The State Administration of Cultural Heritage released 4 important archaeological discoveries in Tibet

This morning (13th), the State Administration of Cultural Heritage held a report meeting on archaeological discoveries in Tibet and reported the research results of 4 major archaeological discoveries in Tibet.

Four important archaeological discoveries in Tibet cover Paleolithic wilderness sites, prehistoric settlement sites, comprehensive sites of buildings and cemeteries, and a Tubo period cemetery spanning tens of thousands of years.

First, the site of chere heat

Located in Gar County, Ali Region, Tibet Autonomous Region, the Chere Site is a site of an early Holocene Paleolithic wilderness. In 2020, with the approval of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the Institute of Cultural Relics Conservation of the Tibet Autonomous Region and the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences jointly conducted archaeological excavations at the site.

Archaeology at the Chere site found continuous stratigraphic accumulation, and more than 5,000 relics were unearthed, including a large number of stone products, a small number of animal bones and burnt stones, and also found relics such as fire ponds and ash pits. One of the densely distributed areas of stone artifacts, with more than 2,000 relics unearthed, is speculated to be the remains of ancient people who made stone tools and buried them in situ. The discovery of two types of stone tool technology, stone chip industry and fine stone leaf industry, speculated to be the remnants of human activities in two different periods, shows that ancient humans experienced at least two repeated occupation processes in this area, and this combination of stone tools changes helps to understand the influence, drive and cultural response of environmental changes and stone tool technological innovations on the adaptation of ancient humans to plateau processes.

The Chere site is one of the first batch of prehistoric wilderness sites systematically excavated in western Tibet, and is a rare site of early prehistoric human activities with clear stratigraphic accumulation in the hinterland of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, filling the gap of prehistoric archaeological culture dating from 8,000 to 10,000 years ago in the hinterland of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

Second, the ruins of Mar good

Located in Kangma County, Shigatse City, Tibet Autonomous Region, the Site of Mahao is a prehistoric settlement site dating back about 4,000 years. From 2020 to 2021, with the approval of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Peking University, and the Institute of Cultural Relics Protection of the Tibet Autonomous Region jointly carried out archaeological work on the site.

Archaeological excavations at the Ma liang site have excavated 10 tombs, as well as relics of human life such as fire ponds and ash pits, and relics such as stone tools, pottery, bone tools, mussel ornaments, talc beads, and jade pipe beads have been unearthed. The tomb shape system includes sarcophagus tomb, vertical pit tomb, burial style mainly has three types of stooped straight limb burial, secondary bone burial, suspected "mass burial", according to the shape system can be roughly divided into three stages. The decorative patterns of pottery are mainly carved and scratched, as well as poke dot patterns, embossing patterns, plaster patterns, etc., and the technical style is similar to that of the same period in hengduan mountainous areas.

The Machu site represents a new type of archaeological culture, which is of great significance for establishing the sequence of prehistoric archaeological cultures in Tibet and exploring the extreme environmental processes and strategies of human adaptation to high cold and lack of oxygen.

3. The ruins of Gebseiru

Located in Zada County, Ali Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region, the Gebusaru Ruins date from 3600 to 2100 and are a comprehensive site of architecture and cemetery. From 2017 to 2020, with the approval of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the Tibet Autonomous Region Institute of Cultural Relics Protection, together with the Shaanxi Provincial Archaeological Research Institute and Northwest University, carried out continuous archaeological work on the site.

There are 20 archaeological excavations at the Gebuseluru site, 4 stone remains, and 1 stone wall. The tomb is divided into two periods, the first period is 3600 to 3000 years old, mainly stone chamber tombs, burial styles are mainly upright limb burial, with the burial of small circular bottom painted clay pots, beads, copper ornaments, stone tools, etc. The second period dates from 2700 to 2100, mainly cave tombs, rich types, burial styles include lateral limb burial, bone picking secondary burial, with burial unearthed pottery to sand red brown round bottom ware mainly, the shape of the instrument is larger, more decorative thick rope patterns and engravings, stamps and so on.

Gebuselaru cemetery is large in scale, diverse types of remains, long chronological spans, rich cultural connotations, the first phase of the remains reflect the culture of animal husbandry, hunting economic characteristics, and there is a relatively close relationship with the same period of tombs in Xinjiang region, the second phase of the remains have obvious local archaeological and cultural characteristics, this type of remains are widely seen in the middle reaches of the Xiangquan River. The discovery of the Gebusailu site is of great value for studying the exchange and migration of people in the Xiangquan River Basin and the formation and development of regional cultures.

Fourth, dangxiong cemetery

The Dangxiong Cemetery, located in Dangxiong County, Lhasa, is a Tubo period cemetery. From 2020 to 2021, with the approval of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the Institute of Cultural Relics Protection of the Tibet Autonomous Region and the Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology jointly conducted archaeological excavations on the cemetery.

A total of 52 sealed tombs have been found in the Dangxiong cemetery, and 14 have been excavated. Large tombs include vertical pit stone chamber tombs and circular dome roof stone chamber tombs two categories, small tombs include stone chamber tombs and earth pit tombs, the tomb perimeter has stone blocks and pieces of stone barriers made of the wall, burial style is mainly for the secondary burial of bone picking, animal martyrdom is more common, mainly dogs, horses, cattle, sheep and so on. More than 300 pieces (sets) of various utensils such as gold and silverware, dog head gold, lapis lazuli, agate, bronze ware, and textiles were unearthed. Carbon dating shows that the tomb dates from the 7th to the 9th century AD.

This excavation is the first formal archaeological excavation of a large-scale sealed tomb in Tibet in Tibet in recent years, further revealing the funerary customs and systems of Tubo culture. At the same time, the tomb unearthed stone black and white Go pieces, lacquer fragments, textiles and other relics, showing a close connection with the Central Plains culture, is an important empirical evidence of the exchanges and blending of various ethnic groups.

(CCTV reporter Tian Yunhua, Yan Hong, Zhang Lilei)

Source: CCTV news client