“The Shangshan culture, named after the [archaeological excavation site of] Shangshan, Pujiang, is the cradle of the world’s rice culture. The evidence of the origins and development of rice in the Shangshan culture over thousands of years is an important revision of the understanding of the origin of world agriculture,” was the conclusion of the academic symposium celebrating the 20th anniversary of the discovery of the Shangshan Site, which closed on November 14.

More than 40 scholars from universities and research institutions, including Peking University, the Institute of Archaeology at Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and the Institute of Geology and Geophysics at Chinese Academy of Sciences, attended the academic event. Archaeologist Yan Wenming and archaeologists from the US, the UK, and Canada gave online presentations.

The symposium focused on the discoveries related to the 19 sites around the Pujiang Shangshan Site that have been made in the past 20 years of excavations and research. The sites are located in the upper reaches of the Qiantang River and the basin of the Lingjiang River.

The newly discovered Qiaotou Ruins in Yiwu and Xiatang Ruins in Xianju have disclosed characteristics of the settlements such as ring moats and central platforms, reflecting the initial development of the agricultural social structure. This type of settlement appeared in the early days of Shangshan culture. The Shangshan Site on the Pujiang River was called “the first village in ancient China” by Yan Wenming, since it marked the beginning of a historical stage and was evidence that the Shangshan culture was the source of Chinese farming culture.

On this basis, research on the origin of rice cultivation is the core investigation into Shangshan culture, since in the Shangshan Site a relatively complete chain of evidence—including rice harvesting, processing, and eating—has been discovered. These are the earliest relics of rice cultivation discovered in the world so far.

New research shows that in the area of Shangshan culture, wild rice has been growing since about 30,000 years ago, which adds a key link in the research on the origins of rice cultivation. About 10,000 years ago, the people of Shangshan were able to use wild rice that grew naturally around the site during their hunting and gathering activities.

The evidence of the origins and development of rice for thousands of years in the Shangshan culture is an important revision of the understanding of the origins of world agriculture. Studies have shown that the level of domestication of rice in the middle and late stages of Shangshan culture was quite high. In addition, the abundance of physical data has demonstrated the crucial role played by Shangshan culture in the origins of rice farming, which marked an epochal turning point—the beginning of agricultural society and culture.

Furthermore, as an early Neolithic site, the development of pottery is also an important feature of Shangshan culture. The colored pottery pieces unearthed at the Shangshan sites are among the earliest colored pottery in the world discovered so far, and represent an important source of colored pottery culture in the Chinese culture.

The newly established platforms Shangshan Culture Research Center, Shangshan Culture Site Alliance, and China Millenary Site Alliance will provide a comprehensive agenda for research and publicity activities related to Shangshan culture. Zhao Hui, vice chairman of the Society for Chinese Archaeology and professor at the School of Archaeology and Museology at Peking University, pointed out that in the next stage, the focus of Shangshan culture archaeology should be on pastural settlement archaeology. (By Zhou Xuan, translated by Marco Lovisetto, edited by Kendra Fiddler)

上山文化 是世界稻作文化的起源地

“以浦江上山遗址为命名地的上山文化是世界稻作文化的起源地。上山文化万年水稻起源、发展的证据，是对世界农业起源认识的一次重要修订。”11月14日，上山遗址发现20周年学术研讨会专家组得出这一结论。

来自北京大学、中国社会科学院考古研究所、中国科学院地质与地球物理研究所等国内大学、著名科研机构的专家学者40余人参加了这次会议。著名考古学家严文明和美国、英国、加拿大的知名考古学者以视频的形式作了学术演讲。

会议认为，自浦江上山遗址发现20周年以来，考古工作成果显著，发现了19处上山文化遗址。这些遗址分布于钱塘江上游和灵江流域的河谷盆地。

最新发现的义乌桥头遗址和仙居下汤遗址发现环壕、中心台地等的聚落特征，反映了农业社会结构的初步发展状态。这种定居特征在上山文化初期已经出现，浦江上山遗址被严文明称之为“远古中华第一村”，标志着一个历史阶段的开端，上山文化是中国农耕村落文化的源头。

稻作起源研究是上山文化的核心内容，上山遗址发现了包括水稻收割、加工和食用较为完整的证据链，是迄今发现的世界上最早的稻作农业遗存。

新的研究表明，在上山文化的分布区域，从大约3万年前开始，就存在野生稻分布，这为稻作起源研究增添了关键性的一环。一万年前的上山古代先民在采集狩猎活动中具备了利用遗址周边自然生长的野生稻资源的条件。

上山文化万年水稻起源、发展的证据，是对世界农业起源认识的一次重要修订。研究表明，上山文化中晚期水稻的驯化水平已经相当高，再次以丰富的实物资料，彰显了上山文化在稻作农业起源中的重要地位，农业社会、农业文化的开始，是划时代的大事情。

陶器的发达，是上山文化作为早期新石器时代遗址的重要特征。上山文化彩陶是迄今发现的世界上最早的彩陶，是中国彩陶文化的重要源头之一。

新成立的“上山文化研究中心”“上山文化遗址联盟”“中华万年遗址联盟”将会提供更广、更深的平台，相信上山文化的研究和宣传会更上一层楼。

中国考古学会副理事长、北京大学考古文博学院教授赵辉在会议总结中提出，下一阶段，上山文化考古工作的重心要落到聚落田野考古上去。(本报记者 周轩)