China News Service, Changchun, August 16 (Reporter Guo Jia) The reporter learned from the School of Archaeology of Jilin University on the 16th that Chinese and foreign archaeologists have discovered a case in the Northern Wei Dynasty (386-534 AD) in Datong City, Shanxi Province in 2020. Embracing Burial has conducted a comprehensive and systematic bioarchaeological research, which was recently published in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, an authoritative international archaeological journal.
According to reports, the tomb is a single coffin in the same cave. The male tomb lies on the left side, facing to the left, and puts his right hand on the waist of the female tomb, embracing the female tomb; while the female tomb faces The male tomb owner on the right has his head resting on the male tomb owner's shoulders, his left hand is naturally supported on the male tomb owner's abdomen, his left leg is slightly bent, and a silver plain ring is worn on the ring finger of his left hand.
Through bone analysis, it was found that the male tomb owner had an unhealed infectious fracture wound on his right arm, while the female tomb owner’s bones were relatively healthy. The two tomb owners hugged tightly with a natural posture and stretched movements.
The female tomb owner wears a silver plain ring on her left ring finger.
(Data map) Photo courtesy of the School of Archaeology, Jilin University
The unique cultural phenomenon of "embrace burial" has a history of more than 6000 years worldwide, from "The Lovers of Valdaro" in Italy to "The Embrace of Alpotripa" in Greece Embracing Skeletons of Alepotrypa)", "Embracing burial" reflects the ancient human view of life and death and the pursuit of beautiful love under different cultural backgrounds.
In China, this cultural phenomenon was often discovered during the Northern Wei Dynasty, but it is very rare to keep it so complete.
It is understood that the Northern Wei Dynasty was a critical period for the integration of northern ethnic groups such as Xianbei. As the central area of ethnic integration at that time, the Datong region was impacted and influenced by multiple cultures in terms of social atmosphere, history, culture, and aesthetics. .
The decorative function of the silver plain ring worn on the left ring finger of the female tomb owner in the tomb has gradually weakened, and it has been given the symbolic function of affirmation and marriage, and has become popular in the north, so that it can be used in the "embracing burial." It has become a materialized symbol of love and has been preserved for more than a thousand years.
There was an unhealed infectious fracture wound on the right arm of the male tomb owner.
(Data map) Photo courtesy of the School of Archaeology, Jilin University
The research results were jointly completed by archaeologists from several institutions including Hou Xiaogang, a librarian from the Institute of Archaeology of Datong City, Zhang Quanchao, a professor at Jilin University, Zhang Qun, an associate professor at Xiamen University, and Wang Qian, a professor at Texas A&M University. The concrete materialized evidence of social thoughts such as the concept of human life and death and the concept of love in the context of integration reflects the great potential of bioarchaeological research in interpreting the ancient social life of human beings. (Finish)