Main Contents

 

●Xiangfan Municipal Institute of Culture Relics and Archaeology

A Tomb of the Three Kingdoms Period Excavated in Caiyue, Xiangfan, Hubei (4)

In October 2008, a rescue excavation was held in the Fancheng Area of Xiangfan City, Hubei Province, to unearth a tomb of the Three Kingdoms period. A large number of burial objects were excavated, including pottery, porcelain, bronzes, lacquer, jades, and objects of iron, stone, silver, or gold. A bronze horse found in the tomb is the largest ever unearthed in China. Based on the structured features of the tomb and the funerary objects, this tomb appears to belong to a general and his wife, of a rank just below that of the feudal lords. The excavation provides important material data on customs and systems of burial from the late Eastern Han to the Three Kingdoms period, so it is of great value for study of the culture of that period.

 

 

●Xi’an Municipal Institute of Archaeology and Preservation of Cultural Relics

Gaowangdui Tomb of the Northern Dynasties in Weiqu,Xi’an (30)

From October to November in 2009, archaeologists excavated a tomb of the Northern Dyansties in Gaowangdui Village, Weiqu Street, Chang’an Area, Xi’an City. This north-south oriented tomb was composed of a sloping passage, two vertical shafts, and two earthen cave-chambers. About 130 burial objects (counting both individual pieces and groups) were unearthed, consisting mainly of pottery tomb figures and tomb models, and pottery wares for daily use. The figures include 31 honor guard figures, riding on horses, playing music. This tomb holds the largest number of such pottery figures ever found in a tomb of the northern Dynasties. Based on the features of the figures, this tomb can be dated to the early Western Wei, between the first and the sixth year (535-540C.E.) of the Datong region.

 

 

●Shi Jinsong

Identity of the Stone Figure Unearthed from the Jinsha Site (61)

At the Jinsha Site, excavated in Sichuan Province in 2001, a large number of precious objects were unearthed, including twelve stone figures. These figures were all sculpted in a kneeling position with a V-shaped hairstyle, their hands bound behind their back. Some scholars have regarded them as slaves or prisoners of war. In this article, the author considers that such bound figures unearthed from Jinsha and other areas should be understood as shamans. The stone tigers, stone snakes, jade Zhang-type official tablets, and diviner’s bones found together with the figures should be recognized as shaman’s tools. The figures of Jinsha and their associated objects may express a sacred scene, in the same way as the bronze altar of the Sanxingdui Culture.

 

 

●Zhang Zhiguo, et.al.

On the Pigments from Coloured Pottery Figures of the Western Han in Qingzhou, Shandong (87)