Archaeological Discovery Confirms the Ancient Past of Yin County 鄞县故城:半山半水一座城

2019-03-18 09:37:35 source: 《文化交流》;马 黎,杨琳惜


A鄞县故城一带地理环境.jpg


        从宁波城区往南约20公里,奉化城区往东约14公里,天台山余脉的北缘,群山起伏,草深林密。其中一座低缓的小山,叫“城山”,海拔高度不足50米,与它周围的山地相比,并不起眼。

        但就是这样一座小山包,却藏着宁波城市的历史源头之一:鄞县故城。

        2015年12月至2018年2月,宁波市文物考古研究所联合奉化区文物保护管理所等科研机构,对今宁波市奉化区西坞街道白杜村一带展开了跨越4个年头、持续两年多的野外考古调查勘探、解剖试掘,结合文献梳理、现代科技等手段,不仅正式确认了鄞县故城的具体位置和兴废年代,也基本探明了其分布范围和大体布局。

        2019年1月,“宁波奉化鄞县故城考古调查”这一重要发现入选2018年度“浙江考古重要发现”。

 

故城虽小,功能区分很明确

        鄞县故城在哪儿?

        考古队员按照文献中相关记载的指引,初步框定它的大致方位,再经过实地调查、勘探、试掘和基础地理信息采集、解析,最终确认鄞县故城的具体位置就在今天的宁波市奉化区西坞街道白杜行政村山厂自然村城山东南面。

        宁波市文物考古研究所所长王结华说,故城的规模不大,调查勘探面积在80万平方米左右,实际的城址范围不足4万平方米,属于特小型城邑。而且鄞县故城所在的位置在当时属于比较偏远的地区,不像现在的浙江宁波那么发达,人口也不会太多。


01  石砌水池与烧灰面(局部).jpg


        鄞县故城功能区分很明确。

        城墙的修筑充分借助自然地势,沿着山脊线,直接夯筑在山体上。目前探明的有西、北、东三段,共360米,其中北段墙体保存较好,呈长条状,上窄下宽,顶部现存宽度约4.1米,底部现存宽度约7.5米,残高约1.6米。

        城墙夯层内出土的遗物既有商周时期的,如石器、夹砂陶器;也有东汉晚期至孙吴时期的,如硬陶、瓦当。依据考古学上的“就晚原则”,城墙的始筑年代应当不早于东汉晚期至孙吴时期。

        除了城墙,在城山的东、南侧,地势较低,是一片水系。在对东侧水系进行局部解剖时,考古队员发现了大量战国至汉代的印纹硬陶、泥质陶器等遗物。

这样一来,夯土城墙与水系就形成了一个围合空间,区分了城内城外——城内,目前发现的生活居住区,主要在城山南侧的山脚台地上,靠近水系分布。居住区内留下了不同时期的遗迹,水池、烧灰面、红烧土堆积、灶,都是先民们的生活痕迹。

        “我们发现了瓦当、筒瓦、板瓦、壁砖等,都是当时的房子、城墙上的附属建筑构件。在汉至六朝时期,瓦当的使用是讲究等级的,一般的老百姓不允许用,只有官府建筑、公共建筑、宗教建筑等能用。”王结华说,考虑到汉至六朝时期,鄞县故城及其左近还没有关于寺庙的记载,推测这些高规格的建筑材料,应该是官署建筑或其他公共建筑,县政府或者它的办公机构。

        城外,发现了作坊区和墓葬区。

        作坊区遗址范围不大,与居住区隔水相望。考古队员发现了手工业的胚料,质地纯净,是仔细淘洗过的,一块一块,形状很方正、有规律。王结华说,这么精细的胚料,应该不可能用作普通的砖,有专家猜想,可能是用来做封泥的,也就是古代的“胶水”,用来密封东西,但究竟是不是,还需要做进一步研究。

