Introduction: Three years ago, an ancient tomb more than 2,000 years ago was discovered in Pingdingshanye County, Henan, and the archaeological team conducted archaeological excavations on this ancient tomb and found that the ancient tomb had been looted by tomb robbers as early as the Han Dynasty. Subsequently, in the southeast corner of the tomb, the archaeological team found a carriage and horse burial pit, and there were 4 horse heads in the burial pit but no horse body. After research, the experts came to the conclusion: the horse's body was eaten! Who eats?
Graves of graves of grave stones
In July 2018, villagers in Changzhuang Village, Pingdingshanye County, Henan Province, after a particularly heavy rainstorm, found that large earth bags in the fields outside the village had collapsed. Villagers with good deeds went to the big earth bag to check and found that the collapsed place left a large hole that was bottomless. Since ancient times, the villagers of Changzhuang Village have known that the big earth bag in the field outside the village is an ancient tomb, and seeing that the ancient tomb has collapsed into an unconventional state, the villagers immediately reported this situation to the Cultural Relics Bureau.
Experts from the Cultural Relics Bureau went to the scene to check the situation and confirmed that the bottom of the collapsed earth bag is indeed an ancient tomb, and this ancient tomb is also a grave of stone and sand.
The so-called stone sinking sand tomb is a way of ancient tombs, this kind of burial method is to lay one or more layers of fine sand mixed with boulders above the rafter chamber, and then cover the rammed earth layer, the more sand and gravel layers the higher the safety of the tomb.
The most common means of tomb robbery in ancient times is to break the robbery cave, and this kind of stone sinking sand tomb is specially invented for anti-theft caves. Sand is a highly fluid material, and after the grave robber digs out the sand hole, the sand flow will cause the boulder in the mezzanine to collapse and crush the grave robber to death. Even if the tomb robber's idea fixed the sand, but digging down will encounter hundreds or even thousands of pounds of boulders, making the tomb robber lose his previous achievements.
The cost of a graveyard grave was high, and in ancient times, this type of burial was only enjoyed by nobles of the princely level. Seeing this, experts concluded that under the mound should be a princely tomb. In order to protect the collapsed tomb, the Cultural Relics Bureau decided to carry out a rescue excavation of the tomb.
Looted tombs
Although the grave of stone and sand is an insurmountable barrier for tomb robbers, in the face of the modern scientific expedition team, this kind of tomb is nothing, it is not difficult to dig. The staff of the archaeological team used the method of "big topping" to uncover the sediment from the top to the bottom layer by layer, and soon dug into the rafters. However, when the archaeologists saw the scene in the rafters, they were surprised.
As early as the process of excavation, the archaeologists found that this stone-sinking sand tomb had several caves left by tomb robbers of various dynasties, but there were simply too many boulders in the sand layer of this tomb, and the caves dug by the tomb robbers did not get close to the chamber at all. Seeing this scene, experts originally thought that this ancient tomb could survive and must be able to unearth some valuable cultural relics.
Who knows that after opening the rafters, the archaeologists found that the ancient tomb had long been looted by tomb thieves, and the rafters were empty. Originally, although the tomb robbers dug the robbery hole from above and did not dig through, they chose to enter the ancient tomb from under the rafters, of course, this method requires the tomb robber to master superb positioning technology, and did not expect that the tomb robbers really succeeded. Experts also found tools left by tomb robbers in the robbery cave under the rafters, and after analysis, this group of tomb robbers was a Han Dynasty tomb robber.
Although the tomb has been looted by tomb robbers and there are no valuable artifacts, the archaeologists were not discouraged, they continued to excavate the tomb meticulously, and finally the archaeologists found several bronze objects and arrows in a corner of the tomb.
In view of the high-specification tomb structure of this ancient tomb and the bronze artifacts and arrows excavated from the ancient tomb, experts deduce that this is a princely noble tomb in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods.
Mysterious burial pit
Since it is a tomb of a princely nobleman, will there be a burial pit around the tomb? According to the ceremonial system of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the prince was buried in the burial pit. Subsequently, the archaeological team conducted a meticulous archaeological survey around the tomb, and sure enough, archaeologists found a huge pit of carriages and horses in the northeast corner of the tomb.
The archaeological team then excavated the burial pit, and when the burial pit was uncovered, the archaeologists were once again stunned by the scene in the burial pit. I saw that there were four horse heads side by side in the burial pit, but the horse's body was missing.
Could it be that the horse's body has been corroded due to its age?
Subsequently, experts excavated the burial pit more carefully, but did not find any traces of the corroded bones of the horses in the burial pit, and all the evidence shows that the carriage and horse burial pit only buried 4 horse heads and no horse bodies when they were buried. Why?
The mystery of the owner of the tomb
According to the etiquette regulations of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period: Tianzi driving six, princes driving five, Qing driving four, doctor driving three, soldier driving two, And Shuren driving one. It can be seen from the fact that there are 4 horse heads in the burial pit of the carriage and horse, and the owner of this tomb should be a "Qing" level nobleman, a "big man" who has held the military power.
Why didn't the 4 horses buried have heads?
As experts re-explored the perimeter of the tomb, the mystery was finally revealed. Experts found a period of earth great wall from the Spring and Autumn Period 2 kilometers away from this ancient tomb, which shows that in the Spring and Autumn Warring States Period, Yexian Changzhuang Village was a border town.
The owner of this ancient tomb may be a "feudal governor" who guarded the border pass in ChuGuo Town, and this "feudal official" was buried in Changzhuang Village after his death. The reason why he was buried here may be because he could not let go of this border pass, and he would also be buried in this town to guard the border pass after his death.
Judging from the few burial items in the tombs and the fact that there were only horse heads and no horses in the burial pits, the officers and soldiers of the Chu state guarding the border in this town at that time lived very hard, and this "feudal official" was buried just in time for this difficult period. Although he enjoyed the same standard of burial ceremony, because the materials were too poor at that time, only 4 horse heads were buried in the burial pit of his carriage and horse, and the horse's body was eaten by the soldiers.
Of course, this is only a speculation of experts, what specific reason caused this "feudal official" to have only a horse's head and no horse body in the burial pit, and the real reason has long been silently drowned in the long river of years, and it is impossible to investigate.