Tianmushan Shang and Zhou Dynasties Ruins

　　The Tianmushan Ruins are situated in the northern part of Jiangyan District, at 120° east longitude and 32° north latitude, on the south side of the Xin Tongyang Canal and the east bank of the Jiangzhen River. The site sits on higher ground and is surrounded by water on all sides, resembling a small island. On May 29, 2006, it was officially approved and announced by the State Council as a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit in the sixth batch. This designation recognized the Tianmushan Ruins as a typical site that preserves well-preserved remains from different dynasties, categories, and regions across historical periods. From August 2000 to October 2003, an archaeological team led by the Nanjing Museum—comprising personnel from the Nanjing Museum, Taizhou Museum, and the Jiangyan Cultural Relics Management Office—conducted two excavations at the Tianmushan Ruins, uncovering an area of 1,316 square meters. The archaeological findings revealed that the site was a city from the Western Zhou Dynasty, consisting of an inner and outer city. The outer city was surrounded by a moat, though only the eastern, northern, and western sections of the outer city wall have been discovered so far. The perimeter of the inner city aligns closely with historical records from the Wanli-era "Taizhou Annals." The city walls were built from rammed earth, and their initial height did not exceed 10 meters, consistent with ancient texts. The excavation also uncovered ancient relics such as river channels, platforms, building foundations, tombs, drainage ditches, as well as a large number of animal remains and man-made pottery items including jars, tripods, beans, bowls, basins, plates, and gui vessels. The Tianmushan Western Zhou city is currently the earliest city site discovered in the Jianghuai region. Such city sites from this period are extremely rare and provide irreplaceable material for comparative studies of different ancient city structures during the Spring and Autumn Period, as well as for research on the development of urban models in ancient China. Previous research on the regional affiliation and cultural characteristics of the Jianghuai area during the Western Zhou and Spring and Autumn Periods has been scarce, with limited and often contradictory historical records. During that time, various groups such as the Gan, Huaiyi, Wu, and Dongyi may have been active in the region, but there are few written accounts. The Tianmushan ancient city is a small settlement within a river system and served as a strategic stronghold along the route that the Wu Kingdom took in its early aspirations to reach the Central Plains and expand northward during the Spring and Autumn Period, and possibly even late Western Zhou. The cultural elements of the ancient city reflect the blending and evolution of the southern Lakeside Culture of the Jiangnan region with the Central Plains Longshan Culture. Located in an area affected by the shifting courses of ancient Yangtze River channels and coastlines, the Tianmushan Ruins can provide foundational data for research on the origins of rice cultivation culture. On October 18, 2003, during the first Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relics Festival and the 70th anniversary celebration of the Nanjing Museum, Mr. Zou Heng—a leading authority in Chinese Shang and Zhou archaeology, an expert on the chronology of the Xia, Shang, and Zhou Dynasties project, and a professor at Peking University—personally commented on the unearthed artifacts from the Tianmushan ancient city at the Nanjing Museum exhibition hall.