        墓葬区,是鄞县故城外又一个功能分区。宁波地区汉至六朝时期墓葬主要埋藏在低缓的山前坡地,鄞县故城周边墓葬的分布也同样遵循了这一规律。

        其实在2015年开展鄞县故城考古之前,这一带正式发掘过的古代墓葬已达数百座,从商周到明清的都有,汉至六朝时期最多,是宁波地区发现古墓数量最为丰富的地区之一。

        随着鄞县故城考古的开展,又发现了91座已被盗扰的汉至六朝时期砖室墓。这些墓葬的分布范围,东至白杜南岙村,南至余家坝村,西至河头村,北至奉钱线。南岙村周边最为密集,据推测应该是鄞县故城的主要墓葬区。

 

半山半水,城墙防御有特色

        “鄞”,今天宁波地区最早出现的地名之一。历史记载最早可见于2500年前的战国时期,《国语·越语上》里讲:“勾践之地,南至于句無,北至于御儿,东至于鄞,西至于姑蔑。”

        到了秦汉时期,政统归一,郡县分设,宁波地区最早设有四县:句章、鄞、鄮、余姚,隶属于会稽郡,在两汉的史书中都可以明确找到“鄞”的归属。

隋朝开皇九年(公元589年),平定南朝陈后,鄞县与余姚、鄮县一起,并入句章。也就是说,从有明确记载的西汉起到隋初,古鄞县前后历时近800年,废县至今已有1429年。

        考古出土的遗物特征及碳十四测年结果,与史料记载的鄞县故城兴废时间基本吻合,也就是从秦汉到隋代开皇九年。有所不同的是,考古发现还表明,早在设立古鄞县之前的春秋战国时期,白杜一带应已有较多人群在此聚居生活。

        秦汉时期,宁波设四县,为什么鄞县能入选?

        王结华说,任何一个城的建设,有多种因素的考虑。

        第一,在古代,这个地方的交通相对比较方便,向南通往台州,向东通往东钱湖,当年的东钱湖不像现在是一个封闭的湖,以前的水系是互通的,向西可以往现在的奉化绍兴走。

        第二,环境依山,古代城市需要防御,地形地势比较利于防御。

        第三,很重要的一点,选择这个地方,有人口的基础,从周边的发现来看,商周、春秋战国时期已经有很多人在这里聚集、居住、生活。

        再来说最重要的城墙。有城址,但不一定有城墙,这是两码事。

        建城墙在古代是一个很浩大的工程。考古发现与史料互相印证,鄞县夯筑城墙,应该在东汉晚期到三国,离现在一千七八百年。

        从设县起止的近800年时间里,鄞县故城的防御体系一直在发生变化。

        西汉严助曾上书称:“臣闻越非有城郭邑里也,处溪谷之间、篁竹之中。”说明东汉晚期以前,鄞县故城仅依托自然山势与水系作为防御手段。

        东汉末年,局势比较混乱,三国鼎立,各地也有很多军阀、盗匪。地处东海之滨的鄞县经常受到来自海上武装力量的袭扰,流寇猖狂到甚至杀害了县治长官。据记载,东汉阳嘉元年(公元132年)“二月,海贼曾旌等寇会稽,杀句章、鄞、鄮三县长,攻会稽东部都尉”。

        在这种情况下,城市急需加强防御功能。东吴赤乌三年(公元240年),孙权下了诏书,“诏诸郡县治城郭,起谯楼,穿堑发渠,以备盗贼。”

        “朝廷有这方面的命令,再加上发展到东汉时期,整体经济上有一定的物力财力来建城墙。因此,东汉末年到三国的东吴时期,鄞县修筑城墙,跟当时整个政治环境、社会形势有关系。”王结华说。

        尽管有文献资料的指引,城墙的发现也经历了一番曲折。

        比如山顶上的这一段,公认为是城墙,但发现的时候,王结华并不敢这么断定。

        “一千多年过去了,山上种满了毛竹,加上人类的各种活动,形成了非常多的后期干扰,如果不排除这些干扰,不敢轻易下论断。”

        野外考古调查勘探,是一场持久的攻坚战。

        毛竹林杂草丛生,草深林密,蛇和马蜂很多,旁边还有一个很大的养猪场,尤其是夏天,气味非常难闻。考古队员做了两年野外工作,最终才确定鄞县故城的分区结构。”

        “当最后我们确认它是城墙的时候,那是非常开心的。因为在宁波地区,我们调查早期城址,明确发现城墙的,这还是第一回。我们开展句章故城考古,做了将近8年,始终没有找到城墙,最终大家的结论是,它就是一个没有城墙、纯粹用水系围起来的城。”

        但鄞县故城不一样,它的特色是“半山半水城”,建在山坡上,到了坡的下面又是平地,平地有水,依着地势,山上有土筑成城墙,山下筑城墙的成本太大,干脆用水做防护。

        王结华说,这是宁波地区汉晋时期城址中首个发现的夯土城墙的城址。半山半水,很有典型性,对宁波古代城市发展演变,对长江中下游地区山城、水城的研究有着重要的参考价值。

 

更迭重建,今鄞州非古鄞县

        鄞县故城,和现在宁波市鄞州区有什么关系?

        其实,从区域的历史脉络来看,并没有直接的关联。

        隋开皇九年(公元589年),鄞县、余姚、鄮县并入句章。五代后梁开平三年(公元909年),在原来鄮县的地区重新设立鄞县,就这么一直延续下来,到2002年,改为鄞州区。

        也就是说,从秦汉到隋初的鄞县故城,与五代至今的鄞县是两个地方。唐代以来的文献里讲得比较清楚了,《通典》:“鄞县故城在今县东南。”《太平寰宇记》:“古鄞城,亦汉县,废城在县南。”

        在王结华看来,虽然鄞县故城与现在的鄞州区没有直接联系,但改“鄮”为“鄞”,重新设立鄞县,历史渊源还是在这里,“如果没有古鄞县,也未必会有后来改鄮县设立的鄞县。”

        从城市的发展角度看,早期宁波只设县级,到唐开元二十六年(公元738年),才建立明州,照现在的理解,才变成地级市。

        “宁波地区的早期城邑,后来大多都消失了。城在哪儿,我们希望通过考古一个个把它们找出来。当时的城是什么样的,城有多大,结构怎么样,史书里都没有记载。考古就是要把城在哪儿、有多大、布局是什么样的、城墙结构是什么样的,都弄清楚了。这为整个宁波城市发展演变提供了历史的脉络,也是将实物证据更加清楚明白地摆出来。所以,我觉得它的意义非常重要。”王结华说。



Archaeological Discovery Confirms the Ancient Past of Yin County


An archaeological excavation conducted from December 2015 to February 2018 confirms that City Hill, a nondescript earth mound no more than 50 meters above sea level, was where the capital of Yin County was situated. Yin County no longer exists since it merged as a district into Ningbo, a port city in eastern Zhejiang, in 2002. When Yin became a county 222 BC under the rule of the Qin, then a mighty state in the northwest of China in its ambitious undertaking to unify the whole China, the present-day Ningbo, the central city in the east of Zhejiang did not exist at all.

For a long time, archaeologists of today did not know exactly where the capital of the ancient county was in the beginning centuries, though they knew for certain how the county evolved in the past 2,500 years from ancient history records. The city existed for nearly eight hundred years until 589 AD in the Sui Dynasty when it was absorbed into Juzhang, a prefecture-level city in eastern Zhejiang. It was not until 909 that Yin County was reestablished into the national government system, but the capital was constructed somewhere else. The previous capital city ceased to exist for more than 1,400 years. No wonder it gradually vanished into the past and remained unknown.

Thanks to a combined undertaking that included thorough textual research, field studies, trial excavations, comparisons of geographic information, and analyses, archaeologists zeroed in onto the site, which is Chengshan (City Hill) near Shanchang, a village in Fenghua District, Ningbo. About 20 kilometers south of the downtown Ningbo, the site snuggles at the northern tip of Tiantai Mountain in the region.

The archaeologists explored an area of 800,000 square meters in this project and they discovered that the capital site measures only no more than 40,000 square meters, which classifies the county capital into a category of very small cities. As the capital was located far from anywhere, it can be reasoned that it did not have a big population back then.

The city used to be encircled by a wall. At present, only three sections of the city wall have been found. They are altogether 360 meters long. Of the three, the section in the north is relatively well preserved. It measures 4.1 meters wide at the top and 7.5 meters wide at the bottom and 1.6 meters tall. It isn’t easy to figure out exactly how tall the original was, for the wall is no longer what it was. It is concluded on the basis of stoneware, potteries found in the earth of the wall that the wall must have been built in the years either in the late period of the Eastern Han Dynasty or in the early years of the Wu Kingdom.


鄞县故城出土的青瓷鸡首壶(东晋).JPG

鄞县故城出土的云纹瓦当(汉).JPG


The city didn’t have a city wall for hundreds of years after it came into being. In 132 AD, the east of Zhejiang came under attack by armed bandits from the sea and local county magistrates were killed. In 240, King Sun Quan of the Eastern Wu ordered local cities to build city walls and moats to prevent armed invasions from the sea. It can be reasoned that the city had a wall in the second to third centuries.

The east and the south to the City Hill is relatively low and encircled by a river. The archaeologists explored the river section in the east and discovered many hard pottery objects that can be traced to the Warring Period and Han Dynasty. It is agreed that the city wall and the river pointed to where the city was and where the outside started. The living quarters are located on the south side of City Hill, near the river. Many building materials such as various types of roof tiles and tile ends as well as bricks have been excavated from the living quarters. As in these centuries tile ends were only used in government offices, public and religious buildings, it can be reasoned that these building materials are convincing testimonials that the area must have been used for that purpose. Archaeological finds indicate that workshops and tombs existed in separate areas outside the city proper.

Before the city project started in 2015, archaeologists had excavated hundreds of ancient tombs ranging from the Shang, the Zhou and up to the Ming and the Qing dynasties. During the city project, archaeologists discovered 91 more ancient tombs, which had been robbed in the past.

Why was the county capital located at such a spot? From ancient geographic features, it was a strategically convenient place. It had Taizhou to the south and the Dongqian Lake to the east. The lake back then was not a closed water system. Ships could reach through the lake many other places. The capital was located at the hill also for reasons of security. Most importantly, the spot had been a population center for centuries before it was turned into the county capital.

In January 2019, the ancient capital cite of Yin County archaeological project was designated as one of the key archaeological finds of 2018.





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9690508 Archaeological Discovery Confirms the Ancient Past of Yin County 鄞县故城:半山半水一座城 public html

A鄞县故城一带地理环境.jpg


        从宁波城区往南约20公里,奉化城区往东约14公里,天台山余脉的北缘,群山起伏,草深林密。其中一座低缓的小山,叫“城山”,海拔高度不足50米,与它周围的山地相比,并不起眼。

        但就是这样一座小山包,却藏着宁波城市的历史源头之一:鄞县故城。

        2015年12月至2018年2月,宁波市文物考古研究所联合奉化区文物保护管理所等科研机构,对今宁波市奉化区西坞街道白杜村一带展开了跨越4个年头、持续两年多的野外考古调查勘探、解剖试掘,结合文献梳理、现代科技等手段,不仅正式确认了鄞县故城的具体位置和兴废年代,也基本探明了其分布范围和大体布局。

        2019年1月,“宁波奉化鄞县故城考古调查”这一重要发现入选2018年度“浙江考古重要发现”。

 

故城虽小,功能区分很明确

        鄞县故城在哪儿?

        考古队员按照文献中相关记载的指引,初步框定它的大致方位,再经过实地调查、勘探、试掘和基础地理信息采集、解析,最终确认鄞县故城的具体位置就在今天的宁波市奉化区西坞街道白杜行政村山厂自然村城山东南面。

        宁波市文物考古研究所所长王结华说,故城的规模不大,调查勘探面积在80万平方米左右,实际的城址范围不足4万平方米,属于特小型城邑。而且鄞县故城所在的位置在当时属于比较偏远的地区,不像现在的浙江宁波那么发达,人口也不会太多。


01  石砌水池与烧灰面(局部).jpg


        鄞县故城功能区分很明确。

        城墙的修筑充分借助自然地势,沿着山脊线,直接夯筑在山体上。目前探明的有西、北、东三段,共360米,其中北段墙体保存较好,呈长条状,上窄下宽,顶部现存宽度约4.1米,底部现存宽度约7.5米,残高约1.6米。

