A few days ago, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage announced that the jiangcun tomb in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, was confirmed as the tomb of the Han Wen Emperor, which aroused widespread concern.
On December 16, Nandu and N video reporters visited the archaeological site of the tibetan pit outside the Jiangcun Tomb and saw that the roof was being built on the north side of the No. 1 excavation site K15, the relevant excavation work was continuing, the No. 2 excavation site was basically cleaned up, and the excavated cultural relics had been transferred for restoration and protection. Although the two excavation sites are fenced off, many citizens still come to see the style of the Real Baling from the gap. At present, security efforts have been strengthened on the ground.
On December 16, the north end of K15 excavation site K15 outside the Gangcun Tomb was being built, and the area below it was to be excavated.
Excavations are still ongoing, and some of the terracotta figurines were blown up by the tomb robbers
On December 16, Nandu reporters came to Bailuyuan, the eastern suburbs of Xi'an City, to visit the archaeological site of Jiangcun Tomb. Two days ago, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage held an important progress meeting on the major project of "Archaeological China" in Beijing, and informed that the Jiangcun Tomb was confirmed to be the tomb of Liu Heng, the emperor of the early Han Dynasty in the Western Han Dynasty. This conclusion overturned the traditional perception that the "phoenix mouth" was a baling, so that the exact location of the baling was settled.
Nandu reporter saw at the scene that the No. 1 excavation site in the northeast area of Jiangcun Tomb excavated 3 outer storage pits this time, and the No. 2 excavation point in the southwest region excavated 5 outer storage pits. Cao Long, a researcher at the Shaanxi Provincial Archaeological Research Institute and deputy leader of the Hailing Archaeological Team, told Nandu reporters that since 2017, the Shaanxi Archaeological Research Institute and the Xi'an Municipal Institute of Cultural Relics Protection and Archaeology have jointly formed a team to carry out archaeological excavations of these 8 outer tibetan pits. At present, excavation site No. 2 has completed excavation and clean-up work, and the excavated cultural relics have been extracted to the Bailuyuan Archaeological Base for restoration and protection. Excavations at excavation site 1 continue.
On December 16, at the Bailuyuan Archaeological Base, staff were restoring excavated cultural relics.
Nandu reporter saw at the No. 1 excavation site that the northern end of the outer pit K15 is building a roof, and directly below it is a flat shallow pit, which has not yet been excavated; the excavated area at the southern end is a deep pit, the opening is about 6-8 meters wide, and there are "zigzag" soil steps on both sides of the pit wall, and the steel beam reinforcement is built above the pit due to the needs of archaeological excavation work.
Cao Long told nandu reporters that K15 is a long strip in the north-south direction, with a total length of 70 meters, and the excavated area at the southern end near the burial chamber is 39 meters long and about 8 meters deep, and the excavation will continue after the northern end is built. According to its introduction, the "zigzag" soil steps on the walls on both sides of the pit are built when the outer pit is built, which can be used for walking when constructing soil on the one hand, and the more important function is to prevent the pit wall from slipping or collapsing. "We have found such steps in the burial chambers or tomb passages of large tuyuan tombs in the excavated Western Han Dynasty."
Cao Long, a researcher at the Shaanxi Provincial Archaeological Research Institute and deputy leader of the Hanling Archaeological Team, was interviewed by Nandu and N video reporters at the No. 1 excavation site of the Tibetan Pit outside the Jiangcun Tomb.
Nandu reporter followed Cao Long down the stairs and saw that at the bottom of K15, dense pottery figurines had been cleared, they were 50-60 cm long, some of their bodies were red, and some of them were fragmented. In addition, stone chimes (a musical instrument) have been found in the area near the northern end, which should be buried with chimes, and the remains of white wooden rafters have been found on the pit walls.
Clay figurines cleared out at the bottom of K15.
Cao Long introduced that most of these pottery figurines are dressed nude clay figurines, which should originally have silk or hemp clothes on the body, and the red color on some of the pottery figurines is the traces left by the decay of silk. "These pits have been disturbed by theft, and you can see that there are many small terracotta figurine fragments near the northern end of the excavation area, which should be caused by the impact of the stolen tomb robbers using high explosives."
Many citizens are eager to punch in, and local security has been strengthened
Nandu reporter learned from the Shaanxi Provincial Archaeological Research Institute that the Jiangcun Tomb is located at the western end of Bailuyuan in Xi'an City, about 2100 meters from the "Phoenix Mouth" in the north, 800 meters from the Mausoleum of Empress Dou in the east, and about 2000 meters from the Southern Tomb of Empress Bo in the south.
Jiangcun Tomb Cultural Relics Protection Marker Monument.
On December 16, Nandu reporters visited the site and found that the two excavation sites of Jiangcun Tomb were surrounded by cherry orchards, and from the No. 2 excavation site to the south, you can see the Southern Tomb of Empress Bo. Next to Luming Road in the east of the excavation site, there is a sign of the "National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit Jiangcun Tomb", which was erected on November 15, 2020, when it was defined as "a high-level Han Dynasty aristocratic tomb", and now the true identity of the tomb owner has been revealed.
From this monument, walk northeast for about 10 minutes to reach the Tomb of Empress Dou. Cao Long told nandu reporter that previously, archaeologists in the Jiangcun tomb, Dou Empress Mausoleum outside through exploration, test excavation found rammed wall site, east and west remnants of more than 1200 meters, north and south width of 863 meters, wall width of about 3.5 meters, this circle of walls will Jiangcun Tomb and Dou Empress Mausoleum surrounded together, should be the two of them shared the outer cemetery, which is also one of the important bases for confirming that jiangcun tomb is the Han Wen Emperor's mausoleum.
Empress Dou Mausoleum.
Nandu reporters saw at the scene that although the two excavation sites are fenced and protected, many Xi'an citizens still drive to see the style of the True Baling Tomb from the gap.
Mr. Liu, a citizen of Xi'an, told the Nandu reporter that he and his family had visited Bailuyuan many times before, but they had never paid attention to the Jiangcun Tomb, "I only heard that this is a tomb of a Western Han nobleman, and now it is confirmed that it is the Tomb of emperor Wen of Han, so you must come to see it." We also plan to go to the 'Phoenix Mouth' again to see what is different between these two true and false overlords. ”
On the morning of December 16, outside the excavation site No. 2 of the Outer Hidden Pit of Jiangcun Tomb, Xi'an citizens had already come to visit.
Nandu reporter noted that with the fame of "Jiangcun Tomb is a true tomb", the archaeological excavation sites that were originally quiet and hidden in the countryside were endlessly crowded with tourists, and even some people released drones near the excavation sites to shoot, which was stopped by security personnel in time.
"Now everyone knows that there is a big tomb underneath, and how to protect it is a new challenge." Cao Long told the Nandu reporter that after the Jiangcun Tomb was confirmed as the tomb of Emperor Wen of Han, there was a clear direction for the safety protection of field cultural relics, "On the day after the news was released, the public security department of (Baqiao) District and the relevant street office police station held a joint meeting with the archaeological team to discuss and deploy the issue of strengthening the security of field cultural relics, and then there will be strengthening and upgrading in the police room setting, camera control, night patrol and other aspects." ”
Producer: Nandu Instant
Written/Photographed by: Nandu reporter Liu Miao from Xi'an, Shaanxi Province