The excavation of the 2018 Xuewei tomb No. 1 in Reshui cemetery, Dulan County, Qinghai
Abstract
After a looting case was cracked on March 15, 2018, the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and other organizations promptly conducted a rescue excavation of the looted tomb No. 1 at Xuewei. The tomb is the mausoleum of the king of Touyu-houen under Tubo’s rule in the mid-eighth century CE. It consists of two parts: the tomb compound aboveground and the underground structure. The former includes enclosure walls, sacrificial buildings, a mound, and a cloister. The latter consists of the entry ramp, the tomb pit, the screen wall, the tomb corridor, and the tomb chambers comprised of a main chamber and four side chambers, which is consistent with the document that recorded an “Inner-Mound Shrine of Five Gods.” The main chamber includes mural paintings, red-colored representations of wooden bracket sets, painted double coffins, a coffin platform, and an offering altar. A large number of artifacts predominated by goldware and textiles were uncovered. Amongst them, a silver seal bearing the inscription “seal of the King of Achai, the nephew” provides critical evidence for the confirmation of the status and ethnic identity of the tomb occupant.
Postscript
The original article 青海都兰县热水墓群2018 血渭一号墓, prepared by Jianhua Han 韩建华, Wenlong Bai 白文龙, Qiang Zhen 甄强, Jing Shi 石晶, and Gaoguang Zhang 张杲光, was published in Kaogu 考古 (Archaeology) 2021.8:45–70 with 55 illustrations and three notes. This abbreviated English version, translated by Xin Chen 陈莘, has removed 11 illustrations and three notes.
© 2022 Walter De Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- New archaeological discoveries
- The Excavation of a Neolithic site at Jingtoushan in Yuyao, Zhejiang
- The Neolithic Shuanghuaishu site in Gongyi, Henan
- The Shang dynasty remains at the Guoyuanzui site in Lutai Mountain, Huangpi District, Wuhan
- The Western Zhou Yaoheyuan site in Pengyang County, Ningxia
- Tang remains from the Keyak Khduk Beacon site in Yuli County, Xinjiang
- The excavation of the 2018 Xuewei tomb No. 1 in Reshui cemetery, Dulan County, Qinghai
- Reports
- The 2016–2017 excavation of the bronze foundry zone at the Guanzhuang site, Xingyang, Henan
- The excavation of tomb M12 at Hujiacaochang cemetery in Jingzhou, Hubei
- The excavation of Liao dynasty tomb of Han Derang in Beizhen, Liaoning
- Research
- Research on prehistoric 凸-shaped house remains on the Loess Plateau
- The rise and fall of the Liangzhu society in the perspective of subsistence economy
- Boot-shaped antler artifacts and prehistoric leather production
- Archaeological culture, document texts, and the construction of early Wu Yue history
- Portable lodge from the fifth century BCE: a study of the tent of the Marquis Yi of Zeng
- Additional niches and architecture added in the Tang dynasty to the Vairocana niche in the Fengxian Temple at Longmen
- Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses of human and animal skeletal remains unearthed at Zengpiyan and Dayan sites in Guilin
Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- New archaeological discoveries
- The Excavation of a Neolithic site at Jingtoushan in Yuyao, Zhejiang
- The Neolithic Shuanghuaishu site in Gongyi, Henan
- The Shang dynasty remains at the Guoyuanzui site in Lutai Mountain, Huangpi District, Wuhan
- The Western Zhou Yaoheyuan site in Pengyang County, Ningxia
- Tang remains from the Keyak Khduk Beacon site in Yuli County, Xinjiang
- The excavation of the 2018 Xuewei tomb No. 1 in Reshui cemetery, Dulan County, Qinghai
- Reports
- The 2016–2017 excavation of the bronze foundry zone at the Guanzhuang site, Xingyang, Henan
- The excavation of tomb M12 at Hujiacaochang cemetery in Jingzhou, Hubei
- The excavation of Liao dynasty tomb of Han Derang in Beizhen, Liaoning
- Research
- Research on prehistoric 凸-shaped house remains on the Loess Plateau
- The rise and fall of the Liangzhu society in the perspective of subsistence economy
- Boot-shaped antler artifacts and prehistoric leather production
- Archaeological culture, document texts, and the construction of early Wu Yue history
- Portable lodge from the fifth century BCE: a study of the tent of the Marquis Yi of Zeng
- Additional niches and architecture added in the Tang dynasty to the Vairocana niche in the Fengxian Temple at Longmen
- Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses of human and animal skeletal remains unearthed at Zengpiyan and Dayan sites in Guilin
