Today (January 13) morning, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage held an important progress work meeting on the major project of "Archaeology in China" in Beijing, and reported four important archaeological achievements in the Tibet Autonomous Region, including the Chere Site, the Maliang Site, the Gebu Sailu Site, and the Dangxiong Cemetery.
These four archaeological discoveries cover Paleolithic wilderness sites, prehistoric settlement sites, comprehensive sites of buildings and cemeteries, and a Tubo period cemetery spanning tens of thousands of years.
01
Paleolithic Wilderness Sites: Cheze Sites
Located in Gar County, Ali Region, Tibet Autonomous Region, the Chere Site is a site of an early Holocene Paleolithic wilderness. Continuous stratigraphic accumulation was found at this site, 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 remains such as fire ponds and ash pits were also found. 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.
Ship-shaped stone cores excavated from the Cheze site
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.
02
Prehistoric settlement 4,000 years ago: the ruins of Mars
Located in Kangma County, Shigatse City, Tibet Autonomous Region, the Site of Mahao is a prehistoric settlement site dating back about 4,000 years. Archaeological excavations at the site have unearthed 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 excavated.
Stone rafter wooden coffin excavated at the Site of Marjo
The tomb shape includes sarcophagus tombs and vertical pit tombs; the pottery decorative patterns 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 the Hengduan Mountains.
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.
03
Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age: Gebseluru Ruins
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. Archaeological excavations at the site have 20 tombs, 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; the second period is from 2700 to 2100 years, mainly cave tombs, and the pottery excavated with burial is mainly sand red brown circle bottom ware.
Funerary ornaments excavated from the site of Gebuserru
The remains of the first phase of the Gebu Sailu Cemetery reflect the cultural characteristics of animal husbandry and hunting economy, and are closely related to the tombs of the same period in Xinjiang, and the remains of the second phase have obvious local archaeological and cultural characteristics, which are widely found in the middle reaches of the Xiangquan River. The Gebusela ruins are of great value for the study of the exchange and migration of people in the Xiangquan River Basin, and the formation and development of regional cultures.
04
Tubo period cemetery from the 7th to 9th centuries AD: Dangxiong cemetery
The Dangxiong Cemetery, located in Dangxiong County, Lhasa, is a Tubo period cemetery. A total of 52 sealed tombs have been found in the Dangxiong cemetery, and 14 have been excavated. Among them, large tombs include two major categories: vertical pit stone chamber tombs and circular dome-roof stone chamber tombs, and small tombs include stone chamber tombs and earth pit tombs, and animal martyrdom is more common, mainly including dogs, horses, cattle, sheep and so on.
The remains of the stone structure inside the sealed soil were found in the Dangxiong cemetery
More than 300 pieces (sets) of various utensils such as gold and silverware, dog head gold, lapis lazuli, agate, bronze ware, and textiles have been excavated from the cemetery. Carbon 14 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.
Red Star News reporter | Qiao Xueyang comprehensive report
Editor| Duan Xueying according to the CCTV news client
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