Xiaohe cemetery

It is the most famous site in the whole history of exploration in Loulan, and is considered to be the most mysterious tomb in the history of exploration in the western regions. Since the discovery of Xiaohe No.5 site by Swedish archaeologist Bergman in 1934, it disappeared from the view of no objection like a ghost until archaeologists found it again in 2002.

Xiaohe cemetery

Xiaohe cemetery is located in the Lop Nur desert about 60 km south of the lower reaches of Kongque River in Lop Nur area, 175 km east of Loulan ancient city site. Xiaohe cemetery is composed of several layers of tombs and other remains. It looks like an oval sand hill in the desert with gentle sand dunes.

The first strong impression of Xiaohe cemetery is that there are more than 140 polygonal, round and paddle shaped Populus euphratica stumps on the sand hill of the cemetery, which are more than 4 meters high and thick, and most of them are cut into 7 to 11 ridges. Xiaohe cemetery was named one of the top ten archaeological discoveries in China in 2004.

geographical position

Xiaohe cemetery is located in the Lop Nur desert about 60 km south of the lower reaches of Kongque River in Lop Nur area. 102 km east of Xiaohe is the famous Loulan site. The cemetery sand hill is 7.75 meters above the surface of the earth, covering an area of 2500 square meters. The first strong impression of Xiaohe cemetery is that there are more than 140 polygonal, round and paddle shaped Populus euphratica stumps on the sand hill of the cemetery, which are more than 4 meters high and thick, and most of them are cut into 7 to 11 ridges. There are about 330 tombs in Xiaohe cemetery, of which about 160 are stolen and disturbed. Archaeologists in Xinjiang excavated 163 of the 167 tombs with all numbers, and also found the smallest baby tomb.

The origin of the name

In the summer of 1934, Swedish archaeologist Bergman arrived at the ancient tomb with "a thousand coffins" under the guidance of aldek when he inspected the Lop Nur area in Xinjiang. Originally, Xiaohe was nameless. The name of Xiaohe was born by Bergman, and Xiaohe cemetery was named accordingly.

Archaeological history

The Xiaohe cemetery is regarded by the world archaeologists as the most difficult mystery in the history of Central Asia and the archaeological Shangsha burial civilization.

In the early 20th century, from 1910 to 1911, the rob Hunter aldek who lived in this area discovered the tomb. This enabled him to guide the search for the tomb when Swedish archaeologist Bergman arrived in 1934.

In 1934, the Swedish archaeologist f. bergnm found what he considered "the best preserved mummies in the world" in Xiaohe cemetery. These mummies were identified as "Indo European race".

Bergman and his south along the Peacock River spending a small river southbound, this nameless small river, Bergman casually called "small river". The cemetery was found about 4 kilometers west of the river. Bergman named the tomb "Xiaohe No.5 cemetery" after the legend of "thousands of coffins".

In 1939, Bergman published in Stockholm the book "archaeological research in Xinjiang" (Chinese version of "archaeological records in Xinjiang"), which introduced the archaeological investigation and excavation work in detail. The grand scale of Xiaohe cemetery, the peculiar burial system, and the rich information about the early civilization of Lop Nur (the name of Lop Nur in ancient times) have aroused extensive attention of scholars. Since then, Xiaohe cemetery has mysteriously disappeared in the sand sea. Chinese scholars have made unremitting efforts to find this ancient treasure for more than half a century. After Bergman inspected the river, no successor was able to arrive until the end of the 20th century for more than 60 years. Xiaohe cemetery is hidden deep in the Lop desert and lost.

On December 11, 2000, researcher Wang Binghua of Xinjiang Institute of cultural relics and Archaeology went into Luobu desert with the help of GPS and finally found Xiaohe cemetery again. After half a month, our reporter also went to Xiaohe cemetery to report on the spot, which has aroused great attention from the historical and archaeological circles at home and abroad.

At the end of 2002, archaeologists in Xinjiang carried out a trial excavation of Xiaohe cemetery. In October 2003, the comprehensive excavation project of Xiaohe cemetery was officially launched with the approval of the State Administration of cultural relics. The Xiaohe archaeological team led by the director of Xinjiang Institute of cultural relics and archaeology, yidilis abuduresul, conducted a field excavation for more than three months.

unearthed relic

The cemetery as a whole is composed of several layers of tombs and other remains. It is an oval Sand Mountain in the gentle desert. The sand mountain is 7.75 meters above the surface, covering an area of 2500 square meters. Before the excavation, 140 wooden pillars of various types stood on the surface of Shashan. There were a row of well preserved wooden palisade walls in the middle of the cemetery and the western end of the cemetery. The cemetery could be divided into East and west areas by taking the wooden palisade wall in the middle as the boundary. The whole cemetery is like a steamed bread stuffed with chopsticks.

