In 2017, two Chinese archaeological discoveries subverted people's imagination, including a sword in a thousand-year-old tomb and a bowl of broth from a thousand-year-old tomb, both of which are related to an ancient tomb site in Xinyang, Henan Province, which is a tomb of the Chu state.
Archaeologists were busy in November 2016 on a plot of land south of the Guo Lou Group in Qiuzhuang Village, Pingqiao District, XinxinYang, Henan Province. They had to clear out the artifacts labeled M18 tombs before they froze, because the two adjacent tombs had been stolen, so the M18 tomb became the last hope of archaeologists. After preliminary archaeological investigation, it was found that although the town soil on the M18 tomb was stolen, it did not reach the location of the rafters, and everyone was expecting the M18 tomb, but the arrival of the rainy season disrupted their plans, and the tomb was not excavated until November. The M18 tomb is in the shape of an armor shape, with more than 100 square meters, divided into two parts: the burial chamber and the tomb passage, and there is a long slope tomb passage. With a heavy snowfall, the soil on the surface of the burial chamber has been cleared, and archaeologists have found that the rafters are covered with straw mats, which means that the M18 tomb has indeed not been stolen and excavated. Such a large and well-preserved tomb is exciting for everyone, but also has higher requirements for archaeological excavations.
After the work plan was revised, the excavation of the M18 tomb was officially launched, and the staff first reinforced the straw mat and extracted the grass mat with the help of the adhesion of gauze. After a day of work, the entire tomb's rafters were finally revealed, and there were a total of 9 rafter plates, and the thickness of each plate was not very consistent. The archaeologists first used the endoscope to check the situation under the rafter, and what people did not expect was that there was a layer of board under the rafter. Therefore, the archaeologists could only open the first layer of the board, and they decided to try it manually first. To everyone's surprise, the thickness of the rafters deformed the hard steel pipes, and they had to change the tools to try again. This time, with the efforts of everyone, the rafters were finally lifted. After fixing the supporting steel pipe below, the first rafter was finally successfully moved out. Due to the time-consuming and laborious manual removal of the slabs, the archaeologists decided to use a crane the next day to carry them, and the slabs were quickly all successfully moved, and the situation in the burial chamber was slowly revealed.
The water-filled burial chamber is divided into six areas, and the coffin of the tomb owner is exposed between the gaps in the seal. The archaeologists first removed the top seal, and because of the serious water accumulation, they pumped the burial chamber. The water in the rafters had been pumped out, and the archaeologists began to clean up the wind sealing plates that had fallen from the back chamber and the south chamber. With the gradual cleaning of the sealing plate, the artifacts below began to be revealed, and they first extracted the artifacts in the back chamber, and soon one by one the artifacts began to be removed from the burial chamber. The archaeologists carefully placed the artifacts in the transferred boxes, and in the back room the archaeologists cleared out pottery gifts such as pots and beans. A copper goblet was also found on the south wall of the back chamber. The shape of the bronze ge is typical of the late form of the middle warring states. The town tomb beasts that were later cleared out gave them a deeper understanding of the tomb.
Judging from the cultural relics cleared out of the back room, the age of this tomb is about the middle of the Warring States period, but the identity of the owner of the tomb is not clear. When the back room was all cleaned, it was already midnight, and the archaeologists, who had been busy for a day, decided to work again the next day. The next morning the test of cultural relics extraction work began, the most surprising to the archaeologists is that the test actually has five relatively well-preserved Ding, these five Tao Ding is a memorial supplies, Tao Tao Ding is covered with silt and other debris, one of which attracted the attention of archaeologists. Because the sealing is not good enough, the pottery is full of wooden swords, patent leather and other debris. But in the silt, archaeologists still found the bones of animals, and the water inside the ding, which was like a pot of broth. This 2,000-year-old broth makes the tense excavation site a little easier, in which the bones of the animals are soft and crushed at the touch, and need to be reinforced to extract the artifacts intact. Due to the incomplete temporary tools at the site, archaeologists can only wrap them in packaging film and put them in the warehouse, and then extract the substances at a later date. Immediately after the discovery of cultural relics in the burial chamber, the archaeologists were once again excited. This beautifully painted, well-preserved pottery, lifelike phoenix pattern, also gives them some clues. Honoring the dragon and worshipping the phoenix, paying attention to the unity of heaven and man, the Chu people who regard death as life are the most revered phoenix, and the many cultural relics unearthed in the end also confirm that tomb M18 is a Chu tomb in the middle of the Warring States period.
