Fruit seeds help archaeologists shed light on 2,000-year-old imperial garden

People's Daily Online ^ | May 25, 2006 | Xinhua

[SunkenCiv]

Archaeologists have developed a clear image of a 2,000-year-old imperial garden found in south China's Guangdong Province by studying more than 100,000 seeds found in an ancient well at the relic site. Various kinds of vegetation, including banyans and waxberries, were planted more than 2,000 years ago in the imperial garden, which belonged to the ancient state of Southern Yue, archaeologists report. The garden is the oldest imperial garden to be excavated in China... A large amount of waxberry stones and melon seeds have been discovered in the ancient well in the garden. This is the first time that remains of melon were found in Guangdong Province, according to archaeologists... The remains of the palace and garden of Southern Yue State were discovered in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong Province in 1990s. The ancient state was founded by Zhao Tuo, a military officer of Qinshihuang, the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC), in 203 BC and destroyed by the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-25 AD) in 111 BC.

[SunkenCiv]

[SunkenCiv]

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[Monkey Face]

Wow. I had no idea seeds could survive so long in water or in soil. What a find!

[SunkenCiv]

That looked a little suspicious to me, as in, there's no way in hell seeds could survive 2000 years drenched in water. They would have rotted long ago. But that could easily have been made up by the state-trained idiot who wrote the story for the state-controlled media in China. "Found it in a well. Wells have water. Therefore the seeds spent 2000 years submerged!"

[Hegemony Cricket]

If they haven't spouted after 2,000 years, I would assume they are duds.

[Monkey Face]

I know they have survived in baskets underground, but ususally, any seed that is submerged or buried will rot in time. Unless the water is extremely cold, or perhaps in a peat bog. Even that is a little iffy in my mind. The passage of time would make a difference as well, meaning that seeds from 600 years ago would be more viable and identifiable than seeds from 6,000 years ago.

[JimSEA]

I would guess that the conditions in the well were similar to those found in peat bogs where the anoxic acidic conditions serve to preserve organic materials. Thus, water but no decay. Very interesting find.

I hope they will be able to reconstruct the layout of the garden along with the vegetation as gardens were an important element of Chinese culture.

[ApplegateRanch]

I'm wondering if the "well" was an underground chamber, with side rooms for cool storage and either a large cistern or well pool located in the main gallery.

I know some of the Biblical "wells" and "pools" were along these lines, rather than what we think of as a garden well.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks!