Although eggs are common things in our daily life, they are very rare in ancient tombs. In Ma 'anshan Village, Shuanglu Town, Fengdu County, 23 ancient tombs of Han Dynasty were discovered. Strangely, they were completely displayed in front of people for a long time without being excavated by the exploration team.
What surprised the experts was not all kinds of gold, silver and jewels, but that eggs more than 2,000 years ago were still preserved in the tomb. Someone stretched out his hand to touch it, but the shell of the egg was very fragile. The yolk and egg white inside were empty and broke at once, so he had to take the fragments back and study the splicing again.
But not all eggs are so fragile. 1974, an ancient egg was found in the tomb of the Western Zhou Dynasty. This time it's a whole can. Different from the last one, the egg is hard, just like a stone. Don't touch it, it won't crack even if you hit the ground.
Scientists were also curious and sent them back. Someone asked if these eggs had any research value. Needless to say, modern science and technology are more and more developed, which can extract DNA from eggs and perhaps restore the appearance of ancient chickens, which has great research value.
Friends who are interested in seeing ancient eggs can go to Nanjing Museum, where the basket of eggs from the Western Zhou Dynasty is still there!
A few years ago, in an ancient tomb in Shangxing Town, Liyang, Jiangsu Province, the archaeological team found several pottery pots. After carefully uncovering the lid of the clay pot, they accidentally found a clay pot with earth eggs. The number of discoveries this time is quite large, almost more than 20. But when the archaeological team saw that it was an egg, they quickly closed the broken lid. Why?
They are not excited or happy. Instead, they think this clay pot is a bit fishy, because in archaeology, they know that the most feared thing in ancient tombs is to find eggs. But for us, eggs are so delicious, why are archaeologists most afraid of touching eggs? It will be mentioned below, and now why it is a double discovery.
Throughout the world, many kinds of cultural relics have been found in archaeology, but the food found is very few, because it is difficult to keep food for more than 1000 years. Even if it is well preserved under closed conditions, the ancient tomb has been opened and will soon disappear or change rapidly, especially the food of eggs, which is very rare in archaeological excavation, but once encountered, it will become a problem for the archaeological team and increase the difficulty coefficient of archaeological excavation. However, in the archaeology of mound tombs in Jiangsu, it is the first time to find four pottery in succession. These eggs with a history of more than 2,000 years were later sent to Nanjing Museum, Zhenjiang Museum, Jurong Museum and Nanjing Agricultural University Museum respectively.
This time, another clay pot egg was found. Together with the previous findings, a total of five clay pot eggs were unearthed, which is the first time recorded. To understand how rare these eggs are, I will compare them with an archaeological study abroad, or everyone will know a little about them.
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Because for them, finding an egg thousands of years ago, even if it has cracks, is a very important discovery. Even they used the adjective amazing. It was amazing for them to see an Israeli Millennium egg found. It was described as amazing and rare.
But if they knew that there were five clay pots unearthed in China, and there were more than 20 eggs in the fifth clay pot, how would they feel about the eggs 2500 years ago now? This incident also witnessed the value of the eggs in this clay pot from the side, which is immeasurable and immeasurable.
After the above, why did the archaeologists immediately cover the eggs in this clay pot? Is it a terrible thing to find eggs in an ancient tomb?
Let's talk about the excavation of this nest of eggs first. At that time, the mound tombs in the Spring and Autumn Period were excavated in Liyang, Jiangsu. Experts continued to dig for a long time and found that although these tombs were not as big as the cultural relics unearthed from the Prince's Tomb, they could reflect people's lives at that time. How about it,
In an archaeology, this bottle of earth eggs was accidentally unearthed in a place called Ziwudun. At that time, when they carefully excavated the ancient tomb, they found a large number of jars and pots printed with hard pottery, cups and pots of primitive celadon, three-legged plates of marl pottery, as well as containers, cookers and utensils.
