Chinese character-shaped tombs uncover Shang Dynasty burial insights 殷墟外围地区首次发现大型“中”字形墓葬

Large tombs shaped like the Chinese character '中' (Zhong) have been discovered for the first time in the peripheral areas (外围地区, wài wéi dì qū) of the archaeological site (考古遗址, kǎo gǔ yí zhǐ) of Yin Xu (殷墟, yīn xū) in Anyang (安阳, ān yáng), Henan Province (河南省, hé nán shěng). This significant find provides valuable insights into the burial system (丧葬制度, sāng zàng zhì dù) of the Shang Dynasty (商代, shāng dài) (1600-1046 BC), along with information related to the layout, structure, and chronological changes of the Yin Xu site, archaeologists revealed at a press conference held on Thursday.

According to Cui Zongliang, deputy director of the Anyang Institute of Cultural Heritage and Archaeology, these tombs located at the Dapo site (大坡遗址, dà pō yí zhǐ) in the southwest of Yin Xu were uncovered during infrastructure construction in 2022.

Despite severe looting (墓葬严重被盗, mù zàng yán zhòng bèi dào), the tombs yield valuable data for studying the burial system, layout, structure, and chronological changes of the Yin Xu site.

Archaeologists made several noteworthy discoveries despite the extensive looting of these three large character-shaped tombs. For instance, the tomb labeled M16 features a two-tiered platform (二层台，èr céng tái) with painted patterns (有彩绘图案, yǒu cǎi huì tú àn). In the soil inside a coffin, a small number of pottery fragments, quartz debris, stone tools, bone tools, fragments of bronze artifacts, and a small amount of human and animal bones were unearthed (椁内盗土中出土少量陶片、石英残块、石器、骨器、铜器碎片及少量人骨、兽骨。guǒ nèi dào tǔ zhōng chū tǔ shǎo liàng táo piàn、shí yīng cán kuài、shí qì、gǔ qì、tóng qì suì piàn jí shǎo liàng rén gǔ、shòu gǔ). Burial items such as pottery goblets and plates were also found in the central part of the tomb (中部随葬陶觚、陶盘。zhōng bù suí zàng táo gū、táo pán).

In recent years, the peripheral areas of Yin Xu have seen the successive discovery of large, late Shang Dynasty settlement sites, including the Xindian (辛店遗址, xīn diàn yí zhǐ), Taojiaying (陶家营遗址, táo jiā yíng yí zhǐ), Zongcun (宗村遗址, zōng cūn yí zhǐ), Zhengjiacun (郑家村遗址, zhèng jiā cūn yí zhǐ), and Dapo sites (大坡遗址, dà pō yí zhǐ). These findings provide new material for reexamining and interpreting the layout of Yin Xu, said Cui.

Cui also suggested that the Anyang Dapo site is a scientifically planned burial ground containing different-sized tombs. It provides new data for studying the burial system of the late Shang Dynasty and contributes to the exploration of the social structure of that time.

Source: CGTN
Editor: wanwan