Gripping the shovel to scrape the dirt off, the veil of the depths of time slowly faded; The light brush brushes away the dust of the years, and restores the original appearance of each cultural ......This is the daily life of archaeologists, and it is also the cause that fascinates Zhu Yingpei and her partners.
In Jingyang County, Xianyang City, Shaanxi Province, a group of girls with an average age of less than 30 years old is a beautiful scenery in the vast fields. They are members of the women's archaeological team of the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology, shuttling back and forth between history and reality every day, constantly answering unsolved mysteries.
When I met Zhu Yingpei at the archaeological site of the Xiaobaozi cemetery, the 30-year-old female archaeological team leader was working in a newly uncovered Western Han tomb, with a skeleton more than 2,000 years old lying in a clay coffin beside her.
This is a civilian tomb of the Western Han Dynasty, and the owner of the tomb is not recorded in the history books. But through archaeology, we can get a glimpse of the lives of ordinary people more than 2,000 years ago. She said.
On March 5, Zhu Yingpei, the leader of the women's archaeological team of the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology, worked at the archaeological excavation site. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Yibo.
The women's archaeology team was established in 2020 and currently has 11 female members, the youngest of whom is 22 years old. Within an hour's drive of the station, they are the area where they work. Engaged in field archaeology, daily life is as regular as a timetable: 8 o'clock to the archaeological site to "work", except for lunch and rest, stay at the construction site for a whole day, return to the station at night, sort out the unearthed cultural relics, do a good job of excavation records, busy often close to midnight.
Day after day, year after year. Known as "treasure girls" by museum lovers, they are obsessed with exploring the sense of accomplishment of the unknown in their mysterious, monotonous, and boring work.
We have excavated a Han tomb, and the groups of terracotta figurines and pottery in the niche have preserved the complete music and dance scenes, and the pottery includes stoves, cooking utensils, and wine vessels. Like modern people, the ancients also loved singing, dancing, and entertainment. Zhu Yingpei said that archaeological work is serious and romantic, and every day is in dialogue with the history of thousands of years ago, "Through excavation and research, we are constantly enriching the details of history." ”
On March 5, Wang Xiaojuan, a cultural conservation technician of the women's archaeological team of the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology, held an unearthed cultural relic that was being restored. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Yibo.
Since its establishment, the women's archaeological team has completed more than 40 archaeological projects for capital construction, including important achievements such as the encircled moat settlement in the late Jiangliu Yangshao period and the cemetery of the Western Han Dynasty in Dabaozi.
26-year-old Guo Jie became an archaeologist by mistake because he was transferred to a major during the college entrance examination.
Today, she can easily identify the sex and age of death in the case of human remains. Engaging in physical anthropology opened the door to a whole new world for Guo Jie. "Through a comprehensive study of human bones, we can explore the health and disease conditions, kinship relationships, social customs, and so on of ancient populations. She said.
Stationed in the field for a long time, the living conditions are difficult, the lack of recreational activities, the scorching heat and winter, the wind and the sun, the team members do not deny the hardships of archaeological work, but in their opinion, their efforts are making the history on the books and under the thick soil vivid and smart, and all the loneliness and hardship seem light.
The more you dry up in this industry, the more addictive it becomes. Wang Hongying, who specializes in animal bone identification, is not good at talking, but when it comes to the industry, she gushes, "The use of animals can also be clearly distinguished in ancient times. For example, there are generally more cutting marks on the bones of pigs, cattle and sheep, but there are few dogs, which shows that in ancient times, pigs, cattle and sheep were the main food and aggregates**, and dogs were more used for 'companionship'. For example, if more deer bones are found, it can prove that there was a jungle environment in ancient times. ”
On March 5, Zhang Jiayang, a member of the women's archaeological team of the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology, registered the cultural relics in the warehouse. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Yibo.
When a result is released to the public, it has to go through many processes such as excavation, restoration, scientific and technological analysis, data extraction, and comprehensive research, which determines that archaeologists are all-rounders. At the archaeological site, 30-year-old Zhang Jiayang not only has to complete the excavation work, but also has to coordinate the relationship with the local cultural preservation, land reserve, labor and other departments and people. "Professional quality, team spirit and management ability are indispensable, and continuous learning is also the charm of archaeology. She said.
Touching the pulse of history, listening to the echoes of time and space, and sincere love, let the imprint of the career clearly hit the body of this group of "treasure girls". When they go out, their favorite places to visit are museums or monuments. "Sometimes I will explain a few words to the visitors, and I can't help but correct some errors in the information on the display panels. Guo Jie said.
On March 5, some members of the women's archaeological team of the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology, Tan Shiyue, Yu Mingrong, Wang Hongying, Zhu Yingpei, Zhang Jiayang, Guo Jie, and Chen Fan (from left to right) took a group photo in front of the station. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Li Yibo.
In recent years, with the increasing attention to the cause of cultural relics and archaeology, more and more people are stepping into this ranks. "Revitalize China's arduous expedition, how to be afraid of hardship, protect cultural relics in the wind and rain, don't talk about pleasure", on the gate of the station, a pair of Spring Festival couplets created by the team members collectively is a portrayal of their lives and inner confessions.
The horizontal batch is to watch over the field. Zhu Yingpei said that he hopes that in ten or twenty years, even when he is 80 years old and becomes an old lady, he will still be able to walk on the field with a shovel, "As long as we continue to pursue and explore new knowledge, we will be very satisfied." (Reporter Chen Chen, Sun Zhenghao, Wu Hongbo, Li Yibo).