Original Title: Outstanding Archaeological Achievements in Ten Years

Author: Wang Wei (Member of the Academic Department of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Chairman of the Chinese Archaeological Society)

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), it has been the fastest growing decade since the birth of Chinese modern archaeology. The government departments at all levels pay more attention to the archaeological work, the media's publicity on archaeology and cultural heritage protection is constantly strengthened, and the people's attention and enthusiasm for archaeology is also growing. In the past ten years, the development of Chinese archaeology is mainly reflected in the following aspects:

First, the archaeological excavation work continues to increase. The number of excavation projects has increased year by year, from 700 to 800 in 2012 to more than 1400 in 2022; The proportion of active archaeological excavations with clear academic purposes has increased significantly. Archaeologists have set more topics and excavation projects around academic research.

Second, important archaeological discoveries emerge in endlessly. The implementation of the "Project of Exploring the Origin of Chinese Civilization" has promoted the research on the origin of Chinese civilization and the research related to the origin of civilization, such as the archaeological work of Shuanghuaishu, Pingliangtai, Huangshan in Henan, Liangzhu in Zhejiang, Shimao and Lushanmao in Shaanxi, Shijiahe and Chenghe in Hubei, Jiaojia and Gangshang in Shandong, and a large number of key evidence and data have been obtained. The Liangzhu Site in Zhejiang Province has demonstrated the Chinese civilization for more than 5000 years, changing the inherent standard of "civilization" in the international archaeological community.

Third, attention has been paid to archaeological work in historical periods. In the past decade, the period of archaeological excavation sites has become more and more balanced, especially after the Tang Dynasty, the number of archaeological discoveries has increased significantly. Among the projects selected as "Top Ten Archaeological Discoveries in China", one fifth of them were from Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, and nearly half of them were from Qin and Han dynasties. Among them, the archaeological discoveries from Song, Liao, Jin, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, which were less developed before, accounted for one sixth of the total. This reflects the importance attached to archaeological excavations in the historical period, especially in the Song Dynasty and beyond.

The fourth is the rapid development of archaeology in border areas. Projects in Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Liaoning, Yunnan, Hainan and other provinces and regions have been selected into the "Top Ten New Archaeological Discoveries in China". These discoveries have made us more and more deeply and comprehensively understand the process of the formation of a unified multi-ethnic country.

Fifthly, under the promotion of the "Archaeological China" project, archaeological research has been increasingly in-depth. The "Archaeological China" project launched in recent years encourages cross regional and cross system multidisciplinary comprehensive research on major topics, focuses on major archaeological topics that are strategic, forward-looking and cutting-edge, represent the national level, and also have an international perspective. Through systematic design and the association of relevant provinces, it has greatly promoted the clarification of academic purposes and the optimization of academic organizations, Expand the breadth and depth of archaeological research in an all-round way. So far, 18 projects of prehistoric culture in the middle reaches of the Yellow River, the lower reaches of the Yellow River, the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the western part of Northeast China have been selected for implementation.

Sixth, foreign exchanges are growing day by day, and Chinese foreign cooperation in archaeology has yielded fruitful results. According to statistics, by 2020, various institutions in China have carried out more than 30 joint archaeological projects abroad, involving 21 countries and regions in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas. It covers many frontier fields and hot issues such as the origin of human beings and modern people, the archaeology of ancient world civilizations such as Egyptian civilization and Mayan civilization, and the research of Buddhist archaeology.

Seventh, the means of research are increasingly diverse, and scientific and technological archaeology has shown great power. With the development of science and technology, the application of natural science and technology in archaeology has made remarkable progress. Represented by the new round of excavation of Sanxingdui Site, the archaeological work of the new era has opened a new mode. Chinese archaeological ideas, excavation methods, research methods and achievements have exploded.

Eighth, the international influence has increased significantly. Since 2013, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Shanghai Municipal Government have held the World Archaeological Forum (Shanghai) every two years to organize the world's top archaeologists to select the world's major archaeological discoveries and major research achievements (about 10 each) in the first two years. So far, four forums have been held in China, including Zhejiang Liangzhu, Shaanxi Shimao, Shanxi Taosi, Hubei Shijiahe Nearly ten excavation or research projects, including the tomb of Haihun Marquis in Jiangxi, the site of Chieftain in Hunan, Hubei and Guizhou, and the "Project of Exploring the Origin of Chinese Civilization", were selected. The World Archaeological Forum has received active support and response from archaeologists around the world, making Chinese archaeology from the edge of the international archaeology community to the core at one fell swoop, and enhancing the international influence of Chinese archaeology.

Ninth, archaeology stepped out of the ivory tower and gradually came into public view. The media represented by CCTV and Guangming Daily continued to pay attention to archaeological work, which ignited the attention of the people, especially the majority of young people, to archaeology. CCTV has successively launched a number of masterpieces of traditional culture, such as National Treasures, Chinese Archaeology Conference, Chinese National Treasure Conference, Archaeological Open Class, and Ancient China. Guangming Daily continued to track and report on archaeological discoveries and progress, generating wide repercussions. A number of important archaeological discoveries, such as rice and millet cultivation of ancient Chinese for thousands of years, bone flute eight thousand years ago, Liangzhu and Taosi civilization relics, and the capital of Xia Dynasty in Erlitou, have been written into middle school textbooks.

Tenth, the construction of archaeological site parks is in the ascendant. In the past ten years, 36 national archaeological heritage parks have been approved to open, more than 40 have been approved to establish projects, and more than 60 have applied to establish projects. The construction of the archaeological site park has fundamentally alleviated the long-standing contradiction between urban development, tourism and cultural relics protection, and greatly stimulated the enthusiasm of governments at all levels. The three aspects of urban construction, tourism and cultural heritage protection have formed a joint force, so that people can see the relics excavated from archaeological sites from a close distance and feel the rich cultural connotation contained therein, It is an important measure to realize the integration of culture and tourism earlier, and it is also a strategic measure with far-reaching significance.

Eleventh, talent training was strengthened, and the archaeological team has successors. Before the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, there were about 40 undergraduate majors in archaeology, cultural relics or cultural heritage in colleges and universities across the country. By the end of 2021, the number will have exceeded 100. Over the past decade, more than 20 universities have set up master's degree programs in archaeology, and the number of archaeological master's and doctoral students has increased several times every year. Recently, the relevant departments actively implemented the general secretary's directive spirit, and significantly increased the staffing of the national archaeological institutions. The staffing of 71 archaeological institutions nationwide increased by 1500 people. The shortage of personnel that has long restricted the development of Chinese archaeology is expected to be solved.

Now, Chinese archaeology is standing on the starting point of the next century and entering the golden age of development. It is believed that the Archaeological Society of China will achieve better and faster development and more fruitful results. As an "archeological veteran" who has been engaged in archeology for 40 years, I look forward to more young people taking an active part in the cause of archaeology, more media participating in the promotion of Chinese civilization and excellent traditional culture, more Chinese people, especially the majority of young people, caring about archaeology, recognizing and recognizing the brilliant Chinese civilization, strengthening the ambition, backbone and bottom line of being a Chinese, and working together, Work hard to realize the Chinese Dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation!