First of all, this accidental discovery led to the ancient ruins at the bottom of the lake.
Last year1February, farmers in Shuangqiao Village, Juchao District, Chaohu City, when rebuilding polder fields and moving a river bank, suddenly found a large number of broken pottery pieces and kiln furniture under the river bank. Chaohu cultural relics management department immediately sent people to the scene and organized experts to identify them, which was finally confirmed as a relic of the Sui Dynasty. After on-site excavation, a large number of intact pottery fragments and kiln furniture were found. It is understood that there are not many kiln sites in the Sui Dynasty that have been discovered in China at present, adding up to less than 50. The discovery of these Sui kiln furniture in Chaohu Lake shows that there is a kiln site next to it, but where is it?
Soon, someone provided clues to the Chaohu Cultural Relics Management Office, saying that when the water level dropped in winter, a large number of pottery pieces were exposed on the riverbed on the north bank of Chaohu Lake, which may be related to the kiln site in Sui Dynasty. After hearing the news, the archaeologists immediately rushed to Tangzui Village, Juchao District, more than ten kilometers away from Chaohu City, and were immediately attracted by the scene before them. Under the slope protection of Hubin Avenue, on the riverbed about 200-300 meters long, all kinds of pottery pieces are scattered everywhere. These pottery pieces are mainly argillaceous gray pottery and sand-mixed gray pottery, but also argillaceous red pottery, brown pottery, sand-mixed black pottery and some hard pottery with slightly higher firing temperature.
Because it is winter and the riverbed is relatively dry, archaeologists linger on it and search for every piece of land. Soon, several wastewater wells with ceramic well sites were found, and there was an old tree root next to one of them, so neither of them could hold it up. Next, archaeologists discovered some artifacts. These utensils are mainly foot winding devices, such as urns, pots, altars, pots and other daily necessities, and the radians of the mouth edge and base are generally relatively large. A small number of pottery has patterns, mainly plaid patterns, mat patterns, macro patterns, rope patterns, carved water ripples and so on. Some argillaceous gray pottery is fine, with thin carcass and plastic surface.
Seeing everything in sight, Qian Yu, deputy director of Chaohu Cultural Relics Management Office, concluded that this place is an ancient site based on rich archaeological experience accumulated over the years and combined with archaeological discoveries and documents in Chaohu in recent years. Locals say that the distribution of pottery pieces is not only a small bare riverbed, but also extends to four or five kilometers in the lake, and there is a thick layer where there are many pottery pieces. Some people who are over 70 years old think that there is an ancient city site under Chaohu Lake, and they can roughly point out the positions of the four gates of this city site. The old people said that when they were young, they had seen the ruins of the ancient city and many bricks, tiles, stones, corners, thresholds, well sites, flagpoles and drums.
In the investigation, cultural relics managers found that many people have cultural relics collected from lakeside sites at home. After patient and meticulous publicity and education, the vast majority of people took the initiative to hand in cultural relics, and a few recovered them through administrative means. More than 260 cultural relics, including Yu Fu, stone axe, jade seal, silver seal, bronze seal, pottery jar, Tao Pai, spinning wheel, net pendant, coins, iron cymbals, copper belt hooks, copper cymbals, bronze mirrors, bronze ornaments, etc. The earliest is Yufu in the Neolithic Age, and the latest is the coins in the period of Wang Mang. Among them, there are many kinds of copper coins, from the ant nose money of Chu in the Warring States Period to Qin Banliang and Han Banliang, Han Wuzhu, Dabu Huang Qian and Daquan 50 in the Wangmang Period, and the ant nose money is the most numerous. In addition, pottery, jade, silverware and other relics are also very complete, which are not available in some sites and have high economic value.
Second, underwater ancient sites and ancient nest countries
The discovery of ancient underwater sites has aroused great interest of many experts and scholars, who can't help but associate it with the mysterious ancient nest country in history. Zhao was one of the important countries in Yin, Shang and Zhou Dynasties. Because there are few documents and only a few words, there are always some mysteries in the search for this ancient country, which seems to be related to its mysterious disappearance. First of all, its geographical location is very inaccurate. Some people say it's in Chaohu Lake, some people say it's in Tongcheng, and some people say it's in Shouxian County. There is no conclusive evidence to explain its exact location. But one thing is certain. The current nest city is not the seat of the ancient nest country in history. The current nest city was built in the nest county established in the Tang Dynasty. Secondly, before the Western Han Dynasty, many historical books, such as Oracle bones, Shangshu and Zuo Zhuan, all mentioned the vassal states of "Chao Bo", "Southern Dynasty" and "Ju Chao", but after the Han Dynasty, there were few records of people and things related to "Chao" city. This phenomenon shows that the ancient nest country has either disappeared or its social status has greatly declined.
Combined with the archaeological excavation results of Nest City in recent years, it can be clearly felt that the development of civilization in this area has been interrupted. According to Qian Yuchun, deputy director who has been devoted to the study of the ancient Yan State, during the Warring States Period, Qin and Han Dynasties, imperial tombs were all located near the capital, which became a landscape outside the capital and an important part of the capital. Large-scale tombs with extremely high scale and specifications before the Han Dynasty were found in Wang Gang and Beishan in the nest city. During the investigation and excavation, no architectural remains related to the city were found. Through the textual research and identification of the inscriptions on unearthed artifacts, it can be said for sure that this area is an imperial tomb area. Whether it's specifications or scale. There are only a handful of contemporary tombs unearthed all over the country, but after the Han Dynasty, the continuity of this social development can not be seen, and high-standard tombs and sites can hardly be found.
Is the underwater ancient site of Chaohu Lake an ancient nest country in history? Relying on the cultural relics collected at present, archaeologists dare not jump to conclusions. However, with the in-depth exploration and investigation of underwater sites, this relationship will definitely be clarified.
Third, the mysterious ancient ruins at the bottom of the lake.
After the news that the underwater ancient city site of Chaohu Lake was discovered, it immediately caused a sensation in the society. Some experts and scholars have rushed to Chaohu Lake for on-the-spot investigation and study. At the same time, a bigger question mark appears in people's minds, that is, how did the ancient ruins sink to the bottom of the lake?
There are different opinions on this issue. There are mainly three kinds: one is the legend of "nesting state" circulated by the people and recorded in books. It is considered that Chaohu Lake was a city in ancient times and then sank to the bottom of the lake. The other is the geologist's view that Chaohu Lake was formed by land subsidence in the middle of process of crustal movement, and belongs to a fallen lake, which was before Qin and Han Dynasties and has nothing to do with folklore. There are also the views of historical scholars, who have repeatedly demonstrated the historical materials literally, found out some loopholes, and concluded that the legend of "the country trapped in the nest" recorded in the history books is only a fairy tale with no factual basis.
After careful study of underwater sites, geologists and archaeologists have found that people have gone into a misunderstanding when studying and discussing the natural disaster of "Chaozhou", thinking that Chaohu Lake was formed by the fall of Chaozhou. In fact, Chaohu Lake was formed as early as 15000 years ago? The "bird's nest state" is far behind, more than 2,000 years ago. Most experts believe that the folk legend about "trapped nest state" may be true, but some superstitious parts should be abandoned. The underwater site of Chaohu Lake is likely to sink to the bottom of the lake in a sudden disaster.
Ancient humans had the characteristics of "high waterfront". Choosing such a geographical location to build a city can look at the country's atmosphere and observe the enemy's situation, which is conducive to boat drainage and less flooding. Near the lake, the water surface is wide, which provides favorable conditions for drainage into the city, water transportation and berthing of ships. Archaeologists and geologists speculate that the underwater ancient ruins of Chaohu Lake should be located on the shore of Chaohu Lake and above the water surface, so that human beings can live and survive for a long time. There may be two reasons why ancient relics later fell into the bottom of the lake. One is the subsidence caused by the earthquake, the other is the rising flood, or the stagnant water at the mouth of the lake. Judging from the current geographical environment of Chaohu Lake and its surrounding areas, there is a great possibility of an earthquake. Because of the sudden disaster, people had no time to take away or transfer goods and necessities with high economic value, and the city was swallowed up by the flood.
Fourthly, the archaeological value of Chaohu underwater site is high.
There are many underwater civilization sites recorded or discovered in the world, such as Touluma, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, where the city walls and palace walls still stand intact underwater; Hlik, Poti, Tiree, Sidon, Rome and other ancient Greek cities on the northern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, as well as Apollonia, Scherle and other cities on the southern shore, all lay quietly underwater. Because the remains and relics of underwater sites are located underwater, which can relatively reduce or avoid the destruction of human activities, and the preservation of underwater sites is closer to the original historical appearance than on the ground, so underwater sites have a very important position and role in archaeological work.
At present, there are relatively few underwater sites found in China. Except for the ancient Yunnan settlement group site found at the bottom of Fuxian Lake in Yunnan in 2000, almost no underwater sites were found elsewhere. The underwater site of Tangzui in Chaohu Lake is likely to be the most well-preserved and archaeological site in the history of China. It is understood that Fuxian Lake is located in a remote place, with a low level of civilization at that time, and it is the second largest deep-water lake in China. The site is 70 to 90 meters deep from the water. Although archaeological investigation has used a lot of social resources, the cultural relics and archaeological materials obtained are very limited. The underwater ancient ruins of Tangzui in Chaohu Lake are partially exposed in winter, which is convenient for investigation, exploration and even excavation. A large number of complete pottery pots found on the site, as well as exquisite Hetian jade seals and silver seals with high economic value, indicate that this site was in a highly developed social state when it fell. The remains preserved on the site are much richer in quantity and variety than those formed by non-sudden natural disasters.
It is understood that the underwater site of Tangzui in Chaohu Lake was exposed to water in winter, washed away by lake waves, and many cultural relics were washed to the riverbed surface. Every year, a large number of cultural relics are lost, which makes protection very difficult. The cultural relics department is striving for an early comprehensive exploration and investigation of the site. I believe that with the unveiling of the mystery of the underwater site, the extraordinary history of this 800-mile vast lake will be truly presented to people.