Archaeologists solve mystery of ancient Jianjiapo tombs' origin

Chinese archaeologists recently pinpointed the origin of the mysterious Jianjiapo tomb site in the east Tianshan region in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region.

Researchers have confirmed that the tombs belong to high-ranking nobles from the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) to the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24), shedding new light on ancient history and cultural exchanges in China's western region.

The Jianjiapo tomb site was discovered during the third national cultural relics census in 2007. Since 2017, the School of Cultural Heritage at Northwest University in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, has been carrying out extensive surveys and mapping of the tombs, gradually uncovering their historical significance.

In 2022, archaeologists from the school conducted the first excavation of the tombs, in the Nailengel Grassland, in Qianshan Kazakh township, Yiwu county, Hami prefecture. It revealed that the tomb group was the largest and best-preserved of its kind and had the clearest layout from the Warring States Period to the Western Han Dynasty in the east Tianshan region of Xinjiang.

A second excavation, by a team of archaeologists led by Xi Tongyuan, an associate professor at Northwest University, has yielded significant findings, offering crucial insights into the tombs found at the site.

One that stood out was the scarcity of pottery in the tombs. Instead, an abundance of bows and arrows accompanied the burials, hinting at a deep warrior culture.

"The male individuals buried in the tombs were about 1.8 meters tall, big for the time, and shared common features such as fractures and evidence of fracture healing, suggesting they were possibly warriors associated with the tomb's owner," Xi said.

Paint flakes from the Chu state were also uncovered, suggesting a connection to the central plains and emphasizing their role as key nodes on the ancient Silk Road.

The cultural relics found in the tombs closely resemble those from other historical sites in the region, providing valuable insights into the culture of the Yuezhi, Jushi, Xiongnu and other vassal states recorded in historical documents.

The Yuezhi were an ancient people described in Chinese historical texts as nomadic pastoralists living on grasslands in the western part of today's Gansu province during the 1st millennium BC.

The Jushi were people from a vassal state during the 1st millennium BC in the Turpan Basin in today's Xinjiang, while the Xiongnu were a tribe of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD.

Experts from around the world are closely monitoring the excavation project. An on-site expert consultation meeting in Yiwu county on Sept 8, including experts in fields including archaeology, cultural preservation and planning, recognized the project's academic significance and its potential to fill gaps in archaeological research in the east Tianshan region.

Northwest University plans to continue the excavation of the tombs for four to five more years, with the goal of fully uncovering the site, accompanying tombs, sacrificial pits and various sacrificial piles.

These efforts will help clarify the formation process of 36 early vassal states in China's western regions and their role in the ancient Silk Road.