故宫东城墙基2014年考古发掘简报

2014 Brief Report on The Archaeological Excavation of The East-Wall Base of The Forbidden City

2014年8月,故宫博物院在基础设施建设过程中,于东城墙南段内侧发现了一处埋藏在地下的古代排水设施。通过抢救性考古发掘,揭露出东城墙内侧的墙基、铺砖地面、排水沟、大型夯土基础等一组较为完整的遗迹。根据地层关系与出土遗物判断,其年代不晚于明代早期,应属于明北京城宫城初创时期的基础工程遗迹。这是故宫范围内首次通过考古发掘揭露明代早期的城墙墙基、原始地面及地下夯土基础,填补了故宫初创时期建筑资料的空白,为认识故宫建筑群的创建与使用沿革,了解中国古代土木工程技术在明代的发展状况提供了新的实物资料。

In the process of infrastructure construction in August 2014, a set of ancient drainage facilities was excavated which lie hidden in the earth along the inside of the east wall around the Forbidden City including the wall foot, brick ground, drainage ditch and the rammed-earth base of large scale. Judging from the stratum relationship and unearthed objects, the project was built in no later than the early Ming dynasty as a part of infrastructure work in the initial stage of the construction of the imperial palace in Beijing. The findings which were achieved through the first time archaeological excavation inside the Forbidden City fill in a gap which has hitherto existed in the archaeological literature on the imperial palace of its early stage to review the evolution of the great construction group of the Ming-Qing imperial palace and the development of Chinese ancient civil engineering techniques in the Ming dynasty.