从精神考古看文明起源研究问题

在探寻中华文明起源问题时,对于精神方面内容的研究具有重要意义。从历史的角度看,每一种事物和现象无不有其自己的萌生和发展的历史。在上层建筑领域,家庭、私有制和国家等无不如此;在经济基础范围,各类生产技术、各种生产方式亦无不如此。这些内容,特别是物质层面上的内容往往可以而且必须用考古学的方法进行研究。那么,精神层面呢?可以说,人类精神的萌生与发展的历史,也可以用考古学的方法进行探讨。本文仅就如何运用精神考古来分析中华文明起源的一些问题,提出浅见。不揣浅陋,率而操觚,供专家参考。

It is necessary to archaeologically study the"material aspect"of the social structure of a certain period.Similarly,the archaeological study on the"ideological aspect"of the society is also important.Archaeologists should not only analyze the material remains themselves,but also need to consider the people who made the remains.In other words,they should investigate the spirit and characteristics of ancient people through the study of material remains.The mode of thinking experienced the evolution from the perceptual stage to the rational stage.The evolution can also be divided into three stages;barbarism,chaos and rational.The formation of civilization coincided with several important achievements of human rational spirit.Among them,the better understanding of human-nature relationship and the establishment of moral principles are the most significant ones.Based on the abundant archaeological data,the exploration of the origin of civilization through archaeologically study on the"ideological aspect",especially the evolution of the mode of thinking of ancient people,will demonstrate the significance of spirit evolution during the formation of Chinese civilization.This kind of study,on one hand,can provide a new perspective for archaeologists to enlarge their research field.On the other hand,it also establishes a platform for historians to explore the origin of Chinese civilization corporately with archaeologists.