Henan, Where China Began丨Yangshao village, birthplace of modern Chinese archaeology

何以中国 行走河南丨中国现代考古学从这里诞生

In 1921, a large number of cultural relics including pottery wares and stone tools were unearthed at the Yangshao site in Yangshao village of Sanmenxia city, Central China's Henan province, which confirmed for the first time that there was a highly-developed Neolithic culture in Chinese history. Since then, the Yangshao Culture represented by the Yangshao site has become a "holy land" in the archaeological circle.

1921年，在河南省渑池县仰韶村遗址的发掘中，考古工作者发现了大量陶器、石器等文物，这一发现首次证实了中国历史上曾经存在非常发达的新石器文化，从此揭开了考古学探索中国史前仰韶文化的恢宏序幕。

The Yangshao Culture is the longest-lasting and most widely influential type of prehistoric culture in China. Related heritage sites have been found in 10 provincial-level administrative regions, especially in Henan, Shaanxi and Shanxi. Dating back 4,700 to 7,000 years, the Yangshao Culture period played a substantial role in the development of Chinese Neolithic culture, thus known as the Yangshao Age. Today, it has become a benchmark for archaeologists to date other prehistoric cultures because of its influence.

仰韶文化是中国分布最广的史前文化，覆盖了河南、陕西、山西等10多个省（区），遗址数量众多。它也是中国延续时间最长的考古学文化，年代跨度约为7000至4700年，代表了中国新石器文化的重要发展阶段，被称为“仰韶时代”。此外，仰韶文化不仅是我们认识和定位周边史前文化年代的重要参照标尺，也是中国史前时期影响最深远的核心文化。

The discovery of the Yangshao Culture at the site in 1921 marks the birth of modern archaeology in China. With generations of efforts, the system of Chinese archaeology has been established, the chronology of Chinese prehistory has been made clear and the reliable evidence to China's million-year human history, 10,000-year cultural inheritance and over 5,000-year-oldcivilization has been found. Accordingly, the origin and development of Chinese civilization have been confirmed.

以1921年渑池仰韶村遗址发掘为开端，现代考古学在中国应运而生。几代考古工作者孜孜以求、薪火相传，构建起中国考古学体系以及史前考古的时空框架，揭示了中国百万年人类史、一万年文化史、五千多年文明史连续不绝的文化谱系，实证中华文明起源和发展脉络。

For China's century-old modern archaeology, Yangshao village is not only a birthplace, but also a "holy land".

百年中国现代考古学，仰韶村遗址既是起点，也是圣地。（赵汉青 杨佳欣 张雅涵）

Web editors: Shen Jianqi, Zhang Rui