        城墙夯层内出土的遗物既有商周时期的,如石器、夹砂陶器;也有东汉晚期至孙吴时期的,如硬陶、瓦当。依据考古学上的“就晚原则”,城墙的始筑年代应当不早于东汉晚期至孙吴时期。

        除了城墙,在城山的东、南侧,地势较低,是一片水系。在对东侧水系进行局部解剖时,考古队员发现了大量战国至汉代的印纹硬陶、泥质陶器等遗物。

这样一来,夯土城墙与水系就形成了一个围合空间,区分了城内城外——城内,目前发现的生活居住区,主要在城山南侧的山脚台地上,靠近水系分布。居住区内留下了不同时期的遗迹,水池、烧灰面、红烧土堆积、灶,都是先民们的生活痕迹。

        “我们发现了瓦当、筒瓦、板瓦、壁砖等,都是当时的房子、城墙上的附属建筑构件。在汉至六朝时期,瓦当的使用是讲究等级的,一般的老百姓不允许用,只有官府建筑、公共建筑、宗教建筑等能用。”王结华说,考虑到汉至六朝时期,鄞县故城及其左近还没有关于寺庙的记载,推测这些高规格的建筑材料,应该是官署建筑或其他公共建筑,县政府或者它的办公机构。

        城外,发现了作坊区和墓葬区。

        作坊区遗址范围不大,与居住区隔水相望。考古队员发现了手工业的胚料,质地纯净,是仔细淘洗过的,一块一块,形状很方正、有规律。王结华说,这么精细的胚料,应该不可能用作普通的砖,有专家猜想,可能是用来做封泥的,也就是古代的“胶水”,用来密封东西,但究竟是不是,还需要做进一步研究。

        墓葬区,是鄞县故城外又一个功能分区。宁波地区汉至六朝时期墓葬主要埋藏在低缓的山前坡地,鄞县故城周边墓葬的分布也同样遵循了这一规律。

        其实在2015年开展鄞县故城考古之前,这一带正式发掘过的古代墓葬已达数百座,从商周到明清的都有,汉至六朝时期最多,是宁波地区发现古墓数量最为丰富的地区之一。

        随着鄞县故城考古的开展,又发现了91座已被盗扰的汉至六朝时期砖室墓。这些墓葬的分布范围,东至白杜南岙村,南至余家坝村,西至河头村,北至奉钱线。南岙村周边最为密集,据推测应该是鄞县故城的主要墓葬区。

 

半山半水,城墙防御有特色

        “鄞”,今天宁波地区最早出现的地名之一。历史记载最早可见于2500年前的战国时期,《国语·越语上》里讲:“勾践之地,南至于句無,北至于御儿,东至于鄞,西至于姑蔑。”

        到了秦汉时期,政统归一,郡县分设,宁波地区最早设有四县:句章、鄞、鄮、余姚,隶属于会稽郡,在两汉的史书中都可以明确找到“鄞”的归属。

隋朝开皇九年(公元589年),平定南朝陈后,鄞县与余姚、鄮县一起,并入句章。也就是说,从有明确记载的西汉起到隋初,古鄞县前后历时近800年,废县至今已有1429年。

        考古出土的遗物特征及碳十四测年结果,与史料记载的鄞县故城兴废时间基本吻合,也就是从秦汉到隋代开皇九年。有所不同的是,考古发现还表明,早在设立古鄞县之前的春秋战国时期,白杜一带应已有较多人群在此聚居生活。

        秦汉时期,宁波设四县,为什么鄞县能入选?

