A tomb dating back about 5,000 years was found in Henan, and it is speculated to be the tomb of an ancient monarch
Recently, a tomb about 5,000 years ago was found in the site of Wangzhuang in Yongcheng, Henan, and more than 350 relics were unearthed from the tomb, which is one of the tombs with the largest scale and the most unearthed artifacts in the Dawenkou cultural period, providing a new sample for the study of the critical period of the origin of Chinese civilization.
Hundreds of jade pottery, pig jawbones representing wealth, intricately decorated ivory ornaments...... The newly discovered M27 is a large Dawenkou cultural tomb with a total area of more than 17 square meters.
Zhu Guanghua, an associate professor at the School of History at Capital Normal University and the person in charge of the Wangzhuang site, said that the discovery showed that the Wangzhuang site was not an ordinary settlement, but the capital of the ancient Huaiyi kingdom in prehistory.
The picture shows the excavation site of the M27 tomb at the site of Wangzhuang on October 14. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Shi Linjing
The site of Wangzhuang is located in Miaoqiao Town, Yongcheng City, Henan Province, which is a large-scale settlement in the middle and late stages of the Dawenkou culture about 5,000 years ago. Since 2023, the Henan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, Capital Normal University, the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and the Shangqiu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology have formed a joint archaeological team to carry out archaeological excavations at the site.
Liu Haiwang, the leader of the joint archaeological team, introduced that in 2024, 45 new tombs of Dawenkou culture will be discovered at the Wangzhuang site, and 27 have been cleaned.
The picture shows an intricately decorated ivory product unearthed from the M27 tomb. (Photo courtesy of the archaeological team)
Among them, the M27 tomb is about 4.8 meters long and 3.68 meters wide, and the tomb chamber has coffins and coffins, and the burial goods are very rich, including more than 300 pieces of pottery and jade ornaments.
Liu Haiwang said that the high-level tombs unearthed Shigui and Yuyue have a strong ceremonial color, which has a far-reaching impact on the ritual culture of the Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties and beyond, especially the discovery of this tomb, which highlights the preliminary form of royal power in the prehistoric Central Plains.
The picture shows some relics unearthed from the archaeological excavation of Wangzhuang site, from top to bottom, from left to right, jade Yue, jade rat, jade pendant, turquoise pendant. (Photo courtesy of the archaeological team)
Up to now, more than 1,000 pieces of various artifacts have been unearthed at the Wangzhuang site in 2024, and from the perspective of the shape of the artifacts, the cultural appearance of the site is complex, and its main remains belong to the Dawenkou culture, with factors such as the Yangshao culture of the Central Plains, the Qujialing culture of the south and the Liangzhu culture.
"The Wangzhuang site is a melting pot of multicultural exchanges, which is not only influenced by the culture of the Haidai region in the East and the Central Plains, but also the prehistoric cultural factors from the Yangtze River Basin, and at the same time forms its own characteristics. Li Xinwei, deputy director of the Institute of Ancient History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said.
Excavations at the site are ongoing.
Source: Xinhua News Agency