河姆渡耕织曙光 | Early agriculture and textile production at Hemudu

端午假期的时候，我去余姚找师妹玩，顺便参观了有名的河姆渡遗址。

During the Dragon Boat Festival holidays, I went to Yuyao to visit a good friend. At the same time, I visited a well-known archaeological site in China, the Hemudu Site.

不知在中国接受了义务教育的朋友，是否都和我一样久闻河姆渡的大名。中学时即使听不懂历史课，这一名字也被老师反复强调到深入我心。不过，一直到后来为做研究而读河姆渡的考古报告，我才真正开始了解河姆渡遗址。

I don’t know whether everybody who received compulsory education in China has heard about Hemudu’s fame. Repeatedly emphasised by the teacher, the name of Hemudu was deeply embedded in my mind. However, I hadn’t started to understand it until I read its archaeological reports years later, for my research.

这是一个地处长江下游的新石器时代遗址，距今约7000-5000年，如今在行政区划上属于浙江省余姚市河姆渡镇。遗址于1970年代开始发掘，是长江流域早期农耕文明的代表之一，现已就地建成博物馆，还有一个遗址公园疑似建设中，我去的时候还没完全开放。

The Hemudu Site, located at the lower Yangtze River, is a Neolithic site around 7000-5000 years old. It is in today’s Hemudu Town, Yuyao, Zhejiang Province of China. The site was excavated in the 1970s and represents one of the early agrarian civilisations along the Yangtze River. Now, a museum is open there, and an archaeological park is under construction. The park hasn’t been fully opened to the public.

根据中学时期历史科目的考点，河姆渡遗址最重要的考古发现当属干栏式建筑和农具如耒耜，还有一些稻谷遗存证明这里曾有稻作农业。不过我研究纺织史时，最关注的是这里出土的芦席、绳索和纺织工具的残余部件，还有骨耜上缠绕的藤条——我管它们叫原始绳。

According to the key points of our middle school history exams, the most important discoveries from the Hemudu Site should be the pile-dwellings, the agricultural tools including Leisi (a primitive plough in China), and some rice remains as evidence of rice cultivation. My focus, however, was on the reed mats, cordage, textile tools, and the rattan wound around the spades of Leisi. I refer to the winding rattan as ‘primitive cordage’.

以河姆渡遗址为代表的考古学意义上的文化被称为“河姆渡文化”。余姚还有一个河姆渡文化遗址叫田螺山遗址，距今约7000-5500年。那里也出土了芦席并有科学鉴定报告，也出土有线绳但少有描述。

The archaeological culture represented by the Hemudu Site is named the Hemudu Culture. At another site of this culture in Yuyao, the Tianluoshan Site dating back to 7000-5500 years ago, reed mats were excavated and reported with scientific examination; threads were also found, but with little description.

年代久远的纺织品或编织物，由于不易保存，一般很少展出。不出意外，河姆渡遗址博物馆并无绳索展览，绕有绳索或藤条的骨耜是复制品。不过惊喜的是，这里还展出了田螺山遗址出土的芦席（博物馆写作苇席），是连带着芦席附着的土层一起进行展示的。

Very old textiles or braids are not usually exhibited due to the difficulties in their preservation. As expected, there is no cordage on display at the museum of Hemudu Site, and the exhibited spades with rattan are replicas. Unexpectedly, a reed mat from Tianluoshan Site is shown to the public here. It is exhibited with the soil block it adheres to.

展陈的纺织工具残余部件包括陶质的纺轮、骨质的经轴、木质的各种织机用棍，还有在全世界的新石器时代遗址都还挺常见的骨针。其中，骨质的经轴上还能看到密集的线痕，是推测它曾被用于织布的证据。

Some parts of textile tools are on display in the museum, including spindle whorls made from pottery, a warp beam made from bone, diverse sticks for looms made from wood, and bone needles that are somewhat common in Neolithic sites around the world. Among these tools, the warp beam still has striations on it, indicating its function for weaving in the past.

我也曾关注过河姆渡出土的蝶形木器和象牙盅。蝶形木器用途不明但形状像蚕蛾，象牙盅表面刻有小虫和交错线条。有些学者将象牙盅上的纹样解读为蚕纹和编织纹，并以此与蝶形器一起，作为丝织业早期发源的证据。我总觉得这种推测有些玄乎，便少有兴趣。

I once paid attention to the butterfly-shaped wood and an ivory thimble-like object unearthed from Hemudu. The wood’s function is unknown, but the object itself looks like a silk moth. The ivory object is carved with worms and crossing lines. Some scholars interpreted them as silkworms and weaves, and regarded them as evidence of early sericulture. I feel this conjecture a bit unconvincing. So, I don’t have much interest in these objects.

不过，在河姆渡遗址博物馆看到这枚象牙盅的时候，我还是小有震撼。精致是真的精致，放在新石器时代的背景下就更显不凡。

Still, I was impressed by the small ivory object when I saw it at the museum. It is really well-crafted and looks phenomenal in the context of Neolithic times.

我还想分享一件刻有猪纹的陶钵。这可能代表了农耕文明中畜牧的出现，同时也是一件颇具美感的艺术品，有点可爱。

I would also like to share a pottery bowl with a pig motif. It might represent the appearance of livestock raising in an agrarian civilisation. In the meantime, it is a lovely artwork.

最后，非常感谢师妹开车带我去河姆渡游玩。河姆渡遗址远离市镇，稍有些偏远，如果是我自己去的话，可能还真有些不方便。

At last, I must give a million thanks to my friend who drove me to the Hemudu Site. It is a little remote, far from any towns. I would not have got there quickly if I had gone on my own.