At this time, the indoor archaeological laboratory also came out with good news. After testing, the animal bones in Taoding are cow bones, which are less than 1.5 years old. According to the ancient people's view of death as life, it is more likely that it is a cooked cow bone. Whether this is a beef bone broth or beef broth is still debatable. Two days after the excavation of the ancient tomb, another cultural relic was unearthed, making the identity of the owner of the tomb gradually clear. Archaeologists found some pieces of armor, the excavation of leather armor, further indicating that the owner of the tomb may be related to the samurai, and in the subsequent excavations, archaeologists found the bird tiger drum. The Phoenix Bird Tiger Drum is a very classic lacquered wood ware in the style of Chu culture. Although the lacquerware has been somewhat untouched, archaeologists can still distinguish its beginning and end. After three days of cleaning, the back and side chambers of the burial chamber have been cleaned, and the focus of the archaeologists has begun to shift to the main chamber of the tomb. When removing the beams of the main chamber, it was found that the two adjacent rafter covers were combined by dovetail mortise. After removing the inner rafter cover, they found a large number of remnants of the desolation and coffin bundles on the main coffin. The curtain is a curtain drapery draped over the coffin of the tomb owner, mostly decorated with silk fabrics with various patterns, and in the Warring States period, the curtain was only used by nobles.
The coffin was used by the ancients with leather bundles and coffins to ensure the sealing and integrity of the coffin chamber. The discovery of the main coffin also proved that the main coffin was not damaged, which made the archaeologists present very excited. In order to ensure the integrity of the main coffin, they decided to carry out the entire coffin for further excavation. However, the burial chamber where the main coffin is placed is very small, and how to carry the coffin out completely has become the key to the whole work.
After rigorous discussion, the archaeologists decided to fill the main tomb with water and use the buoyancy of the water to make the main coffin surface. As the amount of water in the main burial chamber increased, the main coffin gradually floated up, and archaeologists on the side quickly fixed the surface of the main coffin for protection. After the reinforcement work was completed, the on-site personnel successfully hoisted the main coffin safely out of the water. Subsequently, archaeologists once again used plastic wrap to protect and seal the main coffin to prevent the main coffin from breaking or deteriorating. Despite the protection of plastic wrap, the longer the main coffin is out of the protected environment, the more unexpected situations it will face. Therefore, archaeologists need to transfer the main coffin to a safe location as soon as possible. Before the move, archaeologists reinforced the surroundings of the main coffin with pre-customized steel frames. In order to prevent a collision between the main coffin and the steel frame during the handling process, the staff also filled them with sponges, after which they stitched the joints with wire. After fixing the adjusting rope under the main coffin to control the balance, the main coffin begins to be officially lifted.
The main coffin slowly moved towards the car prepared in advance, and the main coffin was finally safely placed on the transport vehicle and began to drive towards the Chengyang City Ruins Laboratory. Two hours later, the transporter arrived at the square in front of the laboratory, and everything was proceeding in an orderly manner according to everyone's plan. However, just as the main coffin was about to enter the laboratory, the transporter's leg suddenly broke. After the artificial emergency repair, the main coffin finally entered the laboratory, what secrets are hidden in the millennium main coffin? After opening the plastic wrap, they first made a preliminary observation, under the cover, archaeologists found two traces of wood, the wood is generally used to fix the coffin, so will these two places be the key to opening the coffin lid? In the end, they decided to scan the inside of the main coffin for further excavations.
After scanning the images, the experts understood the basic situation, and the long-awaited opening of the coffin finally began. In order to prevent loose damage to the coffin itself during the opening of the coffin, the archaeologists were very careful about their movements. As the coffin opens little by little, the secret of the thousand-year-old is about to appear before everyone's eyes. In order to better protect the tomb coffin and the artifacts in it, they immediately wrapped it with plastic wrap. Through the plastic wrap, the archaeologists carefully observed the situation inside the coffin, and they suddenly had a new discovery, and there was a bronze sword in the coffin! Holding back the excitement in their hearts, the archaeologists began to clean up the artifacts inside the coffin when everything was ready. The first thing to be extracted was an arrow, followed by most of the bow, and then the sword was carefully extracted. After carefully removing the sword, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and after the extraction work was completed, the cleaning of the ancient sword began. After carefully cleaning up the surface of the mud, the sword scabbard was gradually revealed, and after more than 2,000 years of erosion, the scabbard was still intact. Then the archaeologists tried to pull out the sword, ready to see the true appearance of the sword, and the moment the sword came out, it surprised the eyes of everyone present.
This bronze sword has obvious blue quenching marks, proving that this is a new bronze sword, after more than 2,000 years, the sword body is still cold and radiant. For the protection of cultural relics, archaeologists did not test the sharpness, and the excavation of this bronze sword confirmed the conjecture of the identity of the tomb owner. However, the bones of the owner of the tomb have long been glued together with various sediments in the coffin, and the next work of archaeologists is to clean the bones of the owner of the tomb.
Although it was late at night, the archaeological work was still continuing, and archaeologists were convinced that more information could be found. From the cultural relics currently unearthed, it can be basically determined that the owner of the tomb is a military general of the Chu State, but the speculation is that it is speculation that so far it has not been confirmed who it is. Although the tomb has not been destroyed, the dynasty and general identity can only be judged through these objects, after all, 2,000 years ago was too far away. Archaeologists are not omnipotent, and they can only constantly strive to get closer to the truth and history. But I believe that with the in-depth study of the excavated cultural relics by archaeologists, the secret of this Chu soldier more than 2,000 years ago will finally be revealed. What do you think about that?