After nearly 4 years of archaeological excavations, on April 16, the archaeological excavation project of the "Wuwangdun" tomb was opened to the media for the first time, and the results of the phased archaeological excavation were released. Archaeological findings show that Tomb No. 1 has a huge scale, complex structure, rich connotation, and a clear layout of the cemetery, which is the highest level of mausoleum in Chu State.
The identity of the owner of the tomb is yet to be solved
Gong Xicheng, a researcher at the Anhui Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and responsible person of the Wuwangdun archaeological project, said in response to a reporter's question that if the owner of the tomb is correlated with a specific person, there is still a lack of sufficient evidence to prove the identity of the owner of the tomb.
Layout of Tomb No. 1
"At present, the archaeological excavation of Wuwangdun has progressed to a third of the level," said Gong Xicheng, who is still far from being able to fully understand the contents of Wuwangdun tomb. At present, the time and energy of archaeologists are mainly focused on recording the cultural relics excavated on the site and safely transporting the cultural relics to the archaeological laboratory. Although there is speculation, there is not enough evidence to prove which one is the owner of Wuwangdun No. 1 Tomb.
"The Wuwangdun Tomb is very rich in connotation, and it is a treasure trove for our academic research, and we need to take time to slowly understand, interpret, and think about it, so that its value can be more excavated. Gong Xicheng said.
It has been discovered that the rough measurement caliber of Dading exceeds that of Chu Dading
Wuwangdun Tomb No. 1 is the main tomb of the cemetery, located in the center of the cemetery, and the excavation of Tomb No. 1 began in September 2020. By November 2023, the excavation of sealing and filling soil will be completed, and the current No. 1 tomb has entered the excavation and cleaning stage inside the coffin.
There is an independent cemetery around the No. 1 tomb of Wuwangdun, with an area of nearly 1.5 million square meters. In the cemetery, there are relics such as carriage and horse pits, burial tombs, and sacrificial pits. The carriage and horse pit is about 148 meters long from north to south and about 14 meters wide from east to west, which is the longest one in the carriage and horse pit of the excavated and proven Chu tomb.
The head of a wooden figurine unearthed from Tomb No. 1
According to reports, the No. 1 tomb of Wuwangdun has extracted more than 1,000 numbered cultural relics such as lacquered wood and bronze, including bronze ritual vessels, household utensils, lacquered wood utensils, musical instruments, figurines and other precious cultural relics. Among them, the number and variety of lacquered wood ware are unprecedented. The coarse diameter of the large tripod placed at the south end of the east I room is more than 88 centimeters, which is larger than the Chu Dading unearthed from the largest known Li San solitary pile and currently treasured in the Anhui Museum.
Aerial view of Room 1 in the east of Tomb No. 1
It is understood that Chu Dading is also known as the casting of the guest Dading, unearthed in 1933 in Shou County Zhujiaji Li San Gudui Chu King Tomb, is one of the Anhui Museum's "treasures of the town hall", has a history of about 2600 years, is the largest and heaviest bronze tripod found in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period so far, and is also the prototype of the national memorial tripod in China's first national memorial day ceremony. (Reporter Huang Nana, Zheng Qiangqiang, Cheng Xuqi)