Archaeologists will open the crock as usual to see if there are any other objects in it. To their surprise, they found a jar full of eggs. The eggs unearthed this time, in appearance, are almost as big as the grass eggs now. When they were first discovered, eggshells were slightly blue in color. According to the archaeological team's speculation, they are probably wild eggs picked up by Jiangsu ancestors outdoors at that time, but it is not excluded that they are domestic eggs cultivated artificially.
This can of eggs has been decomposed for 2500 years, but because the eggshell is calcium, it is relatively stable and protected by clay pots, so it has been preserved. To be exact, it's just 2500 young "eggshells". But it is this can of egg shells that makes the team feel very embarrassed and tricky. The team is afraid of encountering eggs. According to reports, there are several main reasons:
First, the precious cultural relics or funerary objects buried in ancient tombs or outdoor sites are very fragile after a long period of erosion. If there are eggs buried more than 1000 years in the archaeological process, we must be especially cautious and focused, because if we don't pay attention, the eggs may break into piles of fragments at the touch. And many ancient objects want to be completely restored by modern technology. In fact, the difficulty is not small, especially if the egg is broken and there is only a pile of eggshells, it will take experts a long time to repair it carefully.
For example, like the Israeli archaeological team mentioned above, they met the egg that was thousands of years ago. Although they were very careful, they dug it up and needed to be reassembled and disposed of. In an archaeological process in China, the team didn't know it was an ancient egg. With a broom, the egg will be broken, so you can only pick it up slowly and put it together later. However, this kind of work did take a long time.
Second: In addition to being cautious, it is necessary to spend time on recovery. More importantly, the eggs encountered by the archaeological team are also worried about another thing. Because the eggs buried for more than 2000 years are intact, but the inside is empty, but no one can guarantee that there will be any bacteria in them. Because of the existence of eggshells, it is easy to leave a lot of bacteria in them. Then if you encounter an ancient tomb and a poorly ventilated space, the eggshell will suddenly burst and pop up.
Thirdly, even if the eggs are intact and not broken, it is difficult to ensure that the eggs of 2000 years ago will be safely sent to the museum and sealed with advanced technology, because this process requires a large number of people to transport them very carefully and carefully, and special instruments and tools are also needed when digging the soil.
More importantly, as cultural relics, these eggs are embarrassed in identity, because they are neither like pottery and bronze ware, nor like ancient clothes and ornaments. Because of their special age and shape, as well as the inscriptions and records inside, they can bring certain historical and cultural reference value to future generations. Although eggs have gone through thousands of years, they are similar to modern eggs.
So are these ancient eggs chicken ribs?
The ancient eggs more than two thousand years ago are actually rare and precious cultural relics. They provide material basis and sufficient information for us to study the history and development of ancient diet today. Many cans of ancient eggs were unearthed in China, revealing a lot of information about people's diet and life during the Warring States period.
According to the current speculation, people who could afford eggs in ancient times were people with certain status and status, because eggs were also a luxury in ancient times, and because eggs were delicious, some people liked them very much when they were alive. So after his death, his family will put some eggs in the tomb, mainly to let him continue to have eggs to eat in another world.
It can be seen from domestic archaeology that eggs can be used as funerary objects in the Spring and Autumn Period, and there is another meaning that the owner of the tomb has certain economic strength. It is also a symbol of status and identity, because the ancient tomb has certain rules and etiquette, and it is not what you want to put.
The earliest ancient egg cultural relic discovered in China was found in a Western Zhou tomb 2,800 years ago. After the egg was born, it was lucky to be put in an earthenware pot. When the archaeologist found this egg, he was surprised to find that it was so well preserved, which was really commendable. And this egg is also the oldest and best preserved ancient egg in existence.
The value and significance of antique eggs
Domestication of poultry provided all kinds of eggs, meat and other foods for ancient ancestors, and provided high-quality protein. According to relevant historical records, the domestication history of poultry has been more than 4000 years. According to previous speculation, a large number of eggs and poultry were raised in China 1800 years ago, forming a certain scale and being widely eaten.
China's cooking is also world-famous, and eggs are an indispensable food in China's diet. The discovery of eggs 2,500 years ago overthrew the speculation of experts at that time, pushed the history of extensive use of eggs in China to 1000 years ago, and proved the long history of China culture.
Summary:
It is really rare that ancient eggs can be preserved and unearthed again after 2500 years. These discoveries are of great significance, because these ancient eggs have rich meanings and strongly prove the unique history and culture of Chinese civilization. Compared with the handed down bronzes and paintings found in archaeology, it pays attention to artistic value and collection value. The excavation of ancient eggs is of great value for studying the life and diet development of ancient people today, and it is also an important witness to the history of human development. Therefore, these earth eggs in the ancient tombs 2,500 years ago can't be measured by money, and they are priceless treasures of mankind.
Not long ago, at the site of Golden Bay in Chishui River, Guizhou Province, people found the remains of a settlement of the Han nationality 2,000 years ago. When the archaeologists arrived, they excavated many clay pots and animal bones. What surprised archaeologists most was that they found an egg more than 2000 years ago.
This egg was slightly swept by their archaeological brush and broke a small corner, because after years of changes, the yolk and egg white inside disappeared, leaving only a thin fragile shell. After the eggs were destroyed, archaeologists immediately stopped their work and they protected the place.
After discussion, they originally planned to use the traditional gypsum wrapping method, but for various reasons, they finally gave up this method and adopted a very strange and mysterious method to extract the eggs and put them into the research room to analyze the ingredients.
At this time, the problem came. What changes and gains can it bring us after extracting the ingredients of this egg?
In fact, I think it is no good to study the composition of this egg in a practical sense, because although 2000 includes countless dynasties for us, almost all our recorded history is in 2000.
However, it is a trivial fragment for the evolution of living things. It takes millions of years for a creature to form. The time changes in 2000 are basically the same except for some slight differences in body shape.
Not to mention whether chicken genes before 2000 can be extracted from these calcium carbonate shells, even if they are extracted, it is another question whether they can be reflected then. Even if the chicken genes before 2000 are transferred to modern chickens, what's the use? Maybe the chicken in those days was not as delicious and big as the chicken now, so for us ordinary people, this egg is of no value.
The value of research is different for archaeologists, because for them, the practical significance is not very important, the most important thing is knowledge and research significance.
Archaeologists can study the genes of chickens and their living conditions through eggs, and then compare them with modern chickens to understand the changes of chickens in the past 2000 years, and then analyze what caused these differences. This is the work of archaeologists. In their eyes, knowledge represents everything.
So the value of this egg before 2000 should be viewed from two aspects. For example, in my layman's view, this ancient egg is completely worthless. If I see it, I may be tempted to grind it into a ball and accumulate it in my chest, but it is different for archaeologists. This can provide them with a lot of knowledge, and even supplement some historical faults by comparing with other knowledge, which is of great significance.
It is not strict enough to say that this egg is an egg, because it just looks like the size and appearance of an egg we see in our life, and there are big bones near the "egg". Without expert analysis, the final result can't be asserted that this is an egg.
This archaeological event originated from the excavation of Han Dynasty tombs in Jinhaiwan, Chishui River, Tucheng Town, Xishui County, when the Zunyi Archaeological Team of Guizhou Province discovered a large number of pottery pots and a small number of suspected animal bones, and found something suspected of eggs during the excavation.
When this substance was discovered, experts also speculated that it was an egg. After carefully moving it to the laboratory, they made a chemical analysis. Although they were very careful in the process of moving, some shell materials fell off. The expert analyzed the composition of the falling material, and the result was consistent with the expert's previous guess. It is indeed an egg, and the eggshell contains calcium carbonate. But because it is egg material before 2000, the material in the egg has almost evaporated and solidified. At present, experts are doing their best.
