Briefing on the excavation of the tombs of Tang Sun Chengsi and his wife (Part 1)
Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology Xi'an Institute of Cultural Relics Protection and Archaeology
[Originally published in Archaeology and Cultural Relics, No. 2, 2005, the original text is longer, reprinted in three parts]
[If cited, please refer to the original text]
In order to cooperate with the construction of the new campus of Shaanxi Normal University, the Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Archaeology and the Xi'an Institute of Cultural Relics Protection and Archaeology formed a joint archaeological team to conduct centralized excavations in the new campus planning area from December 2001 to November 2002, excavating a total of 100 Han, Western Jin and Sui and Tang tombs. The site is located in the south of Maopo Village, Guo Du Town, Chang'an District, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, and close to the Weiguo Highway to the north. Located in the southwest of the Sui Daxing Tang Chang'an City, about seven or eight kilometers apart, the terrain is high-pitched, known as "Gaoyangyuan" in the Sui and Tang dynasties, and is one of the main burial areas for the residents of the capital (Figure 1). From April 10 to April 26, 2002, we excavated the M12. The tomb is a joint burial tomb of Sun Chengsi and his wife Gao Shi, who are often elected by the Tang Army. The excavations are briefed below:
1. Tomb shape system
(1) Tomb shape system
The tomb is a single-brick chamber tomb with two patios in a long slope tomb passage, and the tomb passage is opened above the black mound below 0.5 meters above the surface, sitting north and facing south, in a direction of 175 degrees. It is 16.28 meters long and 5.1 meters deep. It is composed of parts such as the tomb passage, the cave, the patio, the yongdao, and the burial chamber (Figure 2).
The plan of the tomb is rectangular. The open-air part of the cemetery (the first crossing of the cave south) has a small bottom, the south end is 1.1 meters wide, the north end opening is 0.6 meters wide, and the bottom is 1.14 meters wide. The length from the southern end of the opening to the southern end of the first crossing cave is 6.88 meters, and the length to the southern end of the Yongdao is 1.14 meters (measured at the upper opening of the tomb road). The bottom is a slope with a slope of 24 degrees, and the slope of the tomb is 12 meters long, ending in front of the brick sealed door.
Two holes. All are rectangular vaulted roofs that slope down the slope of the cemetery. The first crossing of the cave is south of the north side of the cemetery road, and the north is adjacent to the first patio. On both sides, each side is 5 centimeters in size, 1 meter wide, 1.04 meters long and 1.65 meters high at the north-south level. The second cave is located between the first and second patios, with 5 cm inwards on each side, 0.9 meters wide, and 1.2 meters long and 1.68 meters high from north to south.
Patio two. The plane is rectangular in shape. The upper mouth of the first patio is 1.26 meters long from north to south and 0.4 meters wide. The upper mouth of the second patio is 1.4 meters long from north to south and 0.4 meters wide.
The brick gate is located on the south side of the Yongdao. The tomb road was originally paved with a herringbone shape, and there are still two layers at the bottom that are intact.
Yongdao is located in the north of the cemetery road, made of brick coupons. It is 1.72 meters long from north to south, 0.92 meters wide from east to west, and the vault is 0.92 meters high. The bottom is tiled.
The burial chamber is located on the north side of the Yongdao and is a single-chamber brick tomb. First dig a rectangular vertical pit and then build a brick chamber in the earthen mound. The outsole is small and square, with an opening side length of 3.4 meters, an opening to a bottom depth of 4.6 meters, and a surface to bottom depth of 5.1 meters. The plan of the brick burial chamber is curved square, 2.48 meters from east to west and 2.64 meters from north to south. Domed roof, tile paved floor, the top height of 2.92 meters. The tomb bricks are all long green bricks, with a specification of 0.32 long, 0.16 wide and 0.06 meters thick. Individual bricks are molded with handprints.
(2) Burial styles and burial utensils
The bones are poorly preserved, with only a few fragments of bone seen. Due to the serious theft, the burial style and burial utensils are difficult to distinguish. Brick coffin bed, located on the west side of the burial chamber. It is 2.64 meters long, 1.5 meters wide and 0.3 meters high.