On the 30th, the Qin Shi Huang Emperor Mausoleum Museum announced two major archaeological achievements. After 10 years of archaeological work, archaeologists have excavated more than 220 pottery figurines, and archaeologists have found that the original subordinate military figurines can continue to be subdivided into two types according to the different crown styles, armor and clothing of the pottery figurines. In addition, archaeologists also found the remains of Qin Dun for the first time in the archaeology of Qinling. In another archaeological excavation of Tomb No. 1 on the west side of the outer city of Qinling, archaeologists found a high-ranking tomb, which may be owned by a Qin nobleman who was close to Qin Shi Huang. A golden camel unearthed from the tomb proves that before the opening of the Silk Road in the Han Dynasty, Chinese and Western cultures began to communicate.
In 10 years, the types of terracotta warriors and horses excavated in the Mausoleum of The First Emperor of Qin were subdivided
Beijing Youth Daily reporter from the Qin Shi Huang Emperor Mausoleum Museum on the 30th, after 10 years of archaeological work, archaeologists in the Qin Shi Huang Mausoleum Terracotta Warriors and Horses Funerary Pit No. 1 pit has achieved fruitful results. According to reports, the excavation area reached 400 square meters, excavated more than 220 pottery figurines, 12 pottery horses, 2 car tracks, and a large number of weapons, architectural relics and so on.
According to archaeologists, some of the remnants of the rammed earth of the figurine pit are intermittent, incoherent, and the construction methods are diverse and not uniform, and some rammed earth walls are also built together with brick walls. Archaeologists speculate that the rammed earth wall of the figurine pit was not consciously rammed at the beginning of the construction of the figurine pit, but in the process of the construction of the figurine pit, due to the collapse of the pit wall, the rammed method or bricks had to be repaired to the pit wall.
After research, most of the Qin figurine postures can be divided into two categories, one is the right arm front curve, the right hand half clenched fist, for the holding of long weapon figurines; the other is the right arm naturally drooping, the right hand half clenched fist, thumb upturned, for the bow and crossbow figurine. Different types of terracotta figurines are arranged in different positions in the pits, showing their different combinations in the army and the tasks they undertake.
During the archaeological process, archaeologists found a remnant of a qin army's shield. According to archaeologists, this shield is face down and partially painted, and this shield is the same as the shield system found on the No. 1 copper car found before, and the size is 2 times that of the shield on the copper car. "This is the first time that the remains of Qin Dun have been found in the archaeology of QinLing, which is extremely precious." In addition, archaeologists have also found the remains of the elderly bow and crossbow.
In addition, among the more than 220 pieces of pottery figurines unearthed, archaeologists can divide the figurines into the following levels according to the different crown styles, armor and costumes of the pottery figurines: high-level military figurines, intermediate military figurines, lower-level military figurines, general samurai figurines, etc. "After preliminary analysis and research, we believe that the original subordinate military officer figurines can continue to be subdivided into two types, which provides a new basis and method for the arrangement of the figurine pit army formation."
According to the setting of the excavation plan, the site adopts the mode of "protection and excavation at the same time, exhibition and excavation synchronization", in addition to conventional protection, important relics are transferred to the laboratory for protection, so far, more than 100 pottery figurines and pottery horses have been restored, and more than 20 important relics have been protected.
The cash camel in the tomb of Qin Shi Huang shows the history of communication between China and the West before Zhang Qian's passage through the Western Regions
At the same time, since 2011, the Qin Shi Huang Emperor Mausoleum Museum has carried out detailed archaeological investigation and exploration work on the west side of the mausoleum area outside the Qin Tomb, achieved a lot of gains, and excavated the first tomb. Archaeologists said that when excavating this funerary tomb, new technologies such as three-dimensional laser scanning and geographic information system were used to extract relevant information.
According to reports, this batch of tombs in the west of the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang belongs to a high-grade funerary burial area planned by the Qin Shi Huang Emperor Mausoleum, and there are 9 large tombs, of which Tomb No. 1 is one of them. From the perspective of position, this batch of tombs is arranged in a word, has a certain regularity, is deliberately planned and arranged by man, and its era should be the same period. Jiang Wenxiao, head of the Lingxi Tomb Project, said that the information about the owner of the tomb is not currently certain, and the general speculation is that it was a nobleman during the Qin Dynasty, but his relationship with Qin Shi Huang should be very close.
During the excavations, archaeologists found that there were 5 robbery holes in the tomb, 3 of which entered the burial chamber.
The coffin is located in the south-central part of the burial chamber, surrounded by a cloister, and the outer side is a side box, where a large number of pottery, bronze, jade and a small number of gold and silverware, ironware, etc. are placed, and the central coffin is still being further cleaned. Jiang Wenxiao told reporters that this coffin has not been well preserved, and most of the coffins have decayed and collapsed, and it is difficult to repair.
Among them, the golden camel is the earliest single golden camel seen in China. Jiang Wenxiao told the Beiqing Daily reporter that during the Qin Dynasty, there were no camels in the Central Plains, which to a certain extent meant that before the opening of the Silk Road in the Han Dynasty, Chinese and Western cultures began to communicate and exchange, and at the same time added more historical materials to fill the gap.
Excavations to fill the archaeological void there are no plans to excavate other funerary tombs
Jiang Wenxiao said that in 2011, the Qin Shi Huang Emperor Mausoleum Museum launched a detailed archaeological survey and exploration work on the mausoleum area on the west side of the outer city of Qinling, began excavation in 2013, and entered the burial chamber in 2019, Jiang Wenxiao said: "2019 is the year with the greatest harvest. ”
"The purpose of excavating Tomb No. 1 is to clarify the relationship between the funerary tomb and the Mausoleum of The First Emperor of Qin, to determine the boundaries of the relevant area of the Mausoleum of the First Emperor of Qin, and to excavate more historical details," Jiang Wenxiao said. ”
According to the Qin Shi Huang Emperor Mausoleum Museum, the funerary tomb excavated this time is the largest, highest grade and best preserved large-scale tomb found in the Qin Dynasty, which fills the gap in the archaeology of the tombs of high-ranking nobles in the Qin Dynasty and is another major harvest in the archaeology of the Tomb of the First Emperor of Qin.
Intern journalist Yang Yang
Editor/Wei Dong
Proofreading/Armed Forces