After testing, the cured product does contain nutrients: minerals, vitamins, phospholipids and other ingredients. To be sure, it is indeed an egg, but it is not certain that it must be an egg. It is also possible that an animal found nearby was in a proxy state when it was buried. Finally, the blood flows out, and the eggs are exposed after the pulp rots. Because the egg itself is protected by calcium carbonate, it has been preserved so far and is of great research value. Experts choose to temporarily seal these eggs and protect them.
Through the scientific analysis of this egg, the experts have gained a lot of knowledge about the ancient culture of the Han Dynasty:
1, reproductive capacity of animals
2. The nutritional level of the people buried with him
3. The clan habits of the buried people and so on.
More value needs scientific confirmation.
There is no way to answer this question. Eggs can be measured by price. As a highly nutritious food, eggs are a necessity for most families, and they are also the first choice for people to give or visit patients.
If it is an egg 2000 years ago, it loses these meanings and is given another meaning. Through the research of archaeologists, the social background and environment at that time were revealed, and combined with the research of other unearthed cultural relics, the living environment and natural ecology of the ancients were inferred. In this sense, it is priceless. The museum also provides a platform for people to understand the living conditions and living environment of ancient people through collection and display. These functions are not attached to the egg itself, nor can they be reflected by the price.
Eggs are a very common food. Eggs two thousand years ago, to put it bluntly, are very valuable for studying the lives of the ancients. At the same time, with the development of science and technology, the appearance of ancient chickens can be restored and DNA can be extracted from eggs. At the same time, eggs unearthed in ancient tombs are actually very rare. So far, only a few tombs have unearthed eggs, so they are of historical value and relatively rare. After all, scarcity is precious.
For ordinary people, this thing is actually worthless. If you go to the museum to see eggs, even if you know that they are thousands of years ago, they are actually a fresh look. Unlike archaeologists, they can restore the lives of the ancients through eggs and guess their living habits. This is their archaeological value. Archaeological work is very time consuming. Simple as it is, it is actually very complicated. The cultural relics you saw in the museum are beautiful, but they were not like this when they were unearthed, which requires archaeologists to clean them up carefully.
It is normal for a cultural relic to be cleaned for more than one year, and the eggs unearthed in the ancient tomb are even more interesting. Archaeologists found eggs in ancient tombs for the first time, which was very interesting. Everyone doesn't know what it is. Someone just touched the egg and broke it, which caused archaeological regret. When the egg was unearthed for the second time, someone touched it gently with a brush, and the egg was broken again, which was very embarrassing. Something that was originally precious was broken twice.
So far, except for fossil eggs, all the others in the ancient tomb are broken at the touch, so there is no way. What everyone saw in the museum was pieced together later. It is worth mentioning that in ancient times, most people could not afford to bury eggs. At the very least, only rich people would bury them with eggs.
Looking at the value of a cultural relic does not mean how much it is worth. In the eyes of archaeologists, every cultural relic can't be measured by money. They will study cultural relics and their historical value, even a small egg. Interestingly, some experts have said that if the technology is realized, ancient chickens can be restored with unearthed eggs. Do you think this is possible?
Before Cao Cao advocated thin burial, during the Qin and Han Dynasties, and even during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, thick burial was particularly grand.
This has a lot to do with the cultural customs at that time. People at that time, whether kings, governors or ordinary civilians, were convinced that they would only live in another place after death.
Therefore, weddings and funerals are the two most important things in a person's life.
At that time, not only did they not avoid mourning, but they also began to prepare when they were still young. They think it will be more practical and reassuring to stare at building a mausoleum.
This is not difficult to understand, just like now, when a girl is born, some parents will start preparing dowry, because this time can be arranged comfortably enough to cover everything.
Moreover, funeral is as important as marriage, and people can't be wronged below.
From the location of the mausoleum, we must take meticulous consideration, look at Feng Shui and predict good or bad luck. Objects buried with the tomb must be loved and needed by the tomb owner before his death. Therefore, in many tombs unearthed in contemporary archaeology, there are toys, clothes and dazzling food.
Of course, with the accumulation of years, the grain has already dried up, which does not affect the learning of future generations.
