back to prehistoric savage

Nowadays, the development of domestic archeology has passed the stage of purely pursuing quantity. For the study of material cultural history, people are most concerned about the age and characteristics of ancient culture in a region.

This purpose does not require high accuracy of data. For example, in a certain area, you only need to know whether there are ruins of a certain period, but you do not need to know the exact number of ruins in this period; you only need to collect a few enough to reflect the Issues such as specimens of the appearance of the times and the layout and structure of the site are less important.

Therefore, the field investigation techniques used are relatively simple. Archaeologists mostly conduct field investigations based on some clues and collect some pottery sherds that can represent cultural characteristics at the site. As long as they can explain the age and characteristics of the site, the purpose is achieved. .

The preparation of the survey report basically follows the same pattern: mark the investigated sites on a simple map without even geomorphological content, stage and group the relics collected from several sites, and use this as the main gain of this survey work .

As for the azimuth coordinates, scale, environmental characteristics, accumulation conditions at different stages of the ruins, etc., they are irrelevant and can be simplified or even ignored.

To put it bluntly, it is still because of limited manpower and material resources and insufficient funds. We must focus on the big and let go of the small, and invest limited resources into the most important projects.

After all, archeology is an unpopular subject and does not produce any economic benefits. Naturally, it is not so popular. It is the same in any country.

The cultural relics and archeology institutes (institutes) in various provinces and cities are full of investigation reports, but only a few of them can be seen again. Among them, the Paleolithic sites have received the least attention.

On this "exploration and discovery" trip, Zhang Tian and Lin Yu first visited the local cultural relics and archeology institute to search for clues from dusty archives.

Ten thousand years is enough time to bury all traces. For example, the forest where the riverside tribe once lived has now degenerated into a desert. It is impossible for the two of them to find every site with their own strength.

Fortunately, they are not the only ones. Looking at these unattended investigation reports and documents, archaeologists of all ages seem to have traveled through time to point out the way forward.

After identifying the suspected target, local archaeologists were taken to conduct an on-site investigation and write a new investigation report.

Lin Yusu had always kept a low profile, and even her classmates rarely knew about her family background. However, as soon as the disappearance happened, people all over the country now knew that she had a grandfather who was an academician, not to mention the insiders.

Thanks to this, the two of them were warmly received every time they went to the research institute, and Lin Yu's requests were almost always granted.

Some leaders even criticized the interns in her education institute: "How many times have I told you to go to the fields more often? Fields are the foundation of archeology! Look at them, they don't forget academic research during their vacation travels! Their starting point is more than You are taller and you work harder than you, what is the gap? This is the gap!"

After educating his students, the leader turned around and told Lin Weixin what had happened. He praised Lin Yu to the heavens and flattered Lin Weixin, saying that he was a "tiger girl" and "there is a successor to Academician Lin", etc. such as.

Lin Weixin didn't take it seriously at first.

Humanity has a history of more than three million years and has left countless relics. However, the longest period of archeology from the beginning to the present is about 150 years. The historical relics discovered and excavated by archaeology are only the remains of the entire human race. Lin Yu was able to discover the tip of the iceberg, probably just because he was lucky.

Therefore, at the beginning, Lin Weixin said this on the phone: "The investigation report was well written and did not embarrass your instructor."

As investigation reports poured in from all over the country, Lin Weixin could no longer sit still and asked in shock: "I asked you to relax, how can you report one report a day?!"

Lin Yu was very calm and said casually: "I met him on the road, so I investigated it. I can't just turn a blind eye, right?"

This lame excuse certainly didn't fool Lin Weixin. Most of the ruins mentioned in the investigation report were located in deep mountains and old forests. These were not places that normal people would go when traveling.

"Xiao Zhang has no objection to you being so messy?"

"What opinion can he have? He likes outdoor adventures and stuff the most! Right, Zhang Tian?"

Zhang Tian came to the screen to say hello to Academician Lin.

Lin Weixin joked: "If you are threatened, just blink."

Both of them were amused by these words, and even Lin Yu didn't expect that his grandfather could still keep up with the trend even at his age.

"To be serious, the pottery sherds I found are similar to the pottery excavated from the Tea Town site in terms of firing techniques, and the pottery has similar patterns and symbols, and they are from a similar age. Perhaps culturally, There is a certain correlation.”

Lin Yu also mentioned this in his report.

