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Wuwangdun Tomb, a large-scale tomb in the Warring States period that has been sleeping for more than 2,000 years, is the largest, highest grade and most complex Chu tomb that has been scientifically excavated so far. After archaeological excavations, the No. 1 tomb of Wuwangdun was gradually cleared of the sealed soil and filling, the four layers of coffin cover plates were all safely extracted, and the interior of the coffin chamber was carefully cleaned, and this large-scale high-level tomb of the Chu State gradually unveiled the veil of mystery. On the afternoon of May 20th, the second media open day of Wuwangdun Tomb was held, and reporters from Huaihe Morning Post and Huainan Net came to Wuwangdun Tomb again to learn about the latest progress of archaeological excavations and cultural relics protection.
Archaeological excavations are progressing in an orderly manner
Excavations in the middle chamber are expected to begin in June
According to reports, the tomb of King Wu is the largest tomb of Chu that has been excavated so far. How big is it? Huaihe Morning Post and Huainan Net reporters came to the excavation area of the No. 1 tomb site, standing in the southernmost part of the greenhouse, and the entire tomb was in full view, which was shocking. The scale of the tomb pit can only be described as "huge", the tomb mouth is large and the bottom is small, it is in the shape of a covered bucket, the filling layer is compacted, the rammed nest is dense, and the 21 steps are gradually adducted downward. The opening of the tomb is square, with a side length of about 50 meters, the tomb pit is 19 meters deep, and the bottom is close to a square, with a side length of about 22 meters. This can't help but remind people that more than 2,000 years ago, what kind of skilled craftsmen built such a huge tomb, it is incredible!
Looking down, the center of the bottom of the tomb is the coffin. Tomb No. 1 has an extremely complex structure of multiple coffins, the top of the coffin is covered with bamboo mats, and the firwood and thin plates under the bamboo mats alternate in turn to form a multi-layer seal. There are a total of 9 wooden coffin rooms, which are made of huge oak wood. Among them, located in the center is the middle room, and there are 8 side rooms in its east, south, west and north, which is also the first time to see in the country, the structure of the nine-chamber Chu tomb is clear. Judging from the excavations, the north room speculates that it symbolizes Yuefu, mainly with various musical instruments; In the east room, various bronzes such as tripods and guis are buried; The south room is buried with all kinds of living utensils, including lacquered wood, soldiers and horses; In the west room, various wooden figurines and model cars have been excavated, simulating scenes of music and dance, chariots and horses.
The reporter saw that at the bottom of the tomb, the staff was carrying out archaeological excavations in the second room in the south. Gong Xicheng, a researcher at the Anhui Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and the person in charge of the Wuwangdun archaeological project, said that at present, the archaeological excavation of the coffin is progressing in an orderly manner. The excavation of the four side rooms in the north and west (numbered in the north 1, 2, west 1 and 2 respectively) has been completed, and the excavation work of the east room 1 and south 2 is underway, extracting more than 3,000 pieces (groups) of various cultural relics, as well as a large number of animal and plant remains. More than 600 pieces (groups) of utensils have been extracted from the first and second rooms of the north, most of which are stringed instruments such as the qin, and the unearthed bell frame beams are intact, and there are 14 hanging holes. Lacquer boxes, ear cups, plates, beans, drums, jade, Huang, Pei and a large number of copper arrows were unearthed in the first and second rooms of the south. The relics of the first and second rooms of the west are mainly lacquered wooden figurines, and wooden carts, musical instruments and a small number of bamboo slips have also been found. There are more than 200 individuals in wooden figurines, divided into different postures such as standing posture and sitting posture, and some wooden figurines wear wooden swords. The east room is dominated by bronzes, and more than 150 pieces (groups) of bronzes have been extracted, and the utensils include Ding, Gui, Bang, Dun, Fang, Pot, Ning, Bean, Jian, Kettle, Plate, Zun, etc., and the bronze ritual combination is preserved completely; Together with the bronzes, there are more than 100 pieces of lacquered wooden dining and banquet living utensils such as cases, figurines, boxes, and couches.