        王结华说,任何一个城的建设,有多种因素的考虑。

        第一,在古代,这个地方的交通相对比较方便,向南通往台州,向东通往东钱湖,当年的东钱湖不像现在是一个封闭的湖,以前的水系是互通的,向西可以往现在的奉化绍兴走。

        第二,环境依山,古代城市需要防御,地形地势比较利于防御。

        第三,很重要的一点,选择这个地方,有人口的基础,从周边的发现来看,商周、春秋战国时期已经有很多人在这里聚集、居住、生活。

        再来说最重要的城墙。有城址,但不一定有城墙,这是两码事。

        建城墙在古代是一个很浩大的工程。考古发现与史料互相印证,鄞县夯筑城墙,应该在东汉晚期到三国,离现在一千七八百年。

        从设县起止的近800年时间里,鄞县故城的防御体系一直在发生变化。

        西汉严助曾上书称:“臣闻越非有城郭邑里也,处溪谷之间、篁竹之中。”说明东汉晚期以前,鄞县故城仅依托自然山势与水系作为防御手段。

        东汉末年,局势比较混乱,三国鼎立,各地也有很多军阀、盗匪。地处东海之滨的鄞县经常受到来自海上武装力量的袭扰,流寇猖狂到甚至杀害了县治长官。据记载,东汉阳嘉元年(公元132年)“二月,海贼曾旌等寇会稽,杀句章、鄞、鄮三县长,攻会稽东部都尉”。

        在这种情况下,城市急需加强防御功能。东吴赤乌三年(公元240年),孙权下了诏书,“诏诸郡县治城郭,起谯楼,穿堑发渠,以备盗贼。”

        “朝廷有这方面的命令,再加上发展到东汉时期,整体经济上有一定的物力财力来建城墙。因此,东汉末年到三国的东吴时期,鄞县修筑城墙,跟当时整个政治环境、社会形势有关系。”王结华说。

        尽管有文献资料的指引,城墙的发现也经历了一番曲折。

        比如山顶上的这一段,公认为是城墙,但发现的时候,王结华并不敢这么断定。

        “一千多年过去了,山上种满了毛竹,加上人类的各种活动,形成了非常多的后期干扰,如果不排除这些干扰,不敢轻易下论断。”

        野外考古调查勘探,是一场持久的攻坚战。

        毛竹林杂草丛生,草深林密,蛇和马蜂很多,旁边还有一个很大的养猪场,尤其是夏天,气味非常难闻。考古队员做了两年野外工作,最终才确定鄞县故城的分区结构。”

        “当最后我们确认它是城墙的时候,那是非常开心的。因为在宁波地区,我们调查早期城址,明确发现城墙的,这还是第一回。我们开展句章故城考古,做了将近8年,始终没有找到城墙,最终大家的结论是,它就是一个没有城墙、纯粹用水系围起来的城。”

        但鄞县故城不一样,它的特色是“半山半水城”,建在山坡上,到了坡的下面又是平地,平地有水,依着地势,山上有土筑成城墙,山下筑城墙的成本太大,干脆用水做防护。

        王结华说,这是宁波地区汉晋时期城址中首个发现的夯土城墙的城址。半山半水,很有典型性,对宁波古代城市发展演变,对长江中下游地区山城、水城的研究有着重要的参考价值。

 

更迭重建,今鄞州非古鄞县

        鄞县故城,和现在宁波市鄞州区有什么关系?

        其实,从区域的历史脉络来看,并没有直接的关联。

        隋开皇九年(公元589年),鄞县、余姚、鄮县并入句章。五代后梁开平三年(公元909年),在原来鄮县的地区重新设立鄞县,就这么一直延续下来,到2002年,改为鄞州区。

        也就是说,从秦汉到隋初的鄞县故城,与五代至今的鄞县是两个地方。唐代以来的文献里讲得比较清楚了,《通典》:“鄞县故城在今县东南。”《太平寰宇记》:“古鄞城,亦汉县,废城在县南。”

        在王结华看来,虽然鄞县故城与现在的鄞州区没有直接联系,但改“鄮”为“鄞”,重新设立鄞县,历史渊源还是在这里,“如果没有古鄞县,也未必会有后来改鄮县设立的鄞县。”

        从城市的发展角度看,早期宁波只设县级,到唐开元二十六年(公元738年),才建立明州,照现在的理解,才变成地级市。

        “宁波地区的早期城邑,后来大多都消失了。城在哪儿,我们希望通过考古一个个把它们找出来。当时的城是什么样的,城有多大,结构怎么样,史书里都没有记载。考古就是要把城在哪儿、有多大、布局是什么样的、城墙结构是什么样的,都弄清楚了。这为整个宁波城市发展演变提供了历史的脉络,也是将实物证据更加清楚明白地摆出来。所以,我觉得它的意义非常重要。”王结华说。



