A site was excavated in Xinjiang, and a number of special cultural relics were unearthed. Expert: The smelting history of China needs to be rewritten!

In 20 15, in order to cooperate with the basic construction of Nileke County, Xinjiang, archaeologists conducted a rescue excavation of the Jirentai Goukou site. For a long time, there has been no major archaeological discovery in Xinjiang, and experts think it is just an ordinary site. However, with the deepening of excavation, archaeologists were shocked when a number of special cultural relics were unearthed. Archaeologists have made many discoveries in this site more than 3,500 years ago, the biggest of which is the discovery of a large number of coal ash, cinder and unburned coal blocks. More than 3,500 years ago, did the ancients in Nilek County know that bronze was made from coal? According to historical records, Historical Records Biography of the Western Regions records a period of history, that is, in Kuche County, southern Xinjiang, the ancients used coal to smelt and produce. If this is confirmed, the earliest coal smelting record in China will be spent in Kuqa County. But until now, there has been no archaeological discovery. However, a "big satellite" was placed in the ruins of Jirentai Goukou. In this site, archaeologists found a lot of coal ash, cinder and unburned coal. Around these coals, there are smelting utensils such as crucibles, slag and pottery, and even a 20 cm long bronze knife. Obviously, it was smelted by ancient Xinjiang people with coal. 3,500 years ago, when the ancients smelted bronze, they often used charcoal that was easier to obtain, instead of coal that was difficult to find and transport. Why coal was used in the site of Jirentai Goukou remains unsolved, but it did rewrite the smelting history of China. As we all know, according to archaeological evidence, China is the first country to use coal in the world. Ping Ling Iron Smelting Site and Gongxian Iron Smelting Site show the ancient people's utilization of coal, but both sites are from the Western Han Dynasty, only more than 2,000 years ago. According to documents, China's understanding of coal in ancient times was first seen in Shan Hai Jing: Nvchuang Mountain, 300 miles southwest, is full of copper in the sun and stone (coal) in the shade. On the top of Minshan, there are many rocks. One hundred and fifty miles to the east, it is called Fengyu Mountain, with more platinum above and more stones below. Obviously, this record in Shan Hai Jing not only shows China people's understanding of coal, but also accumulates some preliminary knowledge of coal prospecting geology. (Li Shizhen used the name of coal for the first time in Compendium of Materia Medica) Considering that The Classic of Mountains and Seas was written in the Warring States Period, it is judged that China people had at least a certain understanding of coal during the Warring States Period and had already started to use it. Coal carvings were unearthed in four ancient tombs in the Western Zhou Dynasty, which shows that this record in Shan Hai Jing has a long history. Ruan Qiurong, the archaeological leader of Jirentai Goukou site, also confirmed this point: in the Central Plains, signs of coal use were found in sites from the Warring States to the Qin and Han Dynasties. Therefore, we generally believe that China began to use coal resources during the Warring States Period. Of course, as for whether coal was used to smelt metals during the Warring States period, it is uncertain because of the lack of archaeological evidence. In a word, according to historical data and archaeology, the earliest coal smelting in ancient China was in the Han Dynasty, and large-scale coal ironmaking was also in the Han Dynasty. However, the appearance of Jirentai Goukou site not only refreshed the history of coal smelting in China, but also pushed the history of coal smelting forward for thousands of years. Although coal is small, it is an important step in the history of human energy utilization. From the perspective of coal utilization, we can see the developed and enlightened degree of ancient China. I remember a western scholar who thought that it was impossible to have an industrial revolution in the south of the Yangtze River in the Ming Dynasty, because the local area was short of coal, while the British industrial revolution center was not short of coal and had enough energy to drive it. Whether this view is correct or not, one thing is certain, that is, the use of coal as energy in China has stagnated for more than two thousand years after the Han Dynasty. In addition, there are some puzzling discoveries in the site of Jirentai Goukou. For example, why does Xiaomi, which originated in northern China, appear in Xinjiang? How did humans do it 3500 years ago?