As part of the mausoleum of The First Emperor of Qin----- the archaeological exploration and excavation on the west side of the outer city of the mausoleum is another major harvest of the archaeology of the mausoleum of the first emperor of Qin.
2,000 years ago, what kind of tomb scale did this important courtier who was buried at the side of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of the first dynasty, have? "Shaanxi's First Six New Archaeological Discoveries" Revealed, the second part of the series:
"Qin Shi Huang Emperor Mausoleum West High-grade Funerary Tomb"
Since 2011, the Qin Shi Huang Emperor Mausoleum Museum has carried out exploration and re-exploration of the west side of the outer city of the mausoleum, covering an area of about 500,000 square meters, and has made a series of major gains on the basis of the discoveries of the former Provincial Archaeological Research Institute (Institute). Among them are 9 large tombs, especially in the "medium" glyph near the cemetery, and slightly lower in the "A" glyph near the cemetery.
Jiang Wenxiao, a researcher at the Qin Shi Huang Emperor Mausoleum Museum, said: "This is the largest group of high-grade tombs found in the Qinling area at present, and the layout and planning are clear. In order to understand the nature, age, connotation of these tombs, and the relationship with the mausoleum of the First Emperor of Qin, we have carried out continuous archaeological excavations of Tomb No. 1 since 2013. ”
Schematic diagram of the structure of the M1 tomb in Qinling West (Courtesy of the Provincial Archaeological Research Institute)
On the south side of the tomb, archaeologists found several trenches.
Jiang Wenxiao: "There are discrete trench remnants on the west and south sides of the tomb, and on the east side of the tomb is an ancient riverbed that surrounds the tomb. The trenches are east-west, and the north-south are two parallel distributions. Excavations revealed that the trenches did not contain anything, and it is speculated that its role should have been a boundary marker on the south side of the tomb. ”
In the excavated Tomb M1, it is about 400 meters away from the outer city wall of qinling in the east and about 1000 meters away from the tomb of the first emperor of Qin in the southeast.
Jiang Wenxiao: "The tomb is 'middle' glyph, with a depth of 15.6 meters, and the area in the center of the tomb is 28×29 meters. We take anatomical excavations, first a quarter to a half, and then to the whole tomb. The main chamber is located a little south-centrally in the burial chamber, surrounded by a cloister. ”
Orthophoto image of the burial chamber of the West Tomb of the Qinling Tomb
Archaeologists divided the outside of the cloister into four side boxes, east, west, south and north, and the funerary items were mainly concentrated in the side boxes on the east, west and south sides, and the west side had been disturbed. Excavated funerary items include pottery, bronze ceremonial vessels and so on. Bronze ceremonial vessels include high-grade funerary objects such as dings, beans, pots, chimes, etc., some with inscriptions. As well as single gold and silver camels, dancing sleeve figurines, gold and silver jade and many other exquisite cultural relics.
Jiang Wenxiao, a researcher at the Qin Shi Huang Emperor Mausoleum Museum, said: "In this area in the east, there are a group of 15 chimes, two gold belt hooks, and there are words on the hooks to mark its weight. In the eastern area of the south side there are a large number of small artifacts and half two (coins), and the half two is distributed in several thousand pieces. Several copper components were found with the words 'Lefu' on them. ”
Excavated gold belt hook (Courtesy of the Provincial Archaeological Research Institute)
In the process of excavation, archaeologists also use advanced technology, extracted into laboratory archaeology and for conservation and restoration. The excavation clarified the site selection and layout of the tomb, and the tomb was surrounded by a trench and a natural river, forming a relatively independent cemetery. Tombs have certain regularities, the times are roughly equivalent, they should be deliberately arranged through artificial planning, and they belong to the state behavior.
Jiang Wenxiao: "Combined with the location, direction, shape and scale, we believe that they are a planned high-ranking noble burial cemetery area in the Mausoleum of the First Emperor of Qin, and the era is roughly after the unification of Qin, which belongs to the tombs of the Qin Dynasty. The tomb owner has a higher status and should be a heavy subject of the DPRK. This Lefu inscription is the second case found in the Qinling area, which once again proves the historical fact that the Qin Dynasty set up 'Lefu'. The gold and silver camel is the earliest single gold and silver camel seen in China, which provides us with physical materials for us to understand and study the cultural exchanges between the East and the West before the opening of the Silk Road in the Han Dynasty. ”
The Qinling Tomb West Tomb unearthed a golden camel
Jiao Nanfeng, a researcher at the Shaanxi Provincial Archaeological Research Institute and a distinguished professor at Northwest University, said that although the identity of the owner of the tomb is not clear, it is the largest, highest-ranking and best-preserved high-ranking noble tomb of the Qin Dynasty that has been discovered and excavated.
Jiao Nanfeng: "It witnessed the demise of the 'centralized cemetery system' of ancient Chinese royal tombs in the late Warring States period of the Xia And Shang Dynasty, and demonstrated the formation and establishment of the 'independent cemetery system' of ancient Chinese imperial tombs from the late Warring States period to the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties." At the same time, it also reflects the great historical changes in the ancient Chinese centralized system from 'blood politics' to 'geopolitics', which has very important academic value. ”
Producer: Recreation Group
Editor-in-charge: Wu Wei
Reporter: Lin Yan
Edit: Tuo Ziyun
Reprinted from: Listen to Shaanxi
Original title: The Story of Revealing the Remains of Cultural Relics (2) | a high-grade funerary tomb in the west of the mausoleum of The First Emperor of Qin