Lin Weixin naturally understood that this discovery was not trivial. The tea town site is still regarded as a single settlement. If it can be proved that its culture was diffuse and its influence even extended thousands of miles away, it will undoubtedly refresh people's understanding of life in the Paleolithic. The cognition of the primitive ancestors at the end of the Neolithic Age and the beginning of the Neolithic Age is of great significance in the entire history of archaeology!

However, he adheres to a rigorous academic attitude and said that the existing data is not enough to support this conclusion. He will work with universities and relevant units in various places to collect more clues and evidence.

……

The domestic archaeological circle is neither small nor big. Before the two arrived in the Northeast, Lin Yu's newly discovered "Conan" physique had spread to the ears of local colleagues wherever he went.

Knowing that she was about to visit the Northeast, everyone was looking forward to it.

It has been a long time since there has been a decent archaeological discovery in the Northeast. Take the "Top 2021 Archaeological Discoveries of the Century" selected in 14 as an example. There are only five projects in the three northeastern provinces selected, almost only a fraction of Henan Province, which has [-]!

Among the three eastern provinces, the archeology in Heilongjiang Province started the latest and is the most backward.

Li Xiaodong, a researcher at the Heilongjiang Province Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, introduced the most representative archaeological discoveries in the province to the two, such as the Longquan Mansion site in Shangjing of Bohai State, the Huining Mansion site in Jinshangjing, etc.

Lin Yu bluntly said that he wanted to see the investigation report on the Paleolithic Age.

Li Xiaodong reacted quickly and immediately changed the topic: "Speaking of the Paleolithic Age, we have to mention the Xiaonanshan Site..."

The Xiaonanshan site is located in Xiaonanshan on the left bank of the Wusuli River. It was discovered by archaeologists as early as 1958. However, due to the backward economic and technological level at that time, coupled with the country's insufficient emphasis on archaeology, large-scale excavations were not carried out until It was only carried out in 2015.

The first phase of cultural relics at this site dates back to about 17000-13000 years ago, which is earlier than the era Zhang Tian and Lin Yu traveled to!

Moreover, a "mammoth slaughtering site" was also discovered under the cliff at the southern end of Xiaonan Mountain. Unfortunately, the geographical location was too far away to match the two people's memories.

Lin Yu asked: "Are there any investigation reports in the western part of the province near Inner Mongolia?"

"The western part of this province...that's the Nenjiang River Basin."

Li Xiaodong was a little surprised, thinking that these two people were clearly looking for something consciously.

"But are there any clues?"

Pulling up the relevant electronic files, Li Xiaodong asked tentatively.

"No, just looking around."

Lin Yu laughed, then focused on the vast amount of information in front of him and said no more.

Li Xiaodong didn't know what the two were looking for, so he stood aside and watched for a while. When he realized that he couldn't help, he silently exited the archives room.

Paleolithic archeology in Black Province began with the discovery of the Guxiangtun and Huangshan sites in the 30s, but the Paleolithic sites that were truly generally recognized by the academic community were the Shibazhan sites discovered in the mid-70s. At the beginning of the new century, the Heilongjiang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology, together with Jilin University, the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Capital Normal University and other units, discovered a large number of Paleolithic sites in Mudanjiang, Xiaoxinganling, Nenjiang and other places.

These archaeological sites are mainly distributed in mountainous areas and less in plain areas.

The Nenjiang River Basin is one of the areas where discoveries were made earlier. Important sites discovered in recent years include the Longjiang Xishantou site, the Fuyu Linfu site, the Fuhu Laohutun site, the Gannan Chahayang site, and so on.

They left a lot of traces before they migrated. As long as the cave is still there and has not been seriously damaged, there is a high probability that it will have been discovered long ago. However, because the scale is too small and the age is too old, it has not received enough attention. No chance of seeing the light of day again.

That cave has special meaning to the two of them. Firstly, it is the starting place of all stories. Secondly, it is the place that holds the most memories for the two of them besides Taoyuan. They must find it no matter what.

Zhang Tian and Lin Yu compared the sites recorded in the investigation report with known information one by one, and screened out suspected targets.

"Come see this!"

Lin Yu suddenly pointed at the computer screen and shouted, almost jumping with excitement.

Zhang Tian came over to take a look, and his eyes suddenly lit up.

This is an investigation report written in 2018, which recorded the ocher painted rock paintings in a cave. It was initially determined that they should be painted art works from the Paleolithic period, dating back at least 1.2 years ago.

The report is attached with photos of the scene. From the photos, we can see that there are some painted patterns distributed horizontally from north to south on the rock wall. After extracting the on-site data and identifying the patterns through technical means, the ink map shows that there are 13 kinds of ocher painted patterns on this rock painting. The pattern is initially believed to reflect the hunting scene of the Aboriginal people.

