Craftsman's Tomb Discovered, Revealing the Mystery of Yanyuan Bronze Ware Casting
On June 18, "Exploring Dingzuo Ancient Civilization and Building the Consciousness of the Volksgemeinschaft of China - the First Academic conference on Yanyuan Bronze Culture and the Interaction, Exchange and Blending of Nationalities" was held in Yanyuan County, Liangshan Prefecture, Sichuan Province. All the pictures in this article are from Jinguan News Yanyuan County Laolongtou Cemetery, located in Maojiaba Village, Shuanghe Township, 7 kilometers north of the east of Yanyuan County. Since 1987, the Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, together with the Sichuan Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, the Museum of Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture and the Yanyuan County Cultural Relics Kwalliso, has carried out four rescue excavations of Laolongtou Site. The fourth rescue excavation of Laolongtou Site in Yanyuan County began in April 2020. By the middle of June 2022, more than 1100 tombs from the late Shang Dynasty to the early Western Han Dynasty have been cleared, and more than 5000 pieces of various relics have been unearthed. According to Tian Jianbo, the person in charge of the archaeological excavation site of Yanyuan Laolongtou Site of Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, a batch of relics with regional characteristics were unearthed this time, of which a complete set of bronze textile implements is the most complete bronze waist machine found in Southwestern China at present, and the three wheeled bronze carriage is also one of the earliest physical models of three wheeled carriages found in China, with different shapes The wide variety of bronze branch shaped vessels highlights the unique belief and worship of Yanyuan bronze culture.
The experts at the meeting believed that the important breakthroughs made in the archaeology of the old dragon head site in Yanyuan County in the past three years showed that the regional center of Sichuan and Yunnan had been formed in the Bronze Age.
In order to better promote archaeological work and academic research, the Chengdu Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and the government of Yanyuan County decided to jointly build a Yanyuan Archaeological Workstation in the Yanyuan area. Wang Yi, Deputy Director of the Sichuan Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism and Director of the Sichuan Provincial Bureau of Cultural Relics, revealed that during the 14th Five Year Plan period, the Sichuan Provincial Bureau of Cultural Relics will vigorously promote archaeological research in ethnic areas, especially in the Tibetan Qiang Yi ethnic corridor. With unprecedented efforts, it will increase support for archaeology, research, and cultural relic utilization in the salt source area, laying a solid foundation for achieving deep integration of cultural relics and tourism resources.
At the seminar, one of the focuses of discussion was where the unique bronze artifacts unearthed from the Old Dragon Head Site were cast? This has always been a mystery, and this excavation provides clues. In the tomb M174 of the Spring and Autumn period, 10 groups of stone models, as well as pottery pouring bags and pottery blast pipes that may be used for copper smelting, were unearthed. The types of stone models include bells, knives, axes, chisels, etc., which are typical copper artifacts unearthed at the site of Laolongtou, indicating that some of the bronze artifacts at the site of Laolongtou were cast locally, and the tomb owner of M174 may be a bronze caster. The M174 stone mold is commonly used with one mold and multiple tools, demonstrating a relatively mature casting technology.
Tian Jianbo said that many M174 like caster's tombs have been found in Laolongtou Cemetery, which was very rare in southwest Sichuan before. Similar caster's tombs have been found in Eurasian grasslands, northwest China, southwest China and Southeast Asia. The discovery of such tombs fully reflects the role of salt source basin as a bridge in the cultural exchange between north and south in the eastern Eurasia.
In addition to the tomb of the casting craftsman, several suspected vermilion craftsman tombs have also been unearthed from the cemetery. This type of tomb is usually accompanied by stone pestles and mortars for grinding cinnabar, as well as other tools for grinding cinnabar, and its owner may be a craftsman for grinding cinnabar. Some tombs in the cemetery have cinnabar laid on the bottom, which reflects the custom of cinnabar burial at that time and reflects the trend of this group of people being still red.
It is worth noting that bronze branch shaped vessels are the most distinctive bronze element of the Old Dragon Head Site, and the Double Horse God is the most common theme of such bronze branch shaped vessels. In recent years, a group of new animal images have been discovered, such as pigs, deer, reptiles, etc. It is an important feature of the Yanyuan Bronze Culture Zone, which is separated from the surrounding bronze culture, and also reflects the unique funeral customs and worship beliefs of the Laolongtou ethnic group.
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