On January 27, the "Masterful Hands Live for Thousands of Years - Classic Achievements in Archaeology and Heritage Protection" exhibition was held in the temporary exhibition hall of the China Archaeological Museum. The exhibition comprehensively displayed the scientific research results and cultural relic protection technologies of pottery, jade, bronze, and textiles, and set up a special laboratory archaeology display area to allow the audience to experience the charm of scientific archaeology and cultural relic protection work up close and personal. This exhibition is one of the series of activities of the China Archaeological Museum's "Celebrating the New Year in the Museum".

This exhibition comprehensively displays the scientific research results and cultural relics protection techniques of pottery, jade, bronze and textiles through five major units: Ten Thousand Years of Kiln Fire, Unpolished Jade and Excellent Craftsmen, Unique Skills of Gold and Metal, Splendid Clothing and Skillful Hands. It also sets up a special laboratory archaeology display area to allow the audience to experience the charm of scientific and technological archaeology and cultural relics protection work up close and personal.

Exhibition site

Exhibition site

The exhibition is divided into five major units: Ten Thousand Years of Kiln Fire, Unpolished Jade and Excellent Craftsmanship, Rare Craftsmanship of Gold and Bronze, Splendid Clothing, and Ingenious Hands. A total of 125 pieces (sets) of fine cultural relics and ancient books are on display.

The first unit of the exhibition is "Thousands of Years of Kiln Fire", which displays 25 cultural relics, showing the long history of my country's pottery firing, outstanding scientific and technological level and amazing artistic expression. The exhibition includes the "earliest pottery fragments" - pottery fragments dating back 20,000-19,000 years unearthed from the Wannian Xianren Cave site in Jiangxi, which proves my country's long history of pottery making.

Pottery fragments dating back about 20,000 years

The exhibition also displays more than ten exquisite painted pottery from the Majiayao culture (5300-4000 years ago). This groundbreaking innovation of painted pottery, from east to west and across the north and south, formed the far-reaching "Painted Pottery Road", which was not only the primary channel for early exchanges between Chinese and Western civilizations, but also the predecessor of the "Silk Road".

Painted Pottery of Majiayao Culture

This section also exhibits a heavyweight cultural relic - a pottery statue of a person from the Hongshan culture, which carries the cultural roots of ancestor worship.

Hongshan Culture Pottery Figures

Archaeological discoveries have confirmed that Chinese jade has a history of nearly 10,000 years of technological and cultural development. The prototype of jade has appeared at the Xiaonanshan site on the banks of the Wusuli River in Heilongjiang. The earliest real jade in my country was discovered at the Xinglongwa site in Aohan Banner, Inner Mongolia, 8,000 years ago. In primitive society, jade carried the profound concept of offering sacrifices to heaven and earth, respecting heaven and ancestors. Our ancestors often used jade to serve gods and buried with jade. During the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties, jade symbolized the development and maturity of the ritual system. It was not only the materialized carrier of state power, but also endowed with the good virtues of a gentleman.

The second part of the exhibition is called "Unpolished Jade and Good Craftsmanship", which displays 70 pieces (groups) of cultural relics, using archaeological discoveries to verify the technical history and cultural development history of jade in my country over the past 10,000 years. It displays the types of jade materials, jade production and jade restoration, and uses micro-trace analysis and other scientific and technological means to present the superb jade craftsmanship of ancient China. A group of three jade hook-shaped objects are also exhibited, all of which belong to the Hongshan period, but were unearthed from the Hongshan cultural site, the Xiajiadian lower cultural site and the Shang Dynasty Yinxu Fuhao Tomb, showing the flow and inheritance of ancient jade and jade culture.

Shang Dynasty Jade Kneeling Figure

Jade artifacts on display

The third unit of the exhibition is called "Jijin Qiji", which exhibits 20 cultural relics. This unit is divided into three parts: turning stone into gold, casting into artifacts, and the continuation of time. From the perspective of the operation chain, it shows the complete process of bronze artifacts from copper mining, copper material ratio, block mold making, combined molds into artifacts, and finally the restoration of unearthed damaged bronze artifacts. The focus of the exhibition is to intuitively reflect the block mold method, a unique manufacturing technology of Chinese bronze artifacts, through the display means coordinated with the exhibition panels, taking the bronze goblet and bronze jar as examples.

Everyone looks at the details of the cultural relics

The fourth unit, "The Splendor of Clothing", exhibits 5 cultural relics and ancient books (sets). The focus is on the wool fabric fragments unearthed from the Zava Erik Cemetery in Qiemo, Xinjiang, which are 1.1 meters long and 37 cm wide. The fiber material is wool. The fiber is twisted to form yarn, which is dyed into three colors: earth yellow, earth red, and blue-gray. The yarn is processed into 6 2.5 cm wide oblique ribbons and several pieces of brown (plain wool fabric) by means of oblique weaving, twisting and weaving. The ribbons and wool brown are sewn together, reflecting the superb textile technology of ancient ancestors.

Laboratory archaeology is an archaeological research model that involves the relocation, indoor cleaning, remains extraction, information collection and emergency protection of a type of unearthed remains that are complex in superposition, fragile in material, have a combination relationship, and are prone to physical and chemical changes after excavation. The main purpose is to obtain the maximum amount of remains information for archaeological research while taking into account the effective protection of unearthed remains. The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences is the first institution in China to carry out laboratory archaeological research. The laboratory archaeological shelter inherits and carries forward the scientific methods and technical traditions of relocation and indoor arrangement of unearthed remains since 1936. It has always been in a leading position in the fields of box extraction technology, excavation and protection of chariot pits, extraction of fragile remains, and laboratory archaeological theory.

On-site demonstration of laboratory archaeology

Laboratory archaeological site display

The fifth unit, "Ingenuity and Skill", focuses on the theory, methods and practice of laboratory archaeology. It displays four sets of boxes, including the coffin cover and coffin bottom remains of M4 of Haihunhou, lacquerware from the Qianzhangda site in Shandong, and a set of dragon heads from the Tang Dynasty unearthed from the ancient prefecture city site in Xiong'an, Hebei, which are being pieced together and restored on site.

Demonstrate the theory, methods and practice of laboratory archaeology

By the end of 2024, the Party Committee of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences made overall plans, relied on the University of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, integrated resources from all parties, and focused on building the Key Laboratory of Archaeology and Cultural Heritage Protection of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (Institute of History, University of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences). This exhibition also showcased some of the heritage protection scientific and technological achievements of the Key Laboratory of Archaeology and Cultural Heritage Protection.

The exhibition is hosted by the Chinese Academy of History, organized by the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of History and the China Archaeological Museum, and jointly launched by the Gansu Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, the Jiangxi Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, the Zhengzhou Cultural Relics and Archaeology Institute, the Balin Youqi Museum, the Aohan Museum and other archaeological and museum institutions. The exhibition will last until June 2 this year.