.
**Interviewer:** How does the Wangzhuang site provide empirical support for the idea of a multi-faceted yet unified Chinese civilization?
**Zhu Guanghua:** The Wangzhuang site epitomizes the fusion and innovative development of diverse prehistorical Chinese civilizations.
The varied cultural elements observed at Wangzhuang reflect distinct layers. For instance, the discovery of a pig jawbone, deer teeth, and deformed occipital bones within tombs point to the social group’s continuity of Eastern tribal religious traditions. The array of pottery showcases influences from the Yangshao, Qijialing, and Liangzhu cultures, revealing an exchange of social practices and customs between communities along the Yellow and Yangtze River basins. The jade artifacts, representing the confluence of social ideologies and rituals from the Yellow River’s lower regions and the early civilizations of the Yangtze River and Western Liaohe areas, further demonstrate this cultural integration.
These findings evidence a collaborative evolutionary model of development through the exchanges in religious beliefs, rituals, aesthetics, and daily practices among various regions in prehistoric China.
Additionally, drawing on cultural elements from neighboring areas, the predecessors of the Wangzhuang community displayed a notable creativity in their material culture. The jade coverings and grouped stone blades found in the Dawenkou culture burials are unprecedented, with the former signifying the highest level of ancient Chinese burial jades and the latter serving as ceremonial tokens for ancient rulers. The presence of such ritual objects underscores the emergence of social stratification and political organization.
The level of civilization at the Wangzhuang site is evident in several aspects: the formation of large settlements, the differentiation of social classes, and the utilization of ritual vessels. Tracing the origins of these elements reveals that by the third millennium BCE, large settlements equipped with defensive structures and evidence of social stratification were already emerging across both the Yellow and Yangtze River areas, with significant burial artifacts found in large tombs. Different cultural regions showcased similar types of ritual implements, demonstrating notable consistency in core cultural factors, some of which have long-lasting impacts extending into the Bronze Age, thereby igniting the multi-unity development pattern of Chinese civilization.