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Archaeologists have recently discovered a large number of potteries, oracle bones, arrows, and antlers from the Shang and Zhou dynasties during excavation of the Guduiqiao ruins in Weiqian village of Fucheng town, Fengyang county. It is the first time that archaeologists have excavated Shang and Zhou living vestiges at Guduiqiao in a systematic way.
The ruins in Guduiqiao were discovered as a result of the County Archaeological Survey. The area served as a typical pier in the Shang and Zhou dynasties along the middle and lower reaches of the Huai River. It had never been systematically excavated before. This time, the Anhui Archaeological Institution and Wuhan University made joint efforts to launch the excavation.
After three months of exploration beginning mid-September, archaeologists found that the Guduiqiao ruins were clearly divided according to functions. Among the 20,000-square-meter area of pier relics, over 300 sq m have been excavated. The ruins can be divided into two zones: a living zone and work zone. In the living zone, archaeologists discovered a large amount of utensils for daily use such as terrines and potteries. In the work zone, they found copper residue and relics of ceramic molds for copper casting. They also found multifarious precious cultural relics like potteries, oracle bones, antlers and bronzeware.
During the excavation, archaeologists found bronzeware such as copper arrowheads. After enduring 3,000 years of wear and tear, they are still as sharp as when they were created. What's more, they also found accessories like antlers, animal bones, bone hairpins and stone relics. Dozens of oracle turtle shells and oracle bones were also found, a significant amount for historical excavations in Anhui.
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