The excavation of tomb M1 in Quangou cemetery, Wulan County, Qinghai
Abstract
Tomb M1 at Quangou cemetery in Wulan, Qinghai, is the only Tubo-period tomb with mural paintings discovered thus far on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau. The tomb includes a tomb entry ramp leading to a rectangular multi-chambered structure built from bricks and timber. The walls of the antechamber and burial chamber are all painted with various images heavily influenced by typical Tang painting techniques, displaying Tang-period stylistic influence, although painted subjects present characteristic scenes of nomadic life on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau. The color-painted lacquered coffins in the tomb are the first of their kind found in the region, indicating that the tomb occupant must have been of high social status. There is a secret compartment behind the tomb’s burial chamber, where a wooden chest was found containing a luxuriously decorated gilt silver crown and a turquoise-inlaid gold cup. The findings suggest that the tomb occupant was probably closely related to the local royal family under Tubo’s sovereignty.
Postscript
The original article, prepared by Tao Tong 仝涛, Ke Meng 孟柯, Yulin Mao 毛玉林, Jianguo Tao 陶建国, and Jing Shi 石晶, is published in Kaogu 考古 (Archaeology) 2020.8:19–37, with 40 illustrations. This English version, translated by Xin Chen 陈莘, abbreviates the original text and removes nine notes.
© 2021 Walter De Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
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- Frontmatter
- New archaeological discoveries
- The Longshan culture site at Ximengzhuang, Tengzhou, Shandong
- The Honghe site in Qiqihar, Heilongjiang
- The grand platform of Huangchengtai at Shimao site in Shenmu, Shaanxi
- The 2018–2019 excavation of the Xiwubi site in Jiangxian County, Shanxi
- Zeng state cemetery at Zaoshulin during the Spring and Autumn period, Suizhou, Hubei
- The excavation of tomb M1 in Quangou cemetery, Wulan County, Qinghai
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- The excavation of a cache of lead ingots in Liujiazhuang Locus North of Yinxu, Anyang, Henan
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- Shimao culture: naming, distribution, and chronology
- A comparative study of Shimao and Taosi
- New insights into the settlement patterns of the capital city at Erlitou
- On the brass ewer unearthed from the crypt of the Shang-fang Śarīra Stupa of Qingshan Monastery in Lintong District, Shaanxi
- The physical evolution and biocultural adaptation indicated by the human skeletons of Donghulin site, Beijing
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- New archaeological discoveries
- The Longshan culture site at Ximengzhuang, Tengzhou, Shandong
- The Honghe site in Qiqihar, Heilongjiang
- The grand platform of Huangchengtai at Shimao site in Shenmu, Shaanxi
- The 2018–2019 excavation of the Xiwubi site in Jiangxian County, Shanxi
- Zeng state cemetery at Zaoshulin during the Spring and Autumn period, Suizhou, Hubei
- The excavation of tomb M1 in Quangou cemetery, Wulan County, Qinghai
- Reports
- The 2016–2018 excavation of the cemetery at the Sunjiagang site, Lixian County, Hunan
- The excavation of a cache of lead ingots in Liujiazhuang Locus North of Yinxu, Anyang, Henan
- Research
- Analyzing the functional structure of pottery jiandiping amphorae
- Shimao culture: naming, distribution, and chronology
- A comparative study of Shimao and Taosi
- New insights into the settlement patterns of the capital city at Erlitou
- On the brass ewer unearthed from the crypt of the Shang-fang Śarīra Stupa of Qingshan Monastery in Lintong District, Shaanxi
- The physical evolution and biocultural adaptation indicated by the human skeletons of Donghulin site, Beijing
- Plant remains unearthed at the Donghulin site in Beijing: discussion on results of flotation
