5,000-year-old Silk Rediscovered at Yangshao Culture Site

Rediscovery of 5,000-year-old Silk at Yangshao Culture Site Provides New Proof to Origin of China’s Silk

郑州仰韶文化遗址再次发现5000年前丝绸，比良渚文化出土丝织品更早

Where is the origin of China’s silk? What is the usage of the silk in early days? On November 3, news briefing on discovery of the silk in the period of Yangshao Culture was held by Zhengzhou Administration of Cultural Relics, releasing that, following the discovery of the earliest Chinese silk with more than 5,000 years of history at Qingtai site in Xingyang of Zhengzhou city in the 1980s, the silk fabrics of the same period was rediscovered at Wanggou site in Xingyang, which provides new proof for the research on the origin of China’s silk.

我国丝绸的起源在哪里？丝绸最早的用途又是什么？12月3日，郑州市文物局举行仰韶时代丝绸发现新闻发布会宣布，继上世纪80年代郑州荥阳青台遗址发现5000多年前中国最早丝绸之后，荥阳汪沟遗址再次发现同时期丝织物，为研究中国丝绸起源增添新的证据。

According to Gu Wanfa, head of Zhengzhou Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, the archaeological findings show that silk protein may have already been found in China in the Peiligang Culture period, and the lines on some bottles with narrow mouth and sharp bottom as well as the cloth marks at the bottom of some utensils unearthed also demonstrate the advanced textile technology in the middle neolithic period or even earlier.

郑州文物考古研究院院长顾万发说，考古发现还表明，中国可能在裴李岗文化时期就已经出现丝蛋白，仰韶文化遗址内出土尖底瓶及部分罐的外表饰有线纹，个别器物底部发现有布痕，说明原始纺织技术在新石器时代中期甚至更早阶段已经比较发达。

“The sites namely Qingtai, Shuanghuaishu and Wanggou are all located in the settlement clusters of Yangshao Culture period in Zhengzhou city, which is one of the important core areas of the origin of Chinese civilization. The silk unearthed here was proved as the earliest silk found in the world, since the silk discovered at Qianshanyang site of Liangzhu Culture only enjoyed a 4,200-to-4,400-year history. Therefore, it can be said that the China’s silk is probably originated around 5,500 years ago, which can also be verified with the time and place of legends about silkworm rearing and making clothing by the silk recorded in ancient books and documents.”

“青台、双槐树、汪沟等遗址地处郑州仰韶文化聚落群，是中华文明起源的重要核心地区之一。这里发现的丝绸是目前世界范围内发现的时代最早的丝织品。此前良渚文化钱山漾遗址出土的丝织品距今是4200至4400年。由此，我们可以认为，中国丝绸的起源时间很可能在距今5500年左右。这也与古籍文献中记载的嫘祖始教民育蚕，治丝茧以供衣服的传说的时间地点相互印证。”（记者温小娟 编译赵汉青 审校焦丹）