Xinmin Evening News (reporter Jiang Yan) Yesterday, the State Administration of Cultural Heritage reported four important archaeological achievements in Tibet's Chere Site, Mahao Ruins, Gebu Sailu Ruins, and Dangxiong Cemetery. Among them, the Dangxiong Tubo cemetery dates from the 7th to the 9th century AD, and belongs to the cultural relics of the Tang (Tubo) period. The archaeological cultural landscape of the cemetery shows its relevance to the Central Plains culture, as well as to the archaeological cultural characteristics of other surrounding areas, showing the exchange of early cultures. The archaeological excavation of The Dangxiong Cemetery is also the first time in Tibet in recent years that a large-scale excavation of a large-scale sealed tomb of the Tang (Tubo) period with a complete structure and complex shape is also an archaeological work.
Pictured: The cleaned tomb M3. Network diagram
The Dangxiong Cemetery is located in the Dangqu Neighborhood Committee of Dangquka Town, Dangxiong County, Lhasa City, Tibet, about 2 kilometers northwest of the county government station, on the gentle slope of the east side of the Govanab Mountain in the Nianqing Tanggula Mountains, at an altitude of about 4300 meters. The cemetery here was found during the third national cultural relics census, and a total of 6 large sealed earth tombs and 33 small sealed earth tombs were registered, and it is now a cultural relics protection unit in Dangxiong County. In order to cooperate with the capital construction project, in 2020 and 2021, the Tibet Autonomous Region Cultural Relics Protection Institute and the Zhejiang Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology jointly carried out rescue archaeological excavations on the cemetery, and the Dangxiong County Culture and Tourism Bureau cooperated and participated in the whole process. A total of 6 large and 30 small sealed tombs were cleaned up, and according to the geographical location, the Dangxiong cemetery can be divided into two districts, with 6 large sealed tombs distributed in the southern area and 47 small sealed tombs distributed in the northern area. According to the results of carbon fourteen dating and archaeological typology, the tomb dates from the 7th to 9th centuries AD, which belongs to the cultural relics of the Tang (Tubo) period.
The tomb is basically composed of the above ground sealing soil and the burial chamber structure under the sealing soil, and the sealing soil plane is basically nearly circular or rounded trapezoidal, and the façade is covered with buckets. The large-scale tomb shape system is mainly composed of two types: vertical pit stone chamber tomb and circular dome roof stone chamber tomb, both of which are multi-chamber tombs, which are basically composed of tomb passages, main burial chambers and side chambers. The small tomb shape system is mainly a vertical pit stone chamber tomb and a vertical pit pit tomb, both of which are single-chamber tombs, and some have a tomb structure. The perimeter of the burial chamber is basically a trapezoidal wall structure.
Large tombs unearthed gold and silverware, various types of beads, pottery (pottery pieces), bronzes, iron fragments, rubbings, fabrics, and stone black and white Go pieces. The small tombs are basically free of burial items, and only a small number of bronzes, iron, pottery, beads and leather products have been excavated. The excavated human bones are basically scattered and incomplete, and may be buried for secondary bone collection, and no traces of burial tools have been found. There are many skeletal phenomena of buried animals, mainly dogs, horses, cattle, sheep and so on.
Pictured: Unearthed black and white chess pieces. Network diagram
Large tombs are more seriously stolen and disturbed, only the structure is well preserved, and there are generally few excavated relics. There are no obvious signs of theft in small tombs, but there are very few burial items. The excavated relics mainly include gold and silver ware, including male lion bird pattern gold ear spoons, plant-patterned gold ornaments, copper gilded coverings, silver ornaments with engraved patterns, silver buckles and gold beads, silver beads, etc.; dog head gold; lapis lazuli, agate, coral, turquoise, pearls and other ornaments; pottery (pottery pieces), including a duck-billed flowing one-ear flat bottom jar and a number of pottery pieces of painted ochre figures, which are the first discovery in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau; bronze ware, including copper mirrors, copper bells, copper cups, copper spoons, copper cones, etc.; iron fragments, recognizable instrument types such as iron arrows; patent leather fragments Shellfish products; textiles; rubbing; stone black and white Go pieces, etc.
The archaeological excavations of the Dangxiong Cemetery on the Tang dynasty ancient road show their relevance to the archaeological characteristics of the Central Plains culture and the archaeological and cultural characteristics of the surrounding areas, such as stone black and white Go pieces, male lion bird pattern golden ear spoons, patent leather fragments, and textile objects, showing the interaction and integration of early cultures. When the Xiong cemetery preserves a relatively complete sealed tomb shape system and excavates the male lion bird pattern gold ear spoon, duck-billed flow single-ear flat bottom jar, stone black and white Go pieces, agate, coral, turquoise and other types of beads, various types of bronze, iron metal, and pottery pieces of painted ochre figures first discovered on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau are to further understand the archaeological and cultural features of the Tang (Tubo) period in Tibet, the funerary system, etc., all of which provide important physical materials for further understanding of the archaeological and cultural features of the Tang Dynasty (Tubo) period in Tibet, and at the same time provide important physical materials for the study of the relationship history between the Tang Dynasty and Tibet. It is of great significance to discuss the history of material and cultural exchanges.
The other three archaeological achievements are the Chere Site in Gar County, a site of the Early Paleolithic Wilderness of the Holocene, the site of a prehistoric settlement about 4,000 years ago, the Site of Mahao in Kangma County (4,410 meters above sea level), and the site of Gebuselaru in Zada County, a site from the Late Bronze Age to the early Iron Age. These four are all major projects of "Archaeology in China". The State Administration of Cultural Heritage will continue to promote the archaeological work in Tibet under the framework of the "Archaeology in China" major project, promote multidisciplinary cooperative research, and continuously deepen research on important topics such as prehistoric cultural development and environmental change in Tibet, Tibetan culture, plateau Silk Road and South Asian corridors.