17 11 月 New Excavations at the Eastern Gate of the Outer City of the Tomb of Emperor Qin
The site of the eastern gate of the outer city of the tomb of Emperor Qin is located south of the eastern outer wall of the Tomb of the First Qin Emperor, directly east of the earthen mound. It is approximately 200 metres to the west from the mound of the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, 260 metres to the north from the east gate of the present Qin Shi Huang Imperial Tombs Heritage Park, 20 metres to the east from the east wall of the Heritage Park and 150 metres to the south from pit K9801. Since 1962, archaeologists have carried out a number of archaeological surveys and explorations in and around the tomb of the first Qin emperor, and have gained a preliminary understanding of the outer eastern gate of the tomb. The site of the outer city wall’s eastern gate was broadly identified as rectangular in plan, 77m long from north to south and 22.4m wide from east to west, but the number of doorways and the architectural structure were not clearly understood.
In order to provide reliable information for the display and restoration of the outer city wall of the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor and to promote archaeological research on the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, from September to December 2021, with the approval of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the Museum of the Qin Shi Huang Emperor’s Tomb conducted archaeological excavations at the site of the East Gate of the Outer City of the Mausoleum.
A detailed excavation plan was drawn up for this archaeological excavation, guided by stratigraphy, focusing on the smallest unit of accumulation, from a burial perspective, insisting on a joint multidisciplinary approach, and working with experts in architectural disciplines to advance the excavation, laying 30 probes and actually excavating an area of 1,000 square meters (approximately one half of the site).
The stratigraphic relationships at the outer city east gate site are simple, with the exception of 7 natural gullies, 3 modern man-made ditches, 1 modern sewage ditch, 4 modern tombs and 1 modern ash pit, the main finds being the rammed earth foundation of the outer city east gate, the remains of 1 doorway, and building deposits such as tiles and red-burned earth. 5 stone building materials, 1 iron object, 1 coin of Qianlong Tongbao and 1 Republican copper coin were unearthed.
The main achievements from the excavation of the site of the Eastern Gate of the outer city of the Mausoleum of the First Emperor Qin Shi Huang include:
- The scale, form and structure of the outer eastern gate of the tomb of the First Qin Emperor were clarified. The excavation identified the outer eastern gate as a rammed earth platform structure with a single gate and a fire burned doorway. The edges of the doorway and the corners of the raised platform contained artificial stone construction materials, which allowed the gate to be identified as having ancillary structures in addition to the walls of the city.
- This excavation has clarified the process of building the East Gate of the outer city of the Qin Shi Huang emperor’s mausoleum. Based on the stratum accumulation relationship, it was determined that a large foundation pit was first excavated at the East Gate site, followed by a fine ramming process within the pit; a rough ramming process was undertaken between the fine ramming and the sides of the pit. On top of the rammed earth foundation, the walls and ancillary buildings were constructed, with the outside of the walls plastered with grass-mixed mud. The presence of ancillary buildings on either side of the gate way is evident from the presence of slate tiles, barrel tiles and stone building elements. The presence of red burnt clay and carbon chips suggests that the destruction of the gates was fire-related.
- The excavation has provided basic information on the question of the orientation of the imperial tomb of the first Qin emperor, as well as the study of the ritual system layout and tomb system, and has helped us to understand and study the scale, rank and layout of the ritual architecture of the imperial tomb of the first Qin emperor.