Panoramic view of the M8 tomb chamber
Unearthed copper gordon
Unearthed copper spears
Unearthed jade fish
From November 2017 to May 2018, the archaeological team excavated 93 tombs in the north of Gongxi Village, Weicheng Town, Weicheng District, Xianyang City , that is, Qinhan New Town , including the Warring States Qin Dynasty tombs, in addition to Han Dynasty tombs and Ming and Qing tombs.
Among them, M26 and M8 are two high-grade tombs, and the burial tools are one coffin and two coffins.
The M8 is extremely rich in burial items, and the vast majority are bronze. Unearthed burial utensils include bronze ceremonial vessels such as dings, round pots, flat pots, and a large number of carriage and horse tools, weapons, etc. There are a large number of jade artifacts unearthed in the coffin, unfortunately no bones have been found. M8 is one of the few well-preserved high-grade Qin tombs in the area around the ruins of Qin Xianyang City. The weapons found in the tomb include copper spears cast with Bashu-style symbols, Wuyue-style ge and Chu-style ge with wrong gold and silver birds and insect books, and glass beads with The characteristics of Chinese and Western exchanges were also found, which shows that the tomb owner was a military general before his death, and the diversity of excavated artifacts shows the frequent exchanges between countries during the Warring States period, including the way of peace or war.
In 2019, new progress was made in archaeological discoveries and research in the Qin and Han Dynasties, with more than 90 excavation reports, report collections, treatises and papers published, and more than 800 briefings and research articles, covering city sites, tombs, handicrafts, sealing mud, pottery, stone inscriptions, Jian Mu Shu, Silk Road archaeology, scientific and technological archaeology and many other aspects.
Published archaeological reports and report collections include Fenglin City: Report on Archaeological Excavations from 1998 to 2000 (Science Publishing House), Zhejiang Quanyangou Han Dynasty Cemetery (Henan People's Publishing House), Changgou Han Tomb (Science Publishing House), Fengtai Nanyuan Han Tomb (Science Publishing House), Baofeng Liao Qiying Cemetery (Science Publishing House), Dengfeng Shuangmiao Warring States Qin Han Cemetery (Science Publishing House), Xiangyang Bian Ying Cemetery (Cultural Relics Publishing House), Dongzhuang Cemetery of Yuxian County (Zhongzhou Ancient Books Publishing House), Shangshui Yangdanzhuang Cemetery (Elephant Publishing House), Chongqing Reservoir Area Archaeological Report Collection (2003 volume) (Science Publishing House), Chongqing Three Gorges Follow-up Work Archaeological Report Collection (First Series) (Science Publishing House), Chongqing Han Dynasty Portrait Archaeological Report Collection (Science Publishing House), Huanghuai Seven Provinces Archaeological New Discoveries (2011-2017) (Elephant Publishing House), Archaeological Exploration Report Collection of Xuchang City, Henan Province (2015-2016) (Zhongzhou Ancient Books Publishing House), etc. Jian Mu's reports include "Yumen Guan Han Jian" (Zhongxi Bookstore), "Hanging Spring Han Jian (I)" (Chinese and Western Bookstore), "Changsha Wuyi Square Eastern Han Jian Mu (reference)" (Zhongxi Bookstore), "Changsha Wuyi Square Eastern Han Jian Mu (Wanton)" (Chinese and Western Bookstore) and so on.
Originally published in The Yearbook of Chinese Archaeology 2020
Edited by the Chinese Archaeological Society, published in October 2021
Illustrations and text descriptions are from the Internet, not the original text with pictures