Master Archaeologist

Chapter 239 There is actually Cordyceps sinensis!

"Peanuts?"

"Looks like it!"

"real or fake?"

"Is it true that native peanuts were cultivated in the Western Han Dynasty?"

The archaeologists present had different opinions.

Everyone couldn't hide their shock and excitement.

The location of Haihunhou's tomb is in Jiangxi!

Stay away from Chang'an in Guanzhong!
If the bronze vessel contained peanuts, it was indeed peanuts.

That can already prove that the Chinese people cultivated local peanuts in the Western Han Dynasty.

South America is not the only place where peanuts originated.

Although it is said that this kind of Huaxia native peanuts has long been extinct.

But that doesn't mean it should be erased from history!
Peanuts have been found in Chang'an and Nanchang at the far ends of the east and west, and they exist as funerary objects. This is enough to show that people in the Western Han Dynasty already knew that this is a kind of grain, and consciously cultivated it on a small scale.

Perhaps because of the yield per mu and the difference in varieties, this kind of native peanuts is not enough to replace the mainstream millet and become the staple food of the Western Han people.

It may only be planted on a small scale among a few upper-class nobles.

That's why it gradually became extinct in the long years that followed.

The promotion of a new crop is not so easy.

Especially in the ancient period when the output of the field was extremely important.

High-yield crops like wheat have also been discovered and cultivated in the Neolithic Age, but they were not cultivated by farmers on a small scale until the Western Han Dynasty.

It was not until the Tang Dynasty that it basically replaced millet and became the staple food of northerners.

It took nearly a thousand years in China for wheat to be a staple food suitable for human cultivation before it became popular in the northern land.

What's more, peanuts are not a suitable food.

Especially for this kind of local peanuts, the yield may not be satisfactory.

"Whether it's peanuts or not, it's still uncertain."

"It has to be sent to plant archaeologists for gene sequencing and comparison before we can know the results."

Kong Jianwen said calmly, cooling down the excitement for everyone.

"However, this bronze vessel is filled with rhizome foods such as chestnuts, water chestnuts, and water chestnuts. It must be peanuts that are put together with these."

"In addition, there are many well-preserved whole grains."

Touching his chin, Kong Jianwen murmured, "Is this really a still?"

"Used to brew fruit wine and liquor?"

The wine still unearthed earlier appeared in the ancient tombs of the Yuan Dynasty.

If the later research results can prove that this utensil is used for distilling wine, then the history of distilling wine will be directly advanced by a thousand years!

This is big news!

"Go, send this set of bronzes to the botanical archeology and expert group for research!"

Kong Jianwen enthusiastically directed two archaeologists to clear out the three bronze suites, put them in a hypoxic storage cabinet, send them out of the tomb, and send them directly to the archaeological base next door.

Where are hundreds of experts and scholars now gathered, waiting to do follow-up research on the cultural relics unearthed from the tomb of Marquis Haihun!

After a simple arrangement, the gathered people returned to their work and continued to clean up other cultural relics in the kitchen utensils.

Soon, Chen Han cleaned out another lacquered wooden box.

It is due to the fact that the tomb was soaked in groundwater for a long time.

The lacquered woodware in the tomb is the best preserved.

It is different from the situation where the lacquered wood and even the wooden floor in the tomb of the Nanyue king are all decayed.

The lacquered wooden box that Chen Han cleaned out from the mud, and even the black red paint on it, are still moistened by the water, making it extremely bright.

This is a drawer box.

The lid on the box is not opened directly, but like a drawer, it needs to be pulled open to see the inside of the box.

Chen Han took a deep breath of the fragrant air, and carefully opened the lid.

The box was full, a bit like a chrysalis, but at the head of the chrysalis, there was something like a dead wood branch lying quietly in the box.

"Cordyceps?!"

"Did the nobles of the Western Han Dynasty know to eat Cordyceps 2000 years ago?!"

Chen Han exclaimed deeply!

No wonder he was so surprised. It was actually the "Cordyceps" unearthed from the lacquer box in his hand. From the appearance, it was very similar to the Cordyceps used by modern people, basically the same!
This may be the first real object of Cordyceps discovered in the excavation of ancient tombs in Jiangxi!
You know, the probability of preservation of something like Cordyceps is very low, after all, what is wrapped in this thing is a protein-rich worm!
This box of Cordyceps can last for more than 2000 years, and it is still so well preserved. It should be the first time it has appeared in Jiangxi archaeology, or even in the history of Chinese archaeology!

In my country, the origin of Cordyceps sinensis is mainly distributed in high-altitude areas between 3500 meters and 5500 meters.

In places like Jiangxi, it is absolutely impossible to produce Cordyceps!
In China, only the plateau area, specifically, only the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau has Cordyceps!

There is only one reason for the discovery of Cordyceps in Haihunhou's tomb.

That is the Haihunhou state where Haihunhou was located in the Western Han Dynasty, and there may be more trade exchanges with the place where Cordyceps is produced.

Moreover, Haihunhou also had frequent cultural exchanges with foreign countries.

"What? Cordyceps?!"

"Cordyceps sinensis?"

The restlessness that had just calmed down in the kitchen warehouse was immediately ignited by Chen Han again.

According to historical data, the earliest document recording Cordyceps sinensis can be found in the "Yuewang Medicine Clinic" in the early Tang Dynasty.

This is the earliest surviving classic of Tibetan medicine in my country.

"Yuewang Medicine Diagnosis" is the earliest surviving work on ancient Tibetan medicine.

More than 1000 single medicines and prescriptions have been recorded, which are classified into two categories: cold and hot.

Most of the prescriptions are based on TCM in TCM books.

It can be understood that this is a Tibetan medical book written by the Tubo people through the knowledge of traditional Chinese medicine learned from the Tang Dynasty and a part of the medical knowledge of Tianzhu.

As the medical books of the Tubo people who founded the country on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau back then, they naturally also recorded some local medicinal materials in Tubo.

Among them, it is recorded that Cordyceps sinensis can treat lung diseases!
This is the first actual documented record of Cordyceps sinensis!
Before that, there was an uncertain statement about Cordyceps sinensis.

In the Eastern Jin Dynasty of our country, Wang Jia, a native of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, recorded in "Supplements of Relics": "There are ice silkworms in Yuanqiao Mountain."

The Yuanqiao Mountain mentioned in the article, one of the legendary five great fairy mountains, is located in the east of the Bohai Sea.

This place is sure to be legendary.

But later someone guessed that the ice silkworm he mentioned was today's Cordyceps sinensis.

However, this conjecture is not confirmed by archaeological objects.

If the "Cordyceps" unearthed in the tomb is indeed the Cordyceps that people are familiar with today.

So, it doesn't matter whether this guess is correct or not.

Because, the time when Cordyceps is used as a valuable nourishing medicinal material will be rewritten!
And far from being rewritten to the Eastern Jin Dynasty, it is the Western Han Dynasty!

At least in the Western Han Dynasty, the nobles of the Western Han Dynasty already knew that there was such a nourishing medicinal material as Cordyceps sinensis!
And through trade, Cordyceps was obtained from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau!

There are still many!
The lacquer box of Haihunhou alone is full of it!

(End of this chapter)