Hohhot, March 3 (Reporter Li Aiping) Song Guodong, a research librarian of the Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, said here on the 30th that the three Liao tombs previously excavated by the archaeological department in Hengyuan Pasture in Kailu County, Inner Mongolia, provided important archaeological data for the study of Khitan culture.
The picture shows the cultural relics unearthed from the Liao tomb in Inner Mongolia. Photo courtesy of Song Guodong
Song Guodong introduced that from October to November 2022, the Inner Mongolia Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology teamed up with the Kailu County Museum to excavate 10 Liao Dynasty tombs in Hengyuan Ranch in Kailu County. All three tombs are brick chamber tombs, of which tomb No. 11 has no grave road. Tomb 3 faces north, and the passages of Tombs 3 and 1 face southeast.
The picture shows the cultural relics unearthed from the Liao tomb in Inner Mongolia. Photo courtesy of Song Guodong
The latest research by the archaeological department shows that tombs 1 and 3 excavated in the Hengyuan Pasture in Kailu are dated to the time of Liao Taizu and Liao Taizong, and tomb 2 is dated to the Liao Jingzong or Liao Shengzong period.
In Song Guodong's view, tombs 1 and 3 of the Liao Dynasty tombs excavated in Hengyuan Ranch have both distinctive Khitan characteristics and strong Tang dynasty heritage, which provide important archaeological data for studying the economic and cultural impact of the Tang Dynasty on the Khitan and the cultural transformation after the founding of the Khitan state.
The picture shows the cultural relics unearthed from the Liao tomb in Inner Mongolia. Photo courtesy of Song Guodong
Song Guodong said that this archaeological excavation also found rare headbands in tombs No. 1 and No. 3 of the Liao Dynasty, which will refresh the archaeological department's research and understanding of the burial customs of the upper Khitan people in the early Liaoning Dynasty. (End)