The reporter learned from the Qin Shi Huang Emperor’s Mausoleum Museum on January 26 that since 2011, the Qin Shi Huang Emperor’s Mausoleum Museum had carried out detailed archaeological exploration work on the west side of the outer city of the Qin Mausoleum and found 9 large and medium-sized tombs, neat and orderly, with the word east and west. arrangement. Since 2013, Tomb No. 1 has been continuously excavated. At present, the excavation of the tomb passage, tomb chamber and three chariot and horse burial pits has been basically completed, and significant archaeological gains have been achieved.
Tomb No. 1 is located about 440 meters west of the outer city of Qin Shihuang's mausoleum. It is in the shape of a "middle" in plane, facing south and north. It consists of three parts: the south and north tomb passages and the tomb chamber. There are three chariot and horse burial pits on both sides of the tomb passage. A large number of pottery, bronze, jade, iron, and small gold and silver utensils were unearthed from the tomb. The shapes of pottery include cocoon-shaped pots, pots, pots, beans, basins, etc. Bronze wares include tripods, beans, francium, pots, plates, retorts, lamps, bells, and musical instruments. Jade articles include jade gui, jade bi and small jade tripod. Weapons include iron swords, iron armor, profiled bronze crossbows, bronze daggers, etc. Small Ming objects include gold and silver camels, dancing sleeve figurines, flute figurines, opera figurines, horse figurines, riding figurines, hunting dogs, silver boxes, etc. There are also gold belt hooks and a larger number of copper halves.
A four-wheeled single-wheeled wooden cart was found in the north tomb passage, and the remains of the wooden cart are well preserved. The total length of the wooden cart is about 7.2 meters, with a complete square painted cover. It is 2.6 meters wide from east to west and 4.2 meters long from north to south. It is bright red and well preserved. 19 copper bow caps have been cleaned out, and they are all placed on the bow. The remains of Gai Gong are well preserved; there is a square wooden frame under the hood, which is believed to be a carriage. There are curved and cylindrical copper components on it. There are 4 wheels on both sides of the chariot, with large copper chamfers attached. The scale intersects with the shaft, and there are two yokes on the scale, both of which are intact.
There are 5 groups of carriages and horses buried in the burial pit, one of which is a sheep cart, including 4 single-column wooden carts and 1 double-column wooden cart. The sheep cart consists of six sheep, lined up in a row, and the bones are well preserved. The body is decorated with bronze harnesses such as copper buckles, buckles, and copper rings similar to those of a horse, indicating that it is in a driving state - it should be a sheep cart. The vehicle behind Sheep Bones was damaged.
Archaeologists preliminarily believe that Tomb No. 1 is a large-scale Chinese-shaped vertical-hole earthen wooden coffin tomb. It is the largest, highest-level, and best-preserved tomb of high-level nobles in the Qin Dynasty that has been excavated so far. The gaps in tomb archeology are extremely valuable archaeological data for studying the funeral system of high-level nobles in the Qin Dynasty and even the imperial tomb system in ancient China. This tomb has obvious characteristics of belonging to the Mausoleum of the First Emperor of Qin, and is closely related to the overall planning and design of the Mausoleum of the First Emperor of Qin. The period ranges from the late Warring States Period to the unification of the Qin Dynasty. The owner of the tomb is of extremely high rank, and is the "first tomb in the empire" under the regulations of the Imperial Mausoleum. It witnessed the demise of the "centralized cemetery system" of royal tombs from the Xia and Shang Dynasties to the late Warring States Period, and revealed the formation and establishment of the "independent cemetery system" of imperial mausoleums from the late Warring States Period to the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, and reflected the transformation of ancient China's centralization system from blood politics to geopolitics. The huge historical changes of the Qin Empire have greatly enriched the understanding of the material culture before and after the unification of the Qin Empire and the institutional culture it represented, and have very important academic value.
At the same time, vehicles of various forms, shapes and uses were unearthed from one tomb, which is extremely rare and provides unique information for the study of funeral vehicles and accompanying vehicles during the Qin and Han Dynasties. The four-wheeled cart in the tomb passage is the only physical four-wheeled cart buried in the tomb discovered by archeology so far. Preliminary judgment is that it is closely related to the burial of coffins, and may be a hearse-carrying cart for transporting coffins during burials. . Judging from the current archaeological discoveries, it is a very rare burial phenomenon. The five groups of chariots and horses (including sheep chariots) unearthed from the burial pits have different shapes and uses. They reflect the grand trip of the male tomb owner during his lifetime and show the new changes and combinations of the shapes and combinations of the chariots and horses during the Qin Empire. , is extremely important physical data in the process of China's automobile manufacturing reform and development. At the same time, it enriches the connotation of the chariot and horse burial pits and provides a certain reference for understanding the identity of the tomb owner.
The excavation of Tomb No. 1 is a major achievement in the archaeology of Qin Shi Huang’s Mausoleum in recent years. It reflects all aspects of Qin’s social life in an era of change, including institutional changes, etiquette changes, and technological changes. It is an important tool for studying the political system, funeral system, social life, and cultural exchanges of the late Warring States and even the Qin period. An excellent example.
(Headquarters reporter Lei Kai)