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SEPT 28, 2002
By Larry Teo THE mystery surrounding a cluster of cliff-hanging coffins in China's Sichuan province may soon be solved after archaeologists opened three 600-year-old coffins early this week.
Suspended on stakes or tucked in caves on the face of limestone cliffs, the 265 ancient coffins had never before been examined by archaeologists until then, reported Sichuan's Huaxi City Daily.
The wooden boxes were placed there by the Bo people - a community which once lived in the Yibin region of southern Sichuan but became extinct around the time of the Ming Dynasty (AD 1368-1644), the reports said.
Archaeologists involved in the project believe that a closer study of the funeral artefacts, all concentrated in Yibin's Gong County, could help them understand why and how the coffins came to be placed where they are - 25 m to 50 m above ground.
A study of the three opened cases found the skeletal remains to be remarkably well preserved despite the passage of time.
The coffins each weigh about 500 kg and are made of sturdy elm wood.
According to Mr Cui Chen, the head of the Yibin Heritage Bureau, no artefacts were found in two of the coffins. Researchers believe that they had been plundered by thieves.
But in the third coffin they opened, they found two porcelain bowls and a bamboo container placed on the skull, neck bone and rib cage of the skeleton. The coffin had been smoked to prevent rotting.
The experts said it most likely dated back to the founding of the Ming Dynasty.
Based on a study of the porcelain bowls, they believe that the coffin held the remains of a member of the Bo royalty.
Cliff-hanging coffins are not peculiar to Sichuan, as clusters can also be found in neighbouring Hubei province, northern Shanxi and even Fujian in the south-east.
But no one has been able to determine conclusively the methods used to place them on stakes driven into the sides of cliffs or cave walls.
Some observers believe that the coffins were lowered to their present positions as rope marks have been found on some of the boxes.
The 'coffin project' is being spearheaded by China's National Heritage Board.
Some of the coffins have toppled over the years but the authorities intend to preserve the rest as part of the country's cultural heritage and as a tourist attraction. Copyright @ 2002 Singapore Press Holdings. All rights reserved. |
