The Xuyang Cemetery Archaeological Project, which was awarded the Top Ten National Archaeological Discoveries in 2020, has recently made new progress. On the 23rd, the reporter learned at the archaeological site of Xuyang Cemetery that the funerary car and horse pit of a king-level tomb was initially cleaned up, showing the "four horses driving" car public opinion regulation, which not only showed the higher status of the tomb owner, but also further reflected that Lu Hunrong was strongly influenced by the Central Plains culture of the same period, becoming another example of the eclectic and ethnic integration of Chinese culture for five thousand years.
Archaeologists carefully studied the side of the pit
Multiple intact horse bones appear
The funerary car horse pit that was cleaned up this time is the funerary car horse pit corresponding to the previously closely watched M15 king-level tomb. At that time, archaeologists excavated burial utensils such as copper chimes, chimes, jade rings, jade wrenches, and jade wrenches from this tomb, and also found funerary car and horse pits corresponding to the tomb. After the Spring Festival this year, the Municipal Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology officially launched the cleaning of the funeral car and horse pit.
At noon on the 23rd, the reporter saw at the archaeological site of the aristocratic tomb area of Xuyang Cemetery that there was a protective greenhouse above the M15 tomb and its funeral car and horse pit, and inside the greenhouse, several archaeologists were cleaning up with bamboo sticks and brushes.
The bone tubes are beautifully ornamented
Approaching the funeral pit, we can see that a number of complete horse bones have been revealed, and a small number of fragments of carriage and horse ware and pottery have been found around it. The reporter noticed that on a newly excavated bone tube (the component on the carriage), the exquisite ornamentation was clearly visible.
Ma Zhanshan, the person in charge of the archaeological excavation site of Xuyang Cemetery, introduced that the funerary car horse pit can be divided into two areas, "car" and "horse", and what is currently being cleaned up is the "horse" area, which is likely to be a "driving four" specification of the funerary car horse pit, which is consistent with the identity status of the tomb owner. As the clean-up effort continues, the speculation will be further validated.
A number of horse bones appeared in the funerary carriage and horse pit
First discovery of vehicle fixation "devices"
The reporter saw that the "car" behind the "horse" is still covered with filled soil, but in the eyes of archaeologists, the complete vehicle seems to have appeared in front of the eyes.
"There should be a wooden slug here, probably damaged by this hole." At the scene, archaeologists pointed to the edge of the funerary car pit and discussed it. The reporter looked in the direction of the finger and found that there was still a semicircular hole in the east wall of the carriage and horse pit, indicating that it had been disturbed by theft.
"Based on previous excavation experience, we judged that this carriage and horse pit is more likely to be a 'whole car burial'." Ma Zhanshan introduced that the so-called "whole car burial", that is, a row of horses is buried in front and a complete vehicle is buried in the back. In contrast, the whole cart is dismantled and buried with the horses. Previously, the funerary car and horse pits in Xuyang Cemetery all adopted the form of "whole car burial", and some car and horse pits were also integrated with the unique head and hoof burial customs of the Rong people.
Reserved raw soil as a vehicle fixing "device"
At the junction of "car" and "horse", several pieces of raw soil (archaeological term, referring to native soil that has not been disturbed by humans) have attracted the attention of archaeologists - judging from the shape of these raw soils, they can just jam the wheels and rims on both sides of the vehicle, thus playing a role in fixing the funerary vehicle.
"Artificially reserved raw soil as a fixed 'device' for vehicles, which was first discovered in Xuyang Cemetery, shows that people at that time were also constantly summarizing experience and striving to keep the funerary products intact." Ma Zhanshan said.
The next step will be to explore the remains of Lu Hunrong's residence
A few hundred meters north of the aristocratic burial area of Xuyang Cemetery, there is also a large area of low-lying farmland, where several archaeologists are carrying out the clean-up and excavation work in an orderly manner.
Previously, archaeologists found another small tomb here, because the burial items contained typical Rong tomb funerary artifacts such as single-ear jars, and it was judged that this was also a Luhun Rong ethnic tomb.
However, the tombs in this area have obvious differences from the tombs in the area where the M15 King's Tomb is located, the former is mostly north-south, and the latter is mostly east-west.
The same is Lu Hunrong, why do the tombs show different burial customs? Wu Yeheng, head of the Xuyang Cemetery Archaeology Project, explained that after the Luhunrong ethnic group "moved inland to Yiluo", it was continuously influenced by the Central Plains culture. According to the general law, the aristocratic class was the first and most qualified to accept foreign culture, so the bronze ceremonial vessels in its tombs and the regulation of car public opinion in the carriage and horse pits all reflected the obvious cultural characteristics of the Central Plains, relatively speaking, the civilian class had limited ability to accept foreign culture, so it retained more Rong cultural characteristics.
"Comprehensive judgment, here should be a Lu HunRong civilian burial area, the relationship between its tomb owner and the lu Hun Rong noble tomb owner, still needs to be further excavated and explored." Wu Yeheng said that at this stage, the archaeological work is mainly concentrated in the tomb area of Lu Hunrong, and it is their funerary system that is studied. In the next step, they will explore the remains of the settlements related to Lu Hunrong and understand their living conditions.
Regarding the site of Lu Hunrong, archaeologists are continuing to investigate and explore. What's new to discover since then? Luo Bao Rong Media will continue to pay attention. (Luo Bao Rong Media Luoyang Network reporter Liu Jiayi Liang Xiaoyu text/photo/video)