large tombs shaped like the chinese character 'Medium'(zhong) h**e been discovered for the first time in the peripheral areas (外围区, wài wéi dì qū) of the archaeological site (archaeological site, kǎo gǔ yí zhǐ) of yin xu (殷墟, yīn xū) in anyang (安阳, ān yáng), henan province (河南, hé nán shěng).This significant find provides valuable insights into the burial system (funeral system, sāng zàng zhì dù) of the Shang dynasty (商代, shāng dài) (1600-1046 BC), along with information related to the layout, structure, and chronological changes of the yin xu site, archaeologists revealed at a press conference held on thursday.
According to Cui Zongliang, deputy director of the Anyang Institute of Cultural Heritage and Archaeology, these tombs located at the Dapo site (大slope址, dà pō yí zhǐ) in the southwest of Yin Xu Were uncovered during infrastructure construction in 2022.
Despite severe looting (tombgrave serious theft, mù zàng yán zhòng bèi dào), the tombs yield valuable data for studying the burial system, layout, structure, and chronological changes of the Yin Xu site
archaeologists made several noteworthy discoveries despite the extensive looting of these three large character-shaped tombs.For instance, the tomb labeled M16 features a two-tiered platform (二层台,èr céng tái) with painted patterns (有彩画案, yǒu cǎi huì tú àn).in the soil inside a coffin, a small number of pottery fragments, quartz debris, stone tools, bone tools, fragments of bronze artifacts, and a small amount of human and animal bones were unearthed (A small amount of pottery, quartz fragments, stone tools, bone tools, bronze fragments and a small number of human bones and animal bones were stolen in the coffin.) guǒ nèi dào tǔ zhōng chū tǔ shǎo liàng táo piàn、shí yīng cán kuài、shí qì、gǔ qì、tóng qì suì piàn jí shǎo liàng rén gǔ、shòu gǔ).burial items such as pottery goblets and plates were also found in the central part of the tomb. zhōng bù suí zàng táo gū、táo pán).
In recent years, the peripheral areas of yin xu h**e seen the successive discovery of large, late Shang dynasty settlement sites, including the xindian (辛店址, xīn diàn yí zhǐ),taojiaying ( Taojiaying Ruins, táo jiā yíng yí zhǐ), zongcun (宗村址, zōng cūn yí zhǐ), zhengjiacun (郑家村址, zhèng jiā cūn yí zhǐ),and dapo sites (大slope址, dà pō yí zhǐ).these findings provide new material for reexamining and interpreting the layout of yin xu, said cui.
cui also suggested that the anyang dapo site is a scientifically planned burial ground containing different-sized tombs. it provides new data for studying the burial system of the late shang dynasty and contributes to the exploration of the social structure of that time.
source: cgtneditor: wanwan
*：cgtn