The reporter learned at the scene that the second room in the south is currently unearthed jade, chariot and horse weapons, weapons, leather armor, etc., a large number, more than 500 pieces of artifacts have been extracted, and it is expected that the excavation can be completed in three to five days. At present, the only middle room in the center of Wuwangdun No. 1 Tomb has not yet entered the excavation stage, and the middle room is where the main coffin is located. At the scene, the reporter learned that the excavation and protection plan for the middle room is being studied and formulated, and the relevant excavation work is expected to be carried out in June.
Remarkable results have been achieved in the protection of cultural relics
Dading will extract the contents
The tomb of Wuwangdun is a coffin chamber in the late Warring States period, which has a history of more than 2,000 years from today, how to scientifically protect the tomb and cultural relics during the excavation process? Huaihe Morning Post and Huainan Net reporters learned that the protection of cultural relics unearthed from the tomb of Wuwang and multidisciplinary research have achieved remarkable results. At the archaeological excavation site of Tomb No. 1, the research team built an atomization sprinkler system to effectively control the micro-environment in the coffin and avoid the cracking and deformation of organic cultural relics such as coffin boards and lacquered wood due to temperature increase and water evaporation. For example, after the archaeologists extracted it from the east room on the afternoon of May 18, the archaeologists transferred it to the archaeological laboratory 300 meters away from the excavation site for follow-up research and protection.
So, after two days of cleaning and protecting, what is its current state? What important information does it reveal? On the afternoon of May 20, in the laboratory, reporters from Huaihe Morning Post and Huainan Net saw this big copper tripod. Zhang Zhiguo, a researcher at the Archaeological Research Center of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage and the head of the Wuwangdun Archaeological Project Laboratory, said that after the large copper tripod was extracted to the laboratory, the staff removed the box used in the extraction, and everyone was able to see the whole picture of the large tripod. On May 19, the pollutants attached to the surface of Dading were extracted and cleaned, and the surface decoration was also seen more clearly.
So close to see the big ding, its majestic, its majesty, convincing, the design of the big tripod everywhere the pursuit of the perfect combination of strength and momentum, all show its master to pull out the mountain and the ambition of the world. According to reports, the shape of the Wuwangdun big copper tripod is attached to the ear folded along the deep belly tripod, Huaihe Morning Post, Huainan Net reporter saw that the decoration of the big tripod is mostly around the ear and the upper part of the tripod body. Researchers extracted the ornaments through rubbing, and initially appeared to have dragon patterns, phoenix bird patterns, cloud patterns, etc., among them, the phoenix bird pattern is the most characteristic decoration of the Chu State. At present, the cleaning work of Dading is still ongoing, and these surface decorations need to be further studied, and no inscriptions have been found for the time being.
However, although you can see the whole picture of Dading, Dading is also firmly fixed in the laboratory. Two of Dading's three legs are "bandaged" because there are cracks in these two legs, and the researchers have reinforced the tripod legs with polymer bandages, which will be repaired later. In the big copper tripod of the tripod, researchers found animal bones and plant remains, animal bones are mainly cow bones, through the covered plastic film, can roughly see some of the contents, the on-site researchers told the Huaihe Morning Post, Huainan Net reporter, May 21 began to extract work, when will carry out zooarchaeology and plant archaeological identification research.