Among them, the most overwhelming thing is the eggs dug up in the ancient tomb. Because its cultural value is too great, but it is fragile and difficult to protect, it attracts experts from all over the world.
So how valuable were the eggs in the ancient tomb two thousand years ago?
First of all, this egg comes from an ancient tomb 2,000 years ago and has a strong historical and cultural flavor.
If the calculated year is 2000, it can probably be traced back to the Han Dynasty. If it is around 2000, it will be more flexible, and the history of the Spring and Autumn Period, the Warring States Period and even the pre-Zhou period can be verified.
From this egg, people can study people's eating habits at that time. After all, it is not certain whether this egg is a pure raw egg or a boiled egg, or whether it is wrapped in gypsum, so as to study whether there was a process of salting and changing eggs at that time.
Based on textual research, the mysterious history of two thousand years ago seems to have narrowed the distance and brought their living habits to the front.
From this egg, we can also study the burial customs of various dynasties two thousand years ago. For example, is this egg a regular recipe of the tomb owner before his death, and should it be put into the tomb after his death, or is it rare to enter the tomb as a precious funerary object like a treasure in the tomb?
The former at least shows that eggs were common two thousand years ago, and pheasants were rare after all. Did people domesticate chickens at that time to lay eggs and eat them themselves?
The latter shows that the actual functions of eggs, including eating, may not be taken for granted. What if they are decorations?
Whether these dug eggs are laid by chickens requires professionals to study.
If it is found to come from any rare or extinct bird in modern times, it will be a major breakthrough in the field of biological research.
After all, in the long course of two thousand years, many species have been domesticated like chickens and ducks, but they have all died out in the long river of time because of the changes in climate and geographical environment.
Moreover, even if the eggs laid two thousand years ago were really laid by chickens, they are valuable materials for studying whether the genes of chickens have evolved for so many years, but if a point has a breakthrough research, its value will be immeasurable.
But the above values are hard to be measured by secular money, because eggs are not like toys or calligraphy and painting. As long as it is properly restored, the objects will be perfectly preserved, auctioned or collected in museums, and can be visited and studied for a long time.
After all, a fresh egg can be broken carelessly, not to mention an ancient egg that has been laid for 2000 years. It can be said that the delicate eggshell will stimulate a crack.
Jiangsu Haoyang once found a mound tomb in the Spring and Autumn Period in Ziwudun, where a jar full of eggs was unearthed. When the archaeologist opened the old jar carefully, some eggs had tiny cracks on their surfaces.
It can also be seen that these eggs are of little value in money except for the cultural research value attached to the historical dividend.
In other words, they can't be measured by money.
They can't even be auctioned completely. Even if the valuation can make people who love its historical value take it home for collection, then the eggs that professionals can't protect are hard for laymen to touch.
In addition, after sweeping away the dust with a gentle brush, archaeologists found that the eggshells were slightly blue in color, so these eggs could not be put into the museum exhibition, because if they were accidentally broken, there might be a lot of time to precipitate unknown bacteria, which is very dangerous for workers and tourists without special protection.
Therefore, it is unlikely to even be put into a museum to collect tickets for the visit.
Of course there are exceptions. If a professional archaeologist opens the eggshell and makes sure that there are no harmful substances in it, it is still valuable to put the safe and pollution-free eggshell into the museum.
It can be seen that the value of these eggs unearthed from ancient tombs more than 2,000 years ago is mainly reflected in historical details and cultural customs. It will prove or tell many unsolved mysteries and undiscovered species historical materials from a certain dimension.
When you get a definite answer, maybe a lot of inherent cognition will be changed by these "things" from the distant past.
For example, contact the identity of the tomb owner and discuss the significance of burying his eggs with him, so as to confirm how long ago Germans began to eat eggs, and whether the reason for eating eggs is convenience or high nutritional value.
Such a comparison, now a few dollars a catty of eggs is of great significance.
