Zhangzhuang Ancient Cemetery was located in Haizhou District, Lianyungang City, Jiangsu Province. Mar., 2018, Lianyungang City Museum conducted salvage excavation, and 36 tombs was excavated, among which 6 belong to Western Han Dynasty, 11 belonged to Eastern Han Dynasty, 18 were from late Tang Dynasty to Northern Song Dynasty and 1 Qing Dynasty.

Eastern Han Dynasty’s Tombs

             Tomb M6

Tomb M6 was in bad condition, the coffin and human bone was decayed, while rotten traces of lacquer ware were found. There were 1 yellow glazed pottery jar, 1 black pottery jar, 1 pottery Zun (wine vessel), 1 knife, and 1 round corner square bronze seal, as well as copper coin with characters “Xiao Quan Zhi Yi” and “Wu Zhu”. The bronze seal was with seal characters. Based on the features of the tomb and unearthed items, M6 should be dated from Wang Mang Period to Early Eastern Han Dynasty. It should be pointed out that a tree trunk was found east to west headed in the middle of the tomb chamber, 0.4 meter above the tomb bottom, equally divided the tomb chamber into two parts, and its function and nature need further study.                                                                                               

Tomb M023’s plane was in the shape of the character “甲”, composed of three parts, which were tomb path, gate and chamber. Chamber’s plane presented as a round corner rectangle, which was well preserved. There was a double-layer staggered joints brick paved path in the bottom of the tomb, which divided the chamber into two parts, the north and the south; the North Part was paved in flemish bond style, while South Part was unpaved. There found rotten coffin traces in North Part’s northwest zone. The human skeleton were decayed, therefore the buried posture was unclear. 1 iron knife, which broke into three pieces, was found in the middle part of the chamber. 1 bronze stringed ornament, 1 bronze mirror and some “Wu Zhu” coins was discovered in the coffin. Only 1 bronze mirror and few pieces of unknown shape pottery were found in the South Part, M023 should be dated during Eastern Han Dynasty.

Late Tang to Northern Song Period Tombs

Tomb M024’s plane was as trapezoid. There was a row of raised bricks in south part, divided the chamber into two parts, wing-chamber around foot and coffin chamber. There unearthed 1 celadon glazed jar, 1 yellow glazed jar, 1 yellow glazed bowl and 1 spindle shaped wood ware. The coffin was badly rotten, only part remained, located in north, and 3 “Kai Yuan Tong Bao” coins and 5 “Wu Zhu” coins were in the coffin. The tomb brick was 29 cm in length, 14 cm in width and 5 cm thick. The tomb feature and unearthed items suggested that M024 should be dated to Five Dynasties Period.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Tomb M030

Tomb M030 was composed by three parts, tomb path, gate and chamber. The plane of the tomb presented as boat, west part was wide while east is narrow, grey brick staggered forming a flipped boat-shaped top, scattered pieces of porcelain were found in the earth filled back, which suggested that M030 was dated to Five Dynasties Period.

Tomb M031 was an earthen-brick shaft pit couple tomb, and its plane was round corner rectangle, while chamber was rectangle as well, the top of which was formed of seven stone plates. There were two coffins in the chamber, placed east side by side, in bad condition, and the human skeletons were gone. The bottom of the tomb was staggered paved with bricks. Some “Kai Yuan Tong Bao” coins were found in the north coffin, as well as 1 silver hair pin (Zan), 2 silver hair pins (Ji), 1 silver comb, 1 porcelain bowl, and 1 square lacquer ware; while 6 “Kai Yuan Tong Bao” coins, 1 “Qian Yuan Zhong Bao” and 1 mirror with”Qian Qiu Wan Sui (Long live the future generations)” script were found in the south coffin. Based on the unearthed items, the north coffin belonged to a female and south coffin belonged to a male. The tomb’s feature and unearthed items suggested that M031 was during Late Tang Dynasty to Five Dynasties.

The Zhangzhuang Cemetery in Haizhou experienced from Western Han, Eastern Han, Tang and Song, Qing Dynasties, which lasted for a very long time. The cemetery was large in scale and densely distributed, various in tomb’s feature, rich in unearthed items, which was an important cemetery during Han to Tang and Song Dynasties. It was the first time discovered in Lianyungang Area, which provided materials for the study of the history and culture of Haizhou, Lianyungang, during Han and Tang-Song Dynasties. The special boat shaped brick tombs offered new materials for the study of Tang and Song Dynasties’ brick tomb and its distribution. (Translator: Lang Langtian)