China's Earliest Granaries Found at the Shizhuang Site in Henan

China's Earliest Granaries Found at the Shizhuang Site in Henan

中国发现目前年代最早的“粮食仓城”

There is no need to panic if you have enough grain in your granary. About 4,000 to 3,700 years ago, the ancestors of the Central Plains understood this truth deeply.

手中有粮，心中不慌。距今4000年—3700年前，中原先民就深深懂得这个道理。

Aerial photo shows the granary remains at the Shizhuang Site. [Photo provided to Henan Daily]

Archaeologists have unearthed the remains of 28 granaries at the Shizhuang Site in Sitong Town of Huaiyang District, Zhoukou City, believed to be the earliest granaries in China. The carbon-14 dating of the charcoal in the granaries shows they can be traced back to the early Xia Dynasty (2070 BC-1600 BC). Experts noted that the granaries provide key research materials for studying the culture of the early Xia Dynasty and refreshing the current understanding of its social structure, administration, governance capacity, etc.

位于周口市淮阳区四通镇的时庄遗址发掘出土了28座夏代早期“粮仓”遗迹，这是我国目前发现年代最早的“粮食仓城”。根据碳—14测年数据显示，“粮食仓城”相当于中原地区的“新砦期”阶段，即文献记载的“太康失国至少康中兴”的夏王朝早期。专家认为，这对于早期夏文化的研究，重新认识夏王朝的社会组织结构、管理水平和早期国家治理能力等具有极其重要的价值。

"Judging from the granaries' construction, they can be divided into two kinds, namely above-ground buildings and ground ones, of which the above-ground buildings were built in the form of 'stilted building', to some extent, with several 'mounds' as pillars at their planks-covered bottom. Besides, interconnected ditches around the granaries were also discovered, forming a very good drainage system to keep the grains from the humid environment, which highlighted the wisdom of ancient people in building the granaries." According to Cao Yanpeng, a researcher with the Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Heritage and Archaeology who led the excavation, the glume shells and reed plants were detected from the relics, which were believed to be the direct bedding or other knitting fabric at the bottom of the granaries.

“从粮仓的建筑形制看，可以分为地上建筑和地面建筑两类。其中，地上建筑类似‘吊脚楼’结构，底部有多个‘土墩’立柱，其上铺垫木板作为仓底，而且粮仓周边有相互连通的水沟，形成了非常好的排水系统，对仓储粮食能够起到很好的防潮作用，凸显了古人建筑粮仓的智慧。”省文物考古研究院副研究员、时庄遗址考古发掘队领队曹艳朋说，从仓储遗迹堆积中检测出粟、黍类作物的颖壳以及芦苇类植物，推测是粮仓底部直接铺垫物或其他编织物。

The number of the granary remains discovered at the Shizhuang Site topped other types of remains such as ash pits, wells, pottery kilns, house sites, tombs, etc. According to Chen Xingcan, head of Institute of Archaeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, at the Shizhuang Site, only one interconnecting room with living function was found, indicating that the granaries were separated from the residential area and it was served a group or social organization as a public facility, which probably showed the characteristics of the early state.

时庄遗址中粮仓遗迹最多，极少见灰坑、水井、陶窑、房址、墓葬等其他类型的遗迹。中国社会科学院考古研究所所长陈星灿认为，遗址现场只发现有一座具有居住功能的连间房，说明粮仓跟居住区是分离的，它是作为公共设施为某一集团或社会组织服务，很可能出现了早期国家的特征。

Lei Xingshan, a professor at School of Archaeology and Museology, Peking University, remarked that the granaries provide key research materials for studying early China's grain management and tax system since they are the oldest and most concentrated ones with the clearest function and structure compared with previous archaeological excavations.

北京大学考古文博学院教授雷兴山说，对比以往的考古发掘，时庄遗址发现的粮仓年代最早、最集中、功能和结构最清晰，为研究中原地区早期国家的粮食管理和赋税制度等提供了绝佳的实物材料。（中文来源/河南日报 翻译/赵汉青 审校/李文竞）