In the latest archaeological research results recently released by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, in addition to determining that the Great Tomb of Bailuyuan Jiangcun in Xi'an is the tomb of Emperor Wen of Han, a large number of pottery figurines and more than 200 exquisite gold, silver and copper carriage and horse tools newly discovered by archaeological and cultural relics workers in Shaanxi Province in the outer tibetan pit of empress Dowager Bo's Nanling tomb were also announced.
Empress Bo's Southern Mausoleum is located in Baoqizhai Village, Dizhai Street, Baqiao District, Xi'an City, about 2,000 meters away from the newly discovered Jiangcun Tomb, and is the mausoleum of Empress Bo, the mother of Emperor Wen of Han. After archaeological exploration, it was found that the Nanling Tomb is a "Ya" shaped vertical pit tomb, the edge of the tomb is 75 meters long, the sealing soil is 25 meters high, and 20 outer hidden pits have been found around the sealing soil. Since 2017, the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology and other units have excavated three outer pits in the Southern Tomb of Empress Bo, and so far more than 160 painted pottery figurines, more than 200 gold, silver and copper carriage and horse ware have been cleared, and precious cultural relics representing the identity of the tomb owner such as the "Changxin Stable Seal" and the sealing mud have been excavated.
In addition, archaeologists also found two remains of the original large wooden cart in two other outer pits, hundreds of original large copper carriage and horse ware, and more than ten pieces of plastic cloth painted pottery figurines. In the northwest corner of nanling, archaeologists also excavated 39 small animal pits, and animal skeletons were found in the pottery coffins inside the pits, and the types of these animals were preliminarily identified as golden snub-nosed monkeys, red-crowned cranes, turtles and so on. The newly discovered small animal burial pit also provides important physical data for studying the burial system of the imperial tombs of the Han Dynasty, the animal species of the Han Dynasty, and the environmental changes of the Han Dynasty.
Jiao Nanfeng, a researcher at the Shaanxi Institute of Archaeology, and executive director of the Chinese Archaeological Society, introduced, "A large number of very well-made and exquisitely decorated utensils have a variety of cultural factors that were transmitted through the Silk Road in the northwest grassland region and even more distantly." This also shows that in fact, before the formation of the Silk Road, which we traditionally believe, cultural exchanges in the Central Plains and the Northwest Region began long ago. ”
(Source: Shaanxi News Editor: Zhou Jie)