2012 was a fruitful year for archaeologists in Xinjiang. They explored almost a thousand tombs, and 12 of the great results were announced. These include the 2012 archaeological excavations in Xinyuan County, the archaeological excavations at the Kyzylgayi Cemetery in Aktau County, the archaeological excavations at the Yar Cemetery in Hami City, and so on. Interested partners can continue to dig deeper.
After the 21st century, the speed of China's development is getting faster and faster, coupled with the state's strong support for the Xinjiang region, so there are more and more factories in these places, and the construction of infrastructure is also in full swing, such as railway construction, west-to-east gas transmission and other large-scale projects. In order to promote these activities as soon as possible, the work of the archaeological team is very heavy, and they must carry out a large number of explorations in the shortest possible time to protect historical sites and cultural relics to the greatest extent.
But obviously there are people who are faster than archaeologists, who are these people? It is a mad tomb robber, and many tombs in China have been destroyed by tomb robbers to varying degrees. The same is true in xinjiang, where many cemeteries have been looted. There are still many cemeteries in Xinjiang, but it is almost impossible to find a very complete one.
In these areas, nearly 20% of the cemeteries have found funerary items such as gourds. Ai Tao, a worker at the Xinjiang Archaeological Research Institute, said: "In an excavation in 2011, more than 20 gourds were found in a grave, which is also the most excavated. ”
In the past excavations, the excavations were all gold and silver jewelry, utensils, and almost no gourds were found. Therefore, everyone suspects that the gourd is a representative item of local burial customs.
Most of the cemeteries where the gourds were unearthed are near the confluence of the Yeerqiang River and the Charlong River in the depths of the Kunlun Mountains, and as far as the eye can see, they are all high mountain cliffs, and these cemeteries are in the caves of those cliffs, the environment is unusually bad, why should the local residents bury people here with all their efforts? It's puzzling. Ai Tao said.
They also found that the place south of the cemetery was considered a resort by the locals. What does it represent? The mystery has not yet been solved.
Ai Tao said: "There is no only rule for the placement of these gourds, some are inside the coffin, some are outside. These gourds are processed at first glance, and there are grains on them, and some holes, and some have ropes on them." During the Han Dynasty, the gourd was a symbol of many blessings and many children, and the gourd looked like a pregnant woman at first glance, so Ai Tao said that this may be an expectation of fertility.
The burial method here is also worth studying, 102 graves have been excavated, and any new developments will be announced in the first place.