On the 16th, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage released a new archaeological discovery of the Wuwangdun tomb in Huainan, Anhui Province. It is preliminarily inferred that the main tomb (No. 1 tomb) of Wuwangdun Tomb may be a Chu king-level tomb after the Chu State moved its capital to Shouchun City in the late Warring States period. After nearly 5 years of archaeological excavation, the scale structure of the main tomb of Wuwangdun has been clear, in addition to the main coffin chamber has not been revealed, the cultural relics buried in the 8 side coffin chambers have been revealed, at present, the archaeological excavation has entered the excavation and cleaning stage inside the coffin.
The scale structure of the main tomb has been defined
The main tomb of Wuwangdun (Tomb No. 1) in Huainan, Anhui Province, officially started archaeological excavation in 2020. The dismantling of the coffin covers began on March 7, 2024, and by March 27, the extraction of all four layers of coffin covers has been completed, with a total of 443 pieces and a total weight of about 153 tons.
Up to now, the core coffin of the main tomb of Wuwangdun has been revealed, and its structural layout has been clear:
The bottom of the tomb is close to a square, with a side length of about 22 meters, and the middle area is made of huge fir-wood to build a wooden coffin chamber with multiple coffin structures. The tomb is basically due south and north, with a total of 8 side chambers in the east, south, west and north, which respectively contain cultural relics such as bronze ritual vessels, household utensils, wooden figurines, and musical instruments.
Zhang Wenjie, head of the archaeological group of the Wuwangdun archaeological excavation project: Through our archaeological excavation work, the entire buried nature of it is relatively clear. The east room is basically a ritual vessel for burying all kinds of bronze, that is, some utensils such as tripods and gui. This room on the north side, it is supposed to symbolize the music house, mainly with the funeral musical instruments. The south room is mainly used for the burial of various living utensils, including some lacquered wood utensils, and possibly some terracotta and horse utensils. The west room creates a scene of music and dancing and carriage and horse travel.
The depth from the bottom of the tomb to the surface opening is 19 meters, and from the top of the coffin to the surface, it is 15 meters. In particular, the coffin cover plate is alternated with huge fir wood and thin plates in turn to form a multi-layer seal. Scientific research has shown that the content of green plaster mud with strong viscosity and low water permeability decreases from the bottom to the top. The fill is also rammed layer by layer.
- On the surface, the opening of the Wuwangdun tomb is square, with a side length of about 51 meters. The enclosure above the surface is 14 meters high.
- In addition, on the east side of the burial chamber, there is a 42-meter-long ramp burial path. The four walls of the tomb have steps to adduct step by step, and the surface of the steps is reinforced with green plaster mud.
Gong Xicheng, leader of the Wuwangdun archaeological excavation project: We can basically determine that it is a tomb at the level of the king of Chu, which can reflect the economic level, political system, and manufacturing level of the entire Chu State at that time, and it is a relatively comprehensive information, so this is very rare.
The tomb of King Wu extracts the head of lacquer-painted wooden figurines
The archaeological excavation of Wuwangdun tomb entered the end of March and the beginning of April, and with the decline of the water level of the coffin, a large number of cultural relics were gradually revealed. So far, the archaeological team has extracted more than 300 pieces of lacquered wood.
Zhang Zhiguo, person in charge of cultural relics protection of Wuwangdun archaeological excavation project: It is mainly based on musical instruments, some daily necessities, and some components. In addition, there are some wooden figurine heads, the heads of wooden figurines, and two pieces have been extracted at present.
Due to the long-term immersion in stagnant water, when it was first unearthed, the wooden figurines were covered with silt. After cleaning in the laboratory, it was revealed for what it really was.
- The two wooden figurines are both wooden carcass, and the red and black lacquer paint paint depicts the human face, although they are both square faces, they are slightly rounded. The difference is that the figurine on the left has a fish scale decoration behind the head, which experts say may be the "braid" of the wooden figurine.
The most surprising thing for archaeologists is that, in addition to the regular black and red lacquer, the eyebrows and mustache of the figurine on the right are painted with gold. In terms of shape, it looks rough and full of fierceness. However, after more than 2,000 years of burial, only subtle traces remain.
Zhang Zhiguo, the person in charge of cultural relics protection of the Wuwangdun archaeological excavation project: The eight-character beard is painted with gold, and the eyebrows are also painted with gold, and the eyebrows and the eight-character beard are relatively thick and three-dimensional. The wood tire is more degraded, most of the parts below the chin are mutilated, the wood of the nose of a figurine is relatively rotten, one ear is still missing, and the other ear is seen to see if it can be found in the excavation below.
The gold tracing process shows a high specification
Zhang Zhiguo, the person in charge of cultural relics protection of Wuwangdun archaeological excavation project: Wuwangdun lacquerware, from the current point of view, black lacquer, red lacquer and some yellow color, in addition to some gold, and then these kinds of dominant. Black lacquer, the pigment inside is mainly carbon black. Like yellow color, its pigment is mainly a mixture of realgar and orpiment. The main ingredients of lacquerware of the same color should be similar.
It is understood that China is the first country in the world to recognize the characteristics of lacquer and adjust it into various colors for beautification and decoration. As early as six or seven thousand years ago, in the Hemudu culture, archaeologists found a wooden red lacquer bowl, which opened a glorious page in the history of Chinese lacquerware manufacturing. The combination of red and black has been established almost since the beginning of lacquerware. The Chu lacquerware of the Warring States period was the first peak of Chinese lacquerware craftsmanship.
(Source: CCTV News)