Determining the age of rock paintings has always been a difficult problem for academic circles at home and abroad. The reason why we can draw a conclusion this time is mainly because the patterns include three mammoths. Based on this, we can judge that these painted rock paintings were formed at least before the mammoths became extinct locally, that is, It is at least 1.2 years old.

Looking at the simple lines in the photo, the two of them were having fun from beginning to end.

This minimalist abstract painting style is comparable to grandma!

Seeing the last photo full of red handprints, Zhang and Lin stood up at the same time and said in unison: "This is it!"

……

"You seem to be familiar with this area? Have you been here before?"

The person who asked this question was Zhao Jun, the researcher who wrote the investigation report six years ago.

Since returning from that investigation, Zhao Jun has never been here again. The journey went over mountains and ridges, climbed ditches and crossed rivers. To be honest, even he was a little lost. However, Zhang and Lin took over the responsibility of guides and led the way for everyone. They seemed to know the location of the ruins very well.

Lin Yu denied it: "It's our first time here, but we carefully studied your investigation report, which helped us a lot."

Zhao Jun is very happy that his achievements have been recognized by others. There is nothing more gratifying than this.

"There are many larger sites than this one in the Nen River Basin. Why did you choose this one? Is there anything special about it?"

"It's nothing fancy, I just find it interesting. I want to come and see it in person. Maybe there will be unexpected gains."

Li Xiaodong on the side joked: "We have all heard about your deeds. All along the way, there are all unexpected gains. In my opinion, these three words 'maybe' can be simply removed!"

Lin Yu smiled, neither admitting nor denying.

When all the researchers saw this, they all felt happy knowing that it was safe.

Zhao Jun was even more happy. He was the first to investigate this site. If something can be discovered, he will naturally have a share of the credit. Promotion is expected!

Zhang Tian observed everything around him. The river was smaller than it was [-] years ago, and the vegetation had changed from primary forest to secondary forest. However, the rolling low hills on both sides of the river had not changed much, and they gradually overlapped with the appearance in his memory. .

He was suddenly in a trance. The backwater bay where he and Xiao Xiao fished was nowhere to be found, but the long whistle calling his son back seemed to transcend the barriers of time and linger in his ears.

"It's just up from here."

Zhao Jun pointed to a small road and said.

The area around here is in the wilderness, and there is not a soul along the way. Only the road up the mountain has obvious signs of repairs, and there are warning signs beside the road, giving it a bit of a human touch.

No matter how small the ruins are, they are still ruins, and necessary protection measures are still in place.

Go up the mountain road.

One evening ten thousand years ago, two teenagers walked by the same place carrying a basket full of fish. At that time, there were no roads here and the teenagers were still teenagers.

Zhang Tian originally thought that he would not feel anything, but when he actually arrived here, returned to this familiar yet unfamiliar cave, and saw the paintings they had drawn and the fingerprints they had made, his emotions were so easily triggered.

Grandma’s charcoal paintings have long been erased by ruthless time. Even the ocher paint has long lost its original brightness. However, Zhang Tian can still distinguish the outline of the painted object from these dim lines, and even recognize it. Whose handiwork.

These tender lines were drawn by Bai He and the children, these crooked patterns were graffitied by Xiao Xiao and the men, and these three lifelike mammoths were painted by the master painter He...

He sat down facing the rock wall as before. It was under this rock wall that he told the tribe the story of Hou Yi shooting the sun. That was the beginning of everything and his final ending.

He remembered that night when thunder beasts were causing trouble, and the tribesmen huddled together; he remembered the women chatting about family issues while cooking, and the men pounding fish maw glue and sighing; he remembered every smile, every face... , no longer exists.

A soft hand was placed in his palm, waking him up from his memories.

"I'm here." Lin Yu said with a gentle smile.

Zhang Tian took a deep breath, and his depressed mood was gradually healed by her bright smile.

Fortunately, she is still here.

He held her hand tightly and smiled: "Let's dig!"

"what?!"

Before Lin Yu could say anything, Zhao Jun was startled and stopped him: "This is a relic after all, and it is protected by law. We don't want to excavate randomly without approval from above!"

Zhang Tianzheng said: "But if we don't order anything genuine, the higher ups won't approve it, and they won't allocate funds. Isn't this a solution? Don't worry, let me be the first shovel. It's none of your business. I promise. The shovel will reveal the truth!" (End of this chapter)