The archaeological team has clarified its shape and construction, and Qinghai Xuewei Tomb No. 1 has been re-cleaned
The pictures in this article are all from the WeChat public account "Archaeology and Cultural Relics"
Tomb No. 1 of Xuewei in the Hotwater Tombs Group in Dulan County, Haixi Mongol and Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province, which was once misreported as the prototype of the "Nine-Story Demon Pagoda", has been re-cleared from 2021 to 2022, and the archaeological team has also clarified the tomb. The shape and construction.
Recently, the 4th issue of 2024 of the professional academic journal "Archaeology and Cultural Relics" directed by the Shaanxi Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau and sponsored by the Provincial Institute of Archaeology published the "2021~2022 Cleanup Briefing of Xuewei No. 1 Tomb of the Dulan Hot Water Tomb Group in Qinghai" , the article was co-authored by the Institute of Archeology, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and the Qinghai Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology.
From 2021 to 2022, the Shuihui Joint Archaeological Team focused on the investigation and actual measurement of the northern area of Shuiwei Tombs, and clarified the number and layout of the tombs in the northern area of Shuiwei Tombs. The ancillary buildings and the Shima Valley on the south side will be re-cleaned.
As an important node on the Qinghai Road of the Silk Road, Dulan has left a large number of important relics and relics along the east-west transportation roads it connects. The tombs are located in Shuishui Township, Dulan County. The tombs are distributed on the north and south banks of the Wusu River in Chahan. The tombs are generally located near the mountains facing the river, with the gentle slopes at the foot of the mountains and the alluvial fan terraces with deep loess layers as the main distribution areas.
The "Briefing" stated that Xuewei Tomb No. 1 is the largest tomb in the northern area of Shuihui Tombs, with the earliest archaeological work and the most concentrated problems. Because the tomb was excavated a long time ago and there are no detailed excavation data reports, the shape of the tomb has caused a lot of discussion and controversy in the academic community. Therefore, solving the shape and construction of Xuewei Tomb No. 1 has become the most urgent issue. At the same time, the tomb and its ancillary remains were not effectively protected. The excavated tomb, trapezoidal stone platform and ancillary buildings were surrounded by weeds. The trapezoidal stone platform, four walls of the tomb, partition walls, and ancillary buildings collapsed and were seriously damaged. The shape and structure of the tomb cannot be identified. These conditions not only pose a threat to the protection of the tomb body in the later period, but also have a poor viewing effect for tourists.
In 2021, the Hotwater Joint Archaeological Team officially started the re-cleaning of Xuewei Tomb No. 1, focusing on the "cross-shaped burial tomb" and the "house foundation outside the wall". After restoration cleaning, it was further determined that the "cross-shaped tomb" is the tomb chamber of the tomb, which was built in the mixed natural mountain, and the "foundation outside the wall" is an accessory building outside the earth seal.
In 2022, the hot water joint archaeological team will clean up the No. 4 and No. 5 Martyr Maguses on the ground on the south side of Xuewei Tomb No. 1. These horse bones have different postures, and there are huge stones on the head or neck of the skeleton. It is obvious that the horses were buried alive. During this excavation, the number of horses killed in the five horse-killing ditches was revised from the earliest published 87 to 90.
After this archaeological work, the Hotwater Joint Archaeological Team came to the following understandings: Xuewei No. 1 Tomb is not a double-covered bucket type of earth sealing, and the so-called "lower sealing pile" does not exist; Xuewei No. 1 Tomb Bucket type; Xuewei Tomb No. 1 is a multi-chambered tomb with wood and stone structure; the auxiliary building is located in the east of the specially treated platform, close to the trapezoidal stone platform, and built on the east side of the trapezoidal stone platform with stone edges. The foundation plane is rectangular in a north-south direction; Shimagou is located on the flat ground on the south side of the mountain, with a height difference of 30 meters from the tomb. It is the most prominent burial relic of the tomb, with a total of five.
The "March 15 Hotwater Tombs Robbery Case" that occurred in 2018 shocked the country. After the crackdown, 646 cultural relics were confiscated. With the approval of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, from 2018 to 2020, a joint archaeological team formed by the Institute of Archeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and the Qinghai Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archeology conducted an archaeological excavation of the stolen tomb numbered 2018 in Xuewei Tomb No. 1.
The tomb was rated as one of the top ten new archaeological discoveries in the country in 2020, and "2018 Xuewei No. 1 Tomb of the Hotwater Tombs in Dulan County, Qinghai" was published. Based on the dating of the shed wood in the tomb, the age of the tomb was determined to be 744±35 years. Based on the seal and relevant documents, it was inferred that the owner of the tomb was the Tuyuhun King Mohe Tuhun Khan.
Previously, other media have continuously released the excavation process of Xuewei Tomb No. 1 in 2018.
Is the "nine-story demon tower" that has attracted much attention from netizens the 2018 Xuewei Tomb No. 1? The reporter learned from the Qinghai Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau that the 2018 Xuewei Tomb No. 1 was not the prototype tomb of the "nine-story demon tower".
The prototype of the legendary "Nine-story Demonic Tower" is actually the "Hotwater No. 1 Tomb" in Dulan that was discovered and excavated in 1982, more than 400 meters away from the 2018 Xuewei Tomb No. 1. The relevant person in charge of the Hotwater Joint Archaeological Team said that Dulan's "Shuihui No. 1 Tomb" was called the "Nine-story Demonic Tower" by locals because of its tall and majestic mound of earth. It was later spread by literature, film and television works, and became a well-known name. "Nine-story Demon Tower".