Archaeological Discovery Confirms the Ancient Past of Yin County


An archaeological excavation conducted from December 2015 to February 2018 confirms that City Hill, a nondescript earth mound no more than 50 meters above sea level, was where the capital of Yin County was situated. Yin County no longer exists since it merged as a district into Ningbo, a port city in eastern Zhejiang, in 2002. When Yin became a county 222 BC under the rule of the Qin, then a mighty state in the northwest of China in its ambitious undertaking to unify the whole China, the present-day Ningbo, the central city in the east of Zhejiang did not exist at all.

For a long time, archaeologists of today did not know exactly where the capital of the ancient county was in the beginning centuries, though they knew for certain how the county evolved in the past 2,500 years from ancient history records. The city existed for nearly eight hundred years until 589 AD in the Sui Dynasty when it was absorbed into Juzhang, a prefecture-level city in eastern Zhejiang. It was not until 909 that Yin County was reestablished into the national government system, but the capital was constructed somewhere else. The previous capital city ceased to exist for more than 1,400 years. No wonder it gradually vanished into the past and remained unknown.

Thanks to a combined undertaking that included thorough textual research, field studies, trial excavations, comparisons of geographic information, and analyses, archaeologists zeroed in onto the site, which is Chengshan (City Hill) near Shanchang, a village in Fenghua District, Ningbo. About 20 kilometers south of the downtown Ningbo, the site snuggles at the northern tip of Tiantai Mountain in the region.

The archaeologists explored an area of 800,000 square meters in this project and they discovered that the capital site measures only no more than 40,000 square meters, which classifies the county capital into a category of very small cities. As the capital was located far from anywhere, it can be reasoned that it did not have a big population back then.

The city used to be encircled by a wall. At present, only three sections of the city wall have been found. They are altogether 360 meters long. Of the three, the section in the north is relatively well preserved. It measures 4.1 meters wide at the top and 7.5 meters wide at the bottom and 1.6 meters tall. It isn’t easy to figure out exactly how tall the original was, for the wall is no longer what it was. It is concluded on the basis of stoneware, potteries found in the earth of the wall that the wall must have been built in the years either in the late period of the Eastern Han Dynasty or in the early years of the Wu Kingdom.


鄞县故城出土的青瓷鸡首壶(东晋).JPG

鄞县故城出土的云纹瓦当(汉).JPG


The city didn’t have a city wall for hundreds of years after it came into being. In 132 AD, the east of Zhejiang came under attack by armed bandits from the sea and local county magistrates were killed. In 240, King Sun Quan of the Eastern Wu ordered local cities to build city walls and moats to prevent armed invasions from the sea. It can be reasoned that the city had a wall in the second to third centuries.

The east and the south to the City Hill is relatively low and encircled by a river. The archaeologists explored the river section in the east and discovered many hard pottery objects that can be traced to the Warring Period and Han Dynasty. It is agreed that the city wall and the river pointed to where the city was and where the outside started. The living quarters are located on the south side of City Hill, near the river. Many building materials such as various types of roof tiles and tile ends as well as bricks have been excavated from the living quarters. As in these centuries tile ends were only used in government offices, public and religious buildings, it can be reasoned that these building materials are convincing testimonials that the area must have been used for that purpose. Archaeological finds indicate that workshops and tombs existed in separate areas outside the city proper.

Before the city project started in 2015, archaeologists had excavated hundreds of ancient tombs ranging from the Shang, the Zhou and up to the Ming and the Qing dynasties. During the city project, archaeologists discovered 91 more ancient tombs, which had been robbed in the past.

Why was the county capital located at such a spot? From ancient geographic features, it was a strategically convenient place. It had Taizhou to the south and the Dongqian Lake to the east. The lake back then was not a closed water system. Ships could reach through the lake many other places. The capital was located at the hill also for reasons of security. Most importantly, the spot had been a population center for centuries before it was turned into the county capital.

In January 2019, the ancient capital cite of Yin County archaeological project was designated as one of the key archaeological finds of 2018.





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