Recently, the 100th-anniversary conference of the birth of modern Chinese archaeology was held in Henan Province, and the final results of the "100 Years of Archaeological Discoveries" were announced. The Daxi Culture Heritage Site in Wushan County, Chongqing, was selected. In this report, Bai Jiujiang, President of Chongqing Municipal Research Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, tells the little-known story behind the site's excavation.

The surrounding environment of Daxi Culture Heritage Site. (Photo/ Chongqing Municipal Research Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology)

Three archaeological excavations that shocked the world

"In the early spring of 2000, I was assigned by Chongqing Municipal Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology to participate in the salvage archaeology of Daxi Culture Heritage Site." When it comes to Daxi Culture Heritage Site, Bai Jiujiang has a memory back to 21 years ago.

Qutang Gorge was the barrier between the Sichuan Basin and the Jianghan Plain, and Daxi Culture Heritage Site is located at the eastern exit of Qutang Gorge, where the narrow terrain, with the Yangtze River in front and the mountains at the back, has nurtured a rich and splendid ancient culture that is breathtaking.

"In 1925, a group of explorers from the US set foot on the land of Daxi, where they found a collection of stone tools, the mouth-rims, and pieces of broken pottery, as well as some fishbone scraps." According to Bai Jiujiang, from July to August and November to December 1959, the cultural relics and archaeology team of Sichuan Yangtze River Basin Cultural Relics Protection Committee and the History Department of Sichuan University excavated Daxi Culture Heritage Site twice. Although only 228 square meters were excavated, 74 Neolithic tombs were unearthed, which was the first time that the magnificent Daxi tombs were displayed in front of modern people.

The archaeologists were cleaning the fishbone pit. (Photo/ Chongqing Municipal Research Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology)

At that time, those customs and exquisite artifacts made archaeologists quickly realize that this is a new archaeological culture and is of great significance, so they put forward the name of 'Daxi Culture.'

In 1975, the focus was once again on Daxi. From October 1975 to January 1976, the Sichuan Provincial Museum, Wanxian City Culture Museum, and Wushan County Culture Museum jointly excavated Daxi Culture Heritage Site for the third time, discovering a total of 133 tombs. "The third excavation has certainly left an important mark in the history of exploration and discovery of Daxi Culture Heritage Site." Bai Jiujiang said that in that excavation, there were a large number of flexed burials. Since the excavation report disclosed more detailed information in it, Daxi cemetery has become an object that cannot be ignored in most articles on Daxi Culture.

Searching for the footprints of the ancestors of Daxi people

"The excavation in the first half of 2000 basically clarified the internal structure and layout of the site, which laid the foundation for the subsequent excavation work. At that time, all the staff lived in the villagers' adobe houses and sorted out the materials under the flickering candles and kerosene lights at night." Talking about the archaeological environment at that time, Bai Jiujiang still has a fresh memory.

He recalled that there were no wells in Daxi Village, and the water was carried away by the underground river. The landlord had to draw water from the Yangtze River every day. After simple clarification, the water was used as drinking water. And over time, small blotches began to appear on his skin. The hardships and difficulties of Daxi may have been commonplace five or six thousand years ago, but at the time, archaeologists still had to deal with the difficulties of the wilderness.

"In subsequent excavations, the red, black, clay and sand-lined pottery shards told us that the first humans have been active on this land since the early Daxi Culture, more than 6,000 years ago, and that their descendants continued until the end of the Daxi Culture." According to Bai Jiujiang, during the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, the people living in Daxi were the same as those living in most parts of the Xiajiang area and belonged to the early Ba culture. In the middle and late Spring and Autumn period, the Chu people moved westward, and they left a lot of pottery such as li, yu, dou, and yan at the Daxi Culture Heritage Site.

"In the excavation area of 2,000 square meters, overlapping burials fill all corners of the excavation unit. During the excavations in 2001, the tombs were so well preserved that they exceeded everyone's expectations, allowing us to get a glimpse of the full extent of the burials." Bai Jiujiang said that the number of burials excavated at the time was more than 200, plus more than 200 from the first three excavations, which means that at least 400 people used to live throughout the entire Daxi Culture period.

Stone, jade, and bone artifacts unearthed

From 2000 to 2003, in coordination with the construction of the Three Gorges project, Chongqing Municipal Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology (now known as "Chongqing Municipal Research Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology") carried out archaeological excavations of Daxi Culture Heritage Site, with an exploration area of 50,000 square meters. The excavation further clarified the area of the site and initially confirmed the area of the early and late remains and the functional zoning within the settlement.

"Daxi Culture in the Three Gorges area is famous for stone, jade, and bone artifacts unearthed. Due to the rich local resources, there may have been a specialized stone, jade, and bone handicraft industry in ancient times, and there might be a long-standing system of barter used between this area and the areas outside the Three Gorges area." According to Bai Jiujiang, Daxi Culture Heritage Site is the westernmost site of Daxi Culture along the mainstream of the Yangtze River, but it kept its important position in Daxi Culture despite its remoteness. The rich information contained in those burials at the site has also left many mysteries for future generations to solve.

"Daxi has definitely been home to a group of professional jade artisans and bone artisans in ancient times. Some turquoise ore fragments can be seen in the cultural layers of the site, as well as some jade and stone drill cores, which were considered to be the by-products of the processing of jade and stones at that time." According to Bai Jiujiang, many tombs were buried with polished stone tools. Most of them were large, with the largest being about 40 centimeters long. Some of the tomb owners were still clutching stone tools in their hands. One of them held an ax in his left hand and an adze in his right hand as if he were telling his identity to posterity.

The jade was unearthed from Daxi Culture Heritage Site. (Photo/ Chongqing Municipal Research Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology)

In Bai Jiujiang's opinion, those strange flexed burials are the biggest mystery left by Daxi Culture Heritage Site. Various ideas have been proposed to explain this.

First, some consider it to be an imitation of the sleeping position. Second, it is thought that some knowledge of anatomy may have been available at the time, allowing the deceased to imitate the posture of a baby in its mother's womb in order to be reincarnated. Third, some people believe that it is a burial style specifically for the murdered or those who died unnaturally. Fourth, it is believed that the limbs of the dead were flexed immediately after death so that their spirits could not harm the living.

"In every view, there seems to be something untenable about it. Daxi flexed burials may become an eternal mystery."