Beast Masters
May/June 2021
Murals unearthed in a tomb in northwestern China’s Shaanxi Province portray two hardworking professionals struggling to control animals. Dating to the early Tang Dynasty (A.D. 618–907), the murals depict the men with features and clothes typical of the Sogdians, an Iranian people from Central Asia, many of whom lived in China. (See “A Silk Road Renaissance.”) In one mural, a Sogdian merchant confronts a camel laden with goods as it throws its head back. In another scene, a Sogdian groom attempts to tame a wild horse as two greyhounds, a breed still popular in the area today, look on. “These murals show vivid facial expressions and gestures of both people and animals,” says archaeologist Ming Li of the Shaanxi Academy of Archaeology in Xi’an.
Millet remains found in Western Han Dynasty tomb shanghaisun.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from shanghaisun.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
2021-04-20 12:05:23 GMT2021-04-20 20:05:23(Beijing Time) Xinhua English
XI AN, April 20 (Xinhua) Archaeologists have discovered a large number of millet grains from a Western Han Dynasty (202 BC-AD 25) tomb in northwest China s Shaanxi Province, providing new evidence of large-scale farming in China more than 2,000 years ago.
The millet remains were found on Sunday in a pottery container excavated from the ancient tomb in the province s Gaozhuang Township, Xixian New Area, according to the excavation team from the Shaanxi Academy of Archaeology.
Tian Duo, an archaeobotanical expert from Northwest University, said the discovery of the millet grains, one of the staple foods of the population in north China during the Western Han Dynasty, demonstrates that agricultural production in the area had already reached a considerable scale in the dynasty s early periods.
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Researcher s book shows how even the smallest discoveries can shed an illuminating light on the lives of our ancestors, Wang Ru reports.
Researcher Xu Weihong from the Shaanxi Academy of Archaeology and her colleagues were intrigued after they found a bone with traces of cuttings and scrapings. The find was at a site believed to have been a venue for bone artifacts during the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC). However, they could not find any artifacts that the specimen resembled. Moreover, the bone was identified as coming from an ox, but one that is seldom used to make artifacts. More often than not, it would be discarded.
Unearthing a fascinating past chinadaily.com.cn - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from chinadaily.com.cn Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.