There are new discoveries in the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang!

Remains of a four-wheeled wooden cart discovered in Tomb No. 1 of the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor

On January 26, the reporter learned from the Qin Shihuang Mausoleum Museum that a relatively intact four-wheeled wooden cart with a single pulley was unearthed from Tomb No. 1 of the Qin Shihuang Mausoleum, providing new data for the study of the funeral vehicle system during the Qin and Han dynasties.

Since 2011, the Qin Shihuang Mausoleum Museum has carried out detailed archaeological exploration work on the west side of the outer city of the Qin Mausoleum, and discovered 9 large and medium-sized tombs, neatly arranged in a row from east to west. Since 2013, archaeologists have continued to excavate the No. 1 burial tomb. At present, the excavation of the tomb passage, the tomb chamber and the three chariot and horse burial pits has been basically completed.

This is an orthophoto of the tomb chamber of the No. 1 burial tomb of the Qin Shihuang Mausoleum. Photo courtesy of the Qin Shihuang Mausoleum Museum

Tomb No. 1 is located about 440 meters west of the outer city of the Qin Shihuang Mausoleum. It is in the shape of a Chinese character "中" and consists of three parts: the south and north passages and the tomb chamber. There are three chariot and horse burial pits on both sides of the passage. The tomb is about 100 meters long and has a total area of ​​about 1,900 square meters. There are three layers of steps on the tomb wall and a large amount of charcoal in the tomb chamber.

Among them, the coffin in the center of the tomb collapsed and decayed seriously. Archaeologists packed the main coffin as a whole and took it to the laboratory for cleaning. A large number of pottery, bronze, jade, iron and small gold and silver objects were unearthed in the tomb. Archaeologists also cleaned up a four-wheeled wooden cart in the north tomb passage leading directly to the bottom of the tomb. The remains of the wooden cart are well preserved, with a total length of about 7.2 meters. The square painted car cover and copper components are all well preserved. The remains of wooden carts, animal remains, bronze chariots and horses, etc. were found in the burial pits.

This is the remains of a four-wheeled wooden cart unearthed in the tomb passage. Photo courtesy of the Qin Shihuang Mausoleum Museum

Jiang Wenxiao, the leader of the excavation team of the No. 1 Tomb of the Qin Shihuang Mausoleum, said that the four-wheeled wooden cart with a single chariot in the tomb passage may have been a coffin-carrying cart for transporting the coffin during burial. From the current archaeological discoveries, this is a very rare funeral phenomenon. The fact that vehicles of various shapes and uses were concentrated in one tomb provides new data for the study of funeral vehicles and burial vehicles of this period. This series of archaeological discoveries is extremely valuable archaeological data for studying the funeral system of high-ranking nobles in the Qin Dynasty and even the imperial tomb system in ancient China.

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Source: Xinhua News Agency

Editor: He Tong