新石器时代长江下游出土的三角形石器是石犁吗?——毘山遗址出土三角形石器微痕分析

Are the Neolithic Triangular-Shaped Stone Implements Unearthed in the Lower Yangtze River Area Plows? Use-wear Analysis of the Triangular-Shaped Stone Implements Unearthed from the Pishan Archaeological Site

近年来,长江下游地区新石器时代晚期文化多个遗址中出土了三角形石器,考古学家多认为它们是用于稻作的石犁。经过实验考古和微痕分析,以一件现代铁犁、一件出土石铲和一件实验用石犁的形态和微痕观察作为对比标本,观察毘山遗址出土的五件崧泽文化三角形石器,发现毘山三角形石器可能具有铲、刀等多种功能,可作业于不同质地的物质,如植物和细土壤。这些遗物上没有发现类似犁耕的微痕,可以肯定它们不是犁。

In recent decades several Neolithic sites in the lower Yangtze River area(the Songze and Li angzhu cultures;ca.4000-2000 BC) have revealed large triangular-shaped stone implements,commonly de scribed by archaeologists as plows used for rice cultivation.We examined a modern iron plow and an archae ological stone spade as references and then conducted a plowing experiment with a stone tool.By comparing the use-wear patterns drawn from the reference samples and from the experimental plow with five triangularshaped tools taken from a Songze culture site at Pishan in Huzhou City,Zhejiang,we conclude that the Pis han tools examined may be of multiple functions such as digging or cutting and suitable for working with dif ferent materials such as fine-grained soil or plants.None of them shows use-wear traces resembling those typical of a plow,which indicates that they are not plows.