33 tombs were excavated, including 25 adult tombs and 8 children's tombs. 15 mummies with well preserved costumes, 1 male wooden corpse and 1 rare mummy combined with wooden corpse were found. Two groups of important sacrificial remains were found. Nearly 1000 cultural relics were excavated and collected, many of which are rare in the world.

In the cemetery, archeologists also found standing trees, tall wooden figures and small wooden face figures symbolizing male roots and female genitals; carved wooden arrows, dark bows, Matsu, Mahuang bunches, painted red ox heads, snake shaped wooden poles, inlaid copper pieces on wooden structures, and the same number of carved patterns on wooden objects, etc., which brought people into a mysterious world full of primitive religious atmosphere.

Site culture

Reproduction worship

The first strong impression left by those who have been to Xiaohe cemetery is the dense stand of Populus euphratica columns on the sand hill of Xiaohe cemetery.

There are 140 wooden pillars, which vary according to the sex of the deceased. In front of the female coffin, there are many prismatic wooden columns with thick top and thin bottom. The height is about 1.3-1.5 meters. The upper part is painted red, wrapped with wool rope and fixed with grass bundle. In front of the male coffin, there is a standing wood with the shape of wooden oar, which has a big difference between big and small. The big one is as high as 2 meters and about 0.8 meters wide, with black top and red handle.

Why put so many wooden pillars on the sand dunes? What are they for? When Bergman, a Swedish archaeologist, arrived here in 1934, he thought there might be a roof on the column, which had been blown away by the wind a long time ago. After excavation last winter and this spring, the Xiaohe archaeological team of Xinjiang Institute of cultural relics and Archaeology overturned the conjecture that there might be a roof on the column, and came to an incredible conclusion that all the wooden columns were monuments owned by the dead.

The prismatic wooden columns with thick upper and thin lower parts may symbolize male roots, while the paddle shaped columns may symbolize female genitals. "The archaeologists said.

Standing in the center of the cemetery, a tall, tapered top column has the final ownership. It belongs to an older woman. This is the largest "male root" excavated so far. Its whole body is painted red, its upper line is round, and its middle part is carved into a nine prism shape. It stands on the head of the old woman's coffin.

Just like the "male root", the "vulva" also shows its extraordinary in an exaggerated proportion. Together with the strong "male roots", they form the mysterious and shocking cultural landscape of reproduction worship in Xiaohe cemetery. A historian said that the worship of reproduction in early human culture has been found in the remains of many ethnic groups, but such extreme worship as Xiaohe cemetery is rare in the world.

The mystery of language

The language spoken by the people of Xiaohe cemetery has always been a mystery, but Dr. Mei Weiheng thinks it may be Tokharian, an ancient branch of Indo European language family. Manuscripts written in tuhuoluo language have been found in Tarim Basin, which was used in this area from 500 to 900 ad. Although it appears in the East, compared with satem in India and Iran, tuhuoluo is closer to CENTUM in Europe. This conclusion is based on the pronunciation difference between Latin and Sanskrit with hundreds of words. The people of Xiaohe cemetery lived 2000 years ago from the earliest record of tuhuoluo language, but there was "a clear cultural continuity," said Dr. Mei Weiheng. This continuity is reflected in the way of burial - buried with the hat, a tradition that continued into the centuries B.C.

Site features

The mysterious palace of death

Grand scale, peculiar burial system, a large number of mummies, rich information of Lop Nur's early civilization Xiaohe cemetery is unique in China, and there is no similar tomb in the world. To uncover the mystery of Xiaohe cemetery will be of great value to the construction of the whole regional archaeological culture system of Lopnur and the exploration of ancient civilization in western regions and Central Asia.

With the publication of the Chinese version of Archaeology in Xinjiang written by Bergman, Chinese scholars began to search for the trace of Xiaohe cemetery in the Lop desert.

The largest number of mummies unearthed in the world

"There are so many mummies unearthed from a single tomb in the world, but how many are still unknown." ——Edith

"This graveyard is the most horrible and unbelievable

Chinese PinYin : Xiao He Mu Di