Henan Natives of 5,000 Years Ago: Enjoying Silk Clothes and Tasty Liquor?

Henan Natives of 5,000 Years Ago: Enjoying Silk Clothes and Tasty Liquor?

5000多年前河南人穿着丝绸喝美酒？

 

The news on the discoveries in the fourth excavation of the Yangshao village relics site at Mianchi county of Sanmenxia city, Henan province, was released on September 29. Those discoveries demonstrated that the fermented liquor residue tested from the samples in the small-mouth pointed-bottom jars of the middle and late stage of the Yangshao Culture (5,000 BC-3,000 BC) was identified as a kind of fermented liquor made from root tubers with millet, glutinous millet and rice by ways of two liquor-making techniques.

9月29日，仰韶村遗址第四次考古发掘发布重要考古成果，在仰韶村遗址仰韶文化中期、晚期小口尖底瓶样品中检测出谷物发酵酒残留，很可能是以黍、粟、水稻、薏苡、野生小麦族和块根类植物为原料制作的发酵酒，采用的是发芽谷物和曲发酵两种酿酒技术。

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The two kinds of liquor are recorded in oracle bone inscriptions, namely "酒" (liquor) and "醴" (liquor with sweet flavor), the former is made from moldy grain through fermentation while the latter from malted grain with relatively low alcohol content, the experts said. Both were discovered from the samples, providing direct evidence for the brewing and consumption of grain liquor in the central area of the Yangshao Culture.

专家认为，甲骨文中记录了两类酒， 即“酒”和“醴”。前者是用发霉的谷物进行发酵的酒；后者则是用发芽的谷物酿造而成，酒精度相对较低。这两种酿造工艺在仰韶村遗址尖底瓶残留物中均有发现，为新石器仰韶文化中心区域粮食酒的酿造和消费提供了直接证据。

A Small-mouth Pointed-bottom Jar. [Photo/Henan Daily]

Apart from the liquor, silk remains were also first discovered, indicating that 5,000 years ago, Henan natives were already living in a lavish lifestyle, enjoying silk clothes and tasty liquor.

仰韶村第四次考古发掘除了发现“美酒”，还首次发现了“丝绸”，说明5000多年前河南先民就过上了穿着丝绸喝美酒的美好生活了。

2 types of soil samples were inspected silk fibroin inside. [Photo/Henan Daily]

14 types of soil samples collected from the tombs of the Yangshao village relics site were tested by Henan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and China National Silk Museum, among which 2 types of soil samples were inspected silk fibroin inside, suggesting that silk fabrics probably existed in the tombs. A large number of high-grade cultural relics, such as pottery wares, jade articles, stone tools, bone implements, ivory products, etc., were unearthed at the site, showing that the production and living standards of the people at that time had reached a relatively advanced level.

河南省文物考古研究院联合中国丝绸博物馆的科研人员对仰韶村遗址墓葬的14个土壤样品进行科学检测分析，从其中的两个样品中发现了丝蛋白残留物，这说明墓葬中可能曾存在过丝绸实物。此次发掘出土了陶器、玉器、石器、骨器、象牙制品等一大批的高等级文化遗存，专家认为，这表明当时仰韶人的生产生活水平已经达到了一定的高度。（中文来源/河南日报 翻译/赵汉青 视频/实习生王君艺 审校/焦丹）