Regional Civilization History in South China Pushed EarlierA three-year long archeological excavation in Xiaojin Village in southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region has helped bring forward the local civilization history by more than 44,000 years.Yan Wenming, a professor with the Beijing University, affirmed that the excavation proves that the Xiaojin Culture is a native rather than an affiliation moved from other parts of the country as formerly thought by most Chinese archeologists. The site, some 100 km away from the famous scenic city of Guilin, is encompassed by mountains. Large amounts of primitive production instruments and utility devises belonged to the late Neolithic Age were unearthed since the excavation was carried out in 1997. Chinese archeologists announced that they had to reassess the origin of the local history, which represents the typical southern China primitive culture. They now believe that primitive tribes inhabited in the region as early as 4,000-5,000 years ago. They assumed that a primitive community consisted of some 60 members lived in the village for a pretty long period. They mainly lived on farming and hunting. However, it is still a mystery whether the tribe was a matriarchy or a patriarchy, and where it was gone or how it disappeared, Yan said. Intensive studies are now under way for all the answers. The South China Culture has been generally considered to come into shape much later than that in the north. But research of some archeological finds in recent years are likely to push forward the history of the former, which is still little known, as observed by more Chinese archeologists. |
| Please visit People's Daily Online --- http://www.peopledaily.com.cn/english/ |