On January 6, a reporter from the Nanguo Morning Post learned from the Beihai Municipal Cultural Relics Research Center that archaeologists recently found an ancient tomb group with an area of 70,000 square meters in Fucheng Town, Yinhai District, Beihai City, and initially explored more than 200 cemeteries. According to preliminary identification, the tomb dates to the Sui and Tang dynasties of the Six Dynasties, and is rare in Beihai and even Guangxi, with high research value.
▲Schematic diagram of the distribution range of the large tree root tomb group.
The ancient tomb group is located in Dashugen Village, the ancient city village committee of Fucheng Town, and for a long time, due to the activities of local villagers in the area such as digging pits and soil, building roads and planting trees, the tomb group has been damaged to varying degrees.
At present, nearly 30 tombs have been exposed to the ground, most of which have damaged the upper part of the burial chamber, leaving only the bottom of the tomb.
▲ Bare tombs on the surface.
According to the archaeological staff, the most prominent feature of the tomb group is that the burial chamber is generally constructed of stone pieces commonly known as "grinding wheel pieces", and some tombs are composed of brick and stone, with narrow and shallow shapes, and simple regulations.
▲ The burial group is scattered in the fields along the Xinjiang River in the northwest of the tomb group. Courtesy of Beihai City Museum
According to preliminary exploration, there are about 200 ancient tombs in the Dashugen Tomb Group. The relics collected by the staff at the scene include pottery, porcelain, iron and other types, and the recognizable shapes include hard pottery four series pots, sand-filled clay kettles, celadon bowls, and iron knives. The pottery pattern is decorated with water ripples, milk nail patterns, string patterns, etc. In addition, more geometric bricks and a small number of "Pavilion" inscription bricks have been found.
▲Milk nail pattern pottery collected around the ancient tomb group.
Combined with the characteristics of the tomb shape system and the collection of relics, archaeologists speculate that the age of the tomb group is about the Six Dynasties, Sui and Tang Dynasties.
"Ancient tombs from the Sui and Tang dynasties of the Six Dynasties are rare in Guangxi, and the stone slab material is even rarer." Liao Yuantian, director of the Beihai Municipal Museum and director of the Beihai Cultural Relics Protection and Research Center and the Beihai Maritime Silk Road Application Center, told reporters that the unique materials and construction styles of the Dashugen Ancient Tomb Group are rare in Beihai and even Guangxi, with high academic research value and historical research value, and also fill the gap of this type of cultural relics in Guangxi.
▲Ceramics collected around the ancient tomb group.
Liao Yuantian introduced that 2 kilometers away from the Dashugen Ancient Tomb Group, there is an inconspicuous earth slope, which is actually the site of an ancient city wall. The site of the city is planar and square, with a side length of about 120 meters, and the city walls are made of earth. Combined with the literature and the distribution of the dashugen ancient tomb group, it is preliminarily speculated that the city site may be an ancient city during the Southern and Northern Dynasties or the location of Zhuchi County in the early Tang Dynasty.
▲ "Pavilion" inscription brick.
At present, the cultural relics management department has set up a plaque around the Dashugen ancient tomb group for protection, and at the same time, the local government has arranged for village cadres to strengthen inspections and stop the villagers' sabotage in a timely manner.
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In order to cooperate with the "Maritime Silk Road Beihai Historical Sites" to declare the World Cultural Heritage and further clarify the distribution of the historical and cultural heritage of Beihai City, since 2014, Beihai City has launched a systematic coastal archaeological survey.
After the coastal archaeological survey of Beihai City was carried out in 2021, more than 10 sites and relics distribution points were newly discovered in the local area, such as the Qin and Han settlements of the Warring States of Shan pig kengling, the tombs of the Six Dynasties of Shuihan in Wujie Street, the tang dynasty kiln site of Wayaoling, the Song and Yuan ruins of Oilhang houses, the Ming Dynasty kiln sites of The Langen Cylinder Tile Kilns, and the Qinghua Kiln Sites of the Qing Dynasty in Muyantang.
"Judging from the archaeological surveys in recent years, the historical context of the Beihai sea has been basically clarified, which provides more physical support and theoretical basis for the study of the history and culture of the Beihai." The relevant person in charge of the Beihai Cultural Relics Research Center said that in the next step, the local government will start a special investigation of ancient ports, wharves and ancient kiln sites, systematically investigate the remains related to the Maritime Silk Road in the Beihai, find out the specific distribution of kiln sites in the Beihai in various periods, and look for the ancient port ruins in the Beihai area.
Southern Morning Post reporter Peng Qing
Source: Southern Morning Post