China: Tomb from 11th century BC found... by accident

China Daily ^ | 05/19/04 | Wang Shanshan

[TigerLikesRooster]

Tomb from 11th century BC found... by accident

Wang Shanshan

2004-05-19 06:52

Chinese archaeologists accidentally discovered a cemetery that may include the oldest tomb ever discovered of the Western Zhou Dynasty (11th century to 771 BC).

This week's find in Qishan County, Northwest China's Shaanxi Province may shed light on the mystifying history of the dynasty.

The four centuries of its rule mark the basis for ancient China's political and cultural systems.

The traditional ritual and music systems that originated then prevailed until the 19th century, said Li Xueqin, a historian with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

To date, historians have mainly depended on documents rather than relics as no other large-sized tombs from the period are known except for a few that were raided and empty.

The discovered cemetery covers an area of more than 115 acres and includes about 10 tombs built into the side of the Fenghuang Mountain in Qishan County, near the city of Baoji in the province.

The tombs are aligned in the shape of a pyramid, with the biggest one at the top. The number of tombs increases on the lower levels.

Archaeologists from Peking University, Shaanxi provincial and Baoji municipal archaeological institutes are surveying the site.

They have allegedly discovered that the tomb at the top has four tunnels leading underground that lead into the tomb-room, said Zhu Fenghan, historian and director of the National Museum of China.

"A tomb with four paths was of an extremely high rank. The tomb of a Shang Dynasty (16th-11th century BC) king, unearthed in Central China's Henan Province, also had four tunnels," he added.

Li said the biggest tomb "very possibly belonged to a Zhou Dynasty king."

Li is leading a State-level research project on Chinese history before the Christian era.

He said Qishan County, where the cemetery was found, was the capital of the Western Zhou Dynasty while Fenghuang Mountain was considered by the royal family to be the spot where its rise to power began.

The Xi'an-based Shaanxi Daily reported finds of pieces of oracle bones and tortoise shells at the cemetery.

Th bones and shells were reportedly inscribed with writings bearing such meanings as "Wenwang" (King Wenwang) or "Zhougong Zhen" (Lord of the Zhou had his fortune told), the paper said.

[Fedora]

Thanks! I hadn't seen the thread in #18--very interesting.

[Cronos]

A big shocker would be if they had red or blonde hair. What would the Chinese do?

Caucasians moved into China around that time, so these could have been the Aryan groups migrating out of Eastern Persia - Western India - Central Asia belonging to the Tocharian linguistic branch. The Western branches had moved out earlier and had established themselves in Anatolia around 2000 B.C. -- the hittites and the Mitanni.

[Cronos]

Hiksos in Near East.

The Hyksos in Egypt Aryan?? Most conventional thinking considers them to be Semitic groups.

[Cronos]

Teh Han dynasty was around the time of Christ, correct? These could have been Nestorian

[TigerLikesRooster]

Re #23

I was not claiming that Hyksos was Aryan. Just Caucasian.:)

[blam]

"Teh Han dynasty was around the time of Christ, correct? These could have been Nestorian"

I'll have some answers/comments this evening.

[Cronos]

I was not claiming that Hyksos was Aryan. Just Caucasian.:)

Mea culpa! But then, I always thought that the Egyptians at least in the Old dynasty times were a sort of Hamitic-Caucasian mixture of peoples, neither pure Caucasian nor pure Ethiopian type peoples.

[blam]

"Caucasians moved into China around that time, so these could have been the Aryan groups migrating out of Eastern Persia - Western India - Central Asia belonging to the Tocharian linguistic branch."

The Tocharian speakers were already there when the Iranians showed up. Incidently, the oldest paper ever found had Tocharian written on it.

[blam]

"Theh Han dynasty was around the time of Christ, correct? These could have been Nestorian."

I think the Han Dynasty began around 100BC...I may be wrong.

[COBOL2Java]

Someone call Bill Clinton. He once remarked that a female mummy turned him on...

[SunkenCiv]

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[SunkenCiv]

[SunkenCiv]

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