Modern scientific methods have been pushing back the boundaries
of archaeology in China. As early as the 1950s, foreign researchers
were turning to carbon-14 dating. China's first radiocarbon
laboratory was built in 1965 for the Institute of Archaeology
operating under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The years that
followed would see the number of such facilities mushroom
nationwide.
Carbon-dating occupies an indispensable place in China's
prehistoric archaeology and has a key role to play in the study of
artifacts left by ancient peoples. Without this technique we would
know so much less about the remote and mysterious world of the
"Three Dynasties" of the Xia (c.2100-1600 BC), Shang (c.1600-1100
BC) and Zhou dynasties (c.1100-256 BC).
Other new techniques which can look even further back in time
have been introduced one after another including
thermoluminescence, paleogeomagnetism, fossil dating based on
fluorine content or the decay of uranium 235, investigation using
the accelerator mass spectrometer and so on.
Deployed alongside traditional archaeological, these dating
methods not only bring increased accuracy but they do so without
damaging the often fragile cultural relics.
Digital technology has also been brought into play to support
field excavation. For instance, ICT (Information and Communications
Technology) has been harnessed to assist in the work of heritage
protection in the Yangtze's Three Gorges area. This has greatly
reduced both the cost and the time necessary for the fieldwork and
has helped find dozens of previously undiscovered ancient tombs in
the reservoir area.
Aerial photography has made it possible for archaeologists to
look down on the layout of an ancient city or the arrangement of
the graves in an ancient burial ground.
It was in the 1960s that Chinese experts first used aerial
photography in the archaeological rescue operations in the Sanmen
Gorge reservoir area on the Yellow River. Since then it has been
successfully employed in the excavation of the 2,400-year-old tomb
of Marquis Yi of the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) in Hubei
Province and also in that of the 700-year-old Yuan Dynasty
(1279-1368) Shangdu city site in Inner Mongolia.
Archaeology acquired remote sensing techniques back in the
1970s. Since the early 1980s a number of remote sensing facilities
have been established in China. The resulting finds have included
foundations and graves of the Yin Dynasty (the later period of the
Shang Dynasty) in Yinxu located in Anyang City, Henan Province. The
technique has also helped detect evidence of the neolithic Hongshan
culture. It revealed the Heicheng city site of the Tangut Dynasty
(1038-1227) and the Great Wall of the Kin Dynasty (1115-1234).
These examples are all situated in Inner Mongolia.
In fact, careful analysis of remote sensing satellite images can
be credited with many important discoveries across China
including:
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over 12,000 Paleolithic sites in the middle and lower reaches of
the Yangtze River
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2,000-year-old remains of the Jingjue Kingdom in the hinterland of
the Taklamakan Desert
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traces of the Grand Canal built by Emperor Yang (560-618) of the
Sui Dynasty
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the 1,000 kilometer Great Wall constructed by Genghis Khan
(1162-1227), who founded the vast Mongol empire of the Middle
Ages
Underwater archaeology began in China in the late 1980s. Since
then, underwater excavations have been carried out in the sea off
Guangdong, Fujian and Liaoning provinces.
Fuxian Lake in Yuxi City, Yunnan Province is China's second
deepest inland lake. Thanks to demanding underwater survey work
between April and June 2001, archaeologists have made some
remarkable discoveries there. They found an ancient city with an
area of 2.4 square kilometers that had lain hidden at the bottom of
the lake for over 1,750 years.
2002 was the 340th anniversary of the recovery of Taiwan from
the Dutch colonialists. This was achieved by Cheng Ch'eng-kung
(1624-1662), a national hero of the late Ming and early Qing
dynasties. As part of the commemorative activities, archaeologists
salvaged a number of bronze and iron guns, ammunition, mines and
pieces of porcelain from Cheng's ships sunk in the waters around
Dongshan Island in Fujian Province.
Fieldwork in the Qin Shihuang Mausoleum is a good example of a
multidisciplinary approach to archaeology. Located in Xi'an in
Shaanxi Province this massive mausoleum is the tomb of Qin Shihuang
(259-210 BC) the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty.
During the 1970s and 1980s remote sensing probed the mysteries
of his burial. It had lain undisturbed for over 2,000 years. In the
1980s aerial photography established the location of the double
walls of the mausoleum and the disposition of the famous formations
of terra cotta warriors and horses.
Researchers turned to an interdisciplinary approach when
excavating the terra cotta warriors and horses. For example they
combined geological methods with digital technology to collect and
process data on the air and soil. These data have contributed to
research into the changing climate and environment from the Spring
and Autumn Period (770-476 BC) through to the Qin (221-206 BC) and
Han Dynasties (206 BC-AD 220).
Furthermore, through scientific analysis of the different
proportions of copper, tin and lead in the bronze weapons excavated
from the mausoleum, researchers have gained new insights into the
secrets of the bronze smelting, casting and corrosion resistance
technologies employed in the far off days of the Qin Dynasty.
(China.org.cn, translated by Shao Da, June 11, 2003)