Perhaps two thousand years ago, when Confucius and his students discussed Confucianism, the breakfast was just a few eggs, which is the same as that of most office workers and students now. It seems that after a thousand years, there has been a wonderful collision with these masters, and the value of the human spirit is still sublimating.
Therefore, when archaeologists around the world dug up eggs, they were shocked by their value beyond words. For example, an Israeli archaeologist, holding an ancient egg in his hand, thinks that "a complete egg is really rare".
After all, when it arrived at the institute smoothly, many people made a lot of efforts and sweat for it. It is necessary to take extra care to prevent it from being broken and put a lot of energy into the transportation process.
Well, it's really worthless. It's just that the difference between an ancient egg archaeology and grave robbery is that archaeology requires that the information of underground cultural relics be preserved as much as possible. So after digging, all kinds of things should be recorded, found out, and then dug layer by layer with a small shovel and a small brush.
You should also try to preserve what you have dug up.
When robbing a tomb, the first thing you need is gold, silver and jade. Ancient grave robbers didn't want bronzes. That thing is too heavy for anyone to take.
Therefore, any new thing discovered by archaeology can make archaeologists be elated, cautious, hold their breath and finally gain something.
For example, once in Qinghai, a batch of noodles 4,000 years ago were dug up.
In this regard, the history of eating noodles in China can be advanced to 4000 years ago. Then, write a paper, which is our ancestors' great contribution to nutrition.
For example, in a Han tomb in Shandong, a can of eggs was dug up. Because it is the earliest egg found in China's archaeology, it was treasured more than 2,000 years ago and put in a museum.
Some people say that this thing can extract genes and so on. I can only say hehe.
Because the ancestor of the chicken, the original chicken, is still alive. In the forests of China, Yunnan, Guangxi and Hainan, there are pheasants.
This pheasant has a low egg production, laying more than a dozen eggs a year and eating them in the wild.
The original chicken is the ancestor of modern chicken. Modern chickens are gradually cultivated by people catching and raising primitive chickens. Improve the egg production rate.
If you really want to extract genes, there are primitive chickens, and so are modern chickens. Why don't we put the two together and draw a tube of blood from a chicken?
Still using genes to make this can of eggs? It's nothing. I am looking for a cigarette.
Let's stop here.
Eggs are a very common food. Eggs two thousand years ago, to put it bluntly, are the historical value of studying the lives of the ancients. At the same time, with the development of science and technology, the appearance of ancient chickens can be restored and DNA can be extracted from eggs. At the same time, eggs unearthed in ancient tombs are actually very rare. So far, as long as eggs have been unearthed in several ancient tombs, they are of historical value and rare. After all, scarcity is precious.
For ordinary people, this thing is actually worthless. Going to the museum to see eggs, even if it is known to be thousands of years ago, is actually a novelty. Archaeologists are different. They can restore the lives of the ancients through eggs and guess their habits. This is their archaeological value. Archaeological work is very time consuming. Simple as it is, it is actually very complicated. The cultural relics you saw in the museum are very beautiful, but they were not unearthed in this way, which requires careful liquidation by archaeologists.
It is normal for a cultural relic to be liquidated for more than one year, and the eggs unearthed in the ancient tomb are more and more interesting. It is of great significance for archaeologists to find eggs in ancient tombs for the first time. Nobody knows what it is. It's just that someone touched the egg and broke it, which formed an archaeological regret. When the egg was unearthed for the second time, someone touched it quietly with a brush, and the egg was broken again, which was very embarrassing. Something that was originally precious was broken twice.
So far, except for fossil eggs, all the others in the ancient tomb are broken at the touch, so there is no way. What everyone saw in the museum was pieced together later. It is worth mentioning that in ancient times, ordinary people could not afford to bury eggs, at least rich people would bury them with eggs.
Looking at the value of a cultural relic does not mean how much it is worth. In the eyes of archaeologists, every cultural relic can't be measured by money. They will study cultural relics and their historical value, even a small egg. Interestingly, some experts once said that ancient chickens can be restored with unearthed eggs if the technology is available. Do you think this is possible?
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