01. Stone Tomb
In May 2016, due to the covetousness of tomb robbers, an ancient tomb from the two-week period, 800 meters north of Linfen Tao Temple in Shanxi Province, was discovered.
This tomb is huge in scale, with an area of 250,000 square meters, and the tombs in the northwest of the cemetery are older, some tombs belong to the late Western Zhou Dynasty, and the southeast has reached the Warring States period, and the cemetery has lasted for about 500 years.
After a series of explorations by the archaeologists, the number of excavated tombs reached 1283 and the number of pits of carriage and horse!
Not far from the tomb group, there is the famous "Tao Temple Ruins" in the archaeological community.
Here is the middle reaches of the Yellow River in China to the Longshan culture pottery temple type of sites, many experts and scholars even proposed: the tao temple ruins are the location of the capital city of Diyao, is the earliest "China".
Then, to be able to build such a huge family cemetery near the ruins of tao temple, the owner of the tomb is undoubtedly the aristocratic class of the superpower "Jinguo" in the Spring and Autumn Period.
Who the hell are they? What kind of wonderful life story do you have?
A few months later, work on the site was nearing completion, leaving only the last two largest tombs, about to enter the process of excavation. The two tombs are numbered Tombs 1 and 2, respectively.
Among them, Tomb No. 1 is the most eye-catching. Because of its sheer size, it ranks first among thousands of proven tombs!
However, more and more large stones appeared one after another, which surprised archaeologists.
Fill in a large number of stones in the tomb sealing soil, is this the legendary "stone tomb"?
However, as the excavations progressed, the smiles on the faces of the archaeologists increased! What's going on here?
It turned out that the stones that caused great difficulties to the team members had also successfully resisted the grave robbers for thousands of years!
02, "crushed bones" bronze
The tomb has been cleared to the coffin position, and the burial artifacts have appeared one after another!
According to the number of excavated cultural relics and the type of artifacts, archaeologists speculated that the owner of this tomb should be a nobleman of the Jin Dynasty!
However, the tragic situation presented in front of us made everyone's mood a little heavy.
The entire tomb is piled with huge bronzes, including bronze pots, bronze dings and other ceremonial instruments, and even a set of 8 pieces of musical instruments and bronze pendants, but they have long been "crushed to pieces" and lost their original form!
It turned out that although the huge weight of the stone at the top of the tomb protected the tomb from theft, it also became the culprit that collapsed the tomb...
More than 2,000 years ago, the boulders were pressed to the top, so that these once exquisite bronzes have become what they are now!
However, in the corner of Tomb No. 1, a surviving artifact was found! This eased the atmosphere a little.
This is a large bronze pot with a bird's snake ornament on the neck and a dragon's double body on the abdomen, archaeologists say that this style of ornamentation, which is rarely seen in the tombs of the Jin Dynasty in the same period, is a very precious cultural relic!
03, the largest tomb turned out to be a woman
However, in the next excavation, the expert suddenly began to frown again, as if thinking about something?
Originally, although there were many kinds of burial items in the tomb, and the five dings, chimes, etc. representing the identity of the scholar and doctor were also unearthed, but only something was missing?
Fewer weapons! Archaeologists in a word! The excavation of Tomb No. 1 has reached the bottom, and not a single weapon has been found! This is rare in previous excavation experiences!
By this time, the experts had to give another possibility for the owner of the tomb – she might be a woman!
This is the largest of the Jin national tombs, and for several months, it has been believed that a scholar is buried here.
However, the reality of burial without weapons has already told them the answer - the owner of the tomb is a woman!
So, who will be the female tomb owner who is entitled to the largest tomb, the most burial items, and the most exquisite utensils?
The answer to this question may only be revealed after the coffin of the burial chamber is opened!
04. The owner of the tomb who is pregnant
Soon, the slab of the burial chamber was removed, and the scene in front of me was once again shocking!
Buried underground for more than two thousand years, the coffin of the owner of the tomb has long since corroded and disappeared, mixed with the mud.
At the location of the coffin sprinkled with red cinnabar, the remains of a human skeleton can be faintly seen...
However, the erosion of the years has already turned these bones into soft "tofu", and the slightest touch may disappear...
Archaeologists say that due to the influence of underground conditions in Shanxi Province, it is difficult to preserve the bones buried deep for more than 2,000 years. And Tomb No. 1 can actually be a relatively complete human skeleton form, which is already a "miracle"!
After taking a closer look at the position of the abdominal pelvis of the bones, the experts in physical anthropology also gave a surprising answer -
This is a woman about 30 years old, and she actually has a baby in her belly!
What happened to her? Was it dystocia? Or some other accidental death? A series of questions came to people's minds.
However, after more in-depth discussion, experts in physical anthropology believe that the location of the baby's remains indicates that the woman has not yet reached the time of childbirth, in other words: she did not die in childbirth!
In this way, this woman with an incomparably noble status suffered a fatal blow during pregnancy, which made her and her child who had not yet given birth to full term die together...
The dust of time has long since obscured all traces of two thousand years ago, and we have no way of knowing what the terrible "disaster" that took the woman's life was!
Only through this luxurious tomb can you feel the great pain that the tribesmen have endured for her death!
They desperately built the largest of the family cemeteries to bury the pregnant woman!
Near Tomb No. 1, the No. 2 tomb where the archaeologists have completed excavations should have buried her husband. And the size of Tomb 2 is still smaller than Tomb 1!
Nowadays, physical anthropology experts have extracted part of the broken bones of women through professional scientific means for the extraction of ancient human DNA.
Although the preservation of broken bones is very unsatisfactory, experts cannot guarantee how much valuable DNA information can be obtained from them.
But, at the very least, this technology gives us hope!
Perhaps, in the near future, the identity of this mysterious aristocratic woman in the Tomb of the Northern Jin Dynasty of Tao Temple will be concluded through a series of DNA explorations...
Although she has been dead for more than two thousand years, she has long disappeared into the fog of history. But we have never forgotten her, looking forward to meeting her in another time and space...