In the archaeological experiment, in addition to the large bronze tripod, researchers are also carrying out orderly restoration and protection of other cultural relics. According to reports, the archaeological team members took emergency protection measures for all kinds of cultural relics extracted from the site to the room in a timely manner, and the samples of perishable organic cultural relics were stored in the low-oxygen sterilization chamber to control humidity and oxygen to slow down their deterioration; A large number of extracted wooden figurines have been cleaned and moisturized, and the surface fabric of the garment figurines has been strengthened in situ by silk protein technology. The lacquer ornamentation and patterns were extracted by curved micro-X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy to provide a scientific basis for subsequent restoration. At the same time, through interdisciplinary and multi-platform collaboration, the research team systematically carried out the identification and residue analysis of animal and plant remains, among which more than 10 kinds of animals such as cattle, pigs and dogs were identified in animal bones, and melons and fruits such as gourds, melons, plums, chestnuts, crops such as millet, millet and rice, spice crops such as pepper and mallow were found, as well as the traditional Chinese medicine plant Evodia officinalis. The archaeological team also invited experts in cultural relics protection, paleography, and musical instrument research to the site for guidance and help carry out cultural relics protection and character recognition.
Two artifacts have pointed to the identity of the tomb owner
The owner of the tomb of King Wu may be King Chukaolie
Chu culture is an important part of Chinese civilization, the romantic elegance of Chu Ci, the solemnity and heaviness of bronze, and the mysterious and gorgeous lacquerware...... These iconic relics of Chu culture have long been integrated into the cultural blood of the Chinese nation and have become one of the symbols of Chinese culture. In the media open day activities on the same day, reporters from Huaihe Morning Post and Huainan Net saw some unearthed cultural relics, including lacquered wood, bronzes, weapons, animal and plant remains, etc. Under the introduction of Fang Ling, the executive leader of the Wuwangdun archaeological team, I also have a preliminary understanding of these cultural relics.
The lacquer ear cup is a drinking vessel, and there are a pair of handles on both sides of the cup that resemble ears, so it is vividly called an ear cup. The lacquer case, unearthed in the east room, is painted with black lacquer as a whole, and the dragon and phoenix patterns are painted in red color, showing the unique pursuit of art by the Chu people. The lacquered wood is the panel of the ser, and the other parts need to be sorted out and put together later. A large number of wooden figurines were unearthed in the west room of Wuwangdun, and the facial features of the wooden figurines displayed on the day were three-dimensional, and the face was outlined by the gold-painting process, and the color was deep and heavy, showing the aesthetic trend of the Chu State in that year.
It is a small wine container, which is relatively rare in the Warring States period and more common in the Han Dynasty. Two pieces of copper tripods, one of which is a lying cow button round tripod, the cover is fastened with the mother and son of the body, and the residue at the bottom is suspected to be soot, pending further testing; There are pig bones in the other ding, and the shape of the cow on the cover of the two utensils is very vivid. The copper retort is divided into two layers, the upper part is called the "retort", and the lower part is the tall mustache, which is used to steam the food.
It is reported that the bronze ritual combination of the east room of the Wuwangdun tomb is intact. The inscriptions on ink scripts, lacquered woodware, and bronze ritual vessels have been collected and sorted out, which are of great significance for the study of the construction process of tombs, the official system, and the titles of famous objects in the Chu State. At the site of the cultural relics display, the Huaihe Morning Post and the Huainan Net reporter saw the bronze jar marked with the identity of the "King of Chu", which was engraved with the 12-character inscription of "The King of Chu made a gold jar for the year to taste", which provided direct evidence for determining the identity of the tomb owner. The on-site archaeologists said that in addition to this one, there is currently another unearthed cultural relic that also points to the identity of the tomb owner and is being studied.
Experts believe that the shape, ornamentation, and combination of cultural relics unearthed from the tomb of Wuwangdun have typical characteristics of Chu culture in the late Warring States period. Combined with the comprehensive analysis of the scale, structure, unearthed written materials and historical documents of the tomb, the identity of the owner of the tomb of Wuwangdun may be the King of Chu Kaolie recorded in the "Historical Records of the Chu Family". The archaeological achievements of Wuwangdun Tomb vividly show the splendid achievements of Chinese civilization, and the archaeology and protection and utilization of Wuwangdun Tomb will play an important role in promoting the creative transformation and innovative development of China's excellent traditional culture.
Curator: Shen Guobing
Producer: Su Guoyi, Liao Lingyun
Huainan Daily all-media reporter Zhang Yue took the picture