New Archaeological Findings
The Excavations at the Western
Zhou Dynasty Mound Tombs
at Longtou Mountain in Nanling
County, Anhui Province
Anhui Provincial Institute
of Cultural Relics and Archaeology
Nanling County Cultural Relics
Administration
T
he Longtou Mountain mound
tombs are located between Pailou
and Zhangxi administrative villages in Sanli Town in Nanling
County, Anhui Province, next to State Road 318,
about one kilometer north of the Chengqing River
(Figure 1). Between May 2010 and January 2011,
Anhui Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and
Archaeology, jointly with Nanling County Cultural
Relics Administration, conducted excavations of
the mound tombs within the right-of-way for the
proposed High Speed Railroad between Hefei
and Fuzhou, and carried out detailed surveys in
the Longtou Mountain area. Survey results show
that the spread and distribution of the Longtou
Mountain tombs is about two square kilometers,
with over 400 existing mound tombs (including the
excavated section). Below is a summary report of
the excavation’s findings:
6
Zhanghe
River
Nanling
County
Dagong
Mountain
copper mine ruins
Qianfeng Mountain
mound tombs
Longtou Mountain
mound tombs
Pailou Village
Eling Village
(aka Eling Laojie)
Huamei mound tombs
Xinyi Village
Jingxian County
Sanli Town
Figure 1: Map of the mound tombs site location
Western Zhou Dynasty Mound Tombs
OVERVIEW OF THE BURIALS
A total of 67 mounds were excavated. Unearthed
artifacts include stamped hard pottery, coarse sand
pottery, proto-porcelain, lithic tools, jade and small
bronze artifacts.
The advanced experience gained during the
excavations of earth mound tombs in Jiangsu Province and other regions were demonstrated in these
excavations, using test units during the excavations
and maintaining baulks in positive directions. Large
mounds to be excavated were divided into four units,
and smaller ones into two units, and the baulks were
determined by the directions of the mounds and the
natural direction of the ridge. The divided units of
each mound were excavated simultaneously. Attention was given to the piling conditions of the mounds,
various features, inclusions inside the mounds, the
base conditions of the mounds, etc. Once excavation reached the bases of the mounds, mound profile
views were drawn and mound piling information was
recorded before removal of the baulks, until the entire mound was cleaned. Thus complete information
on all the mounds and tombs would be obtained.
The mounds of the Longtou Mountain tombs
are mostly bun-like and rounded, and some are oval;
base diameters are 5.5 meters to 23 m, and existing
heights are 0.3 m to 4 m. The mounds’ dirt piles
typically consist of two to four strata, occasionally
containing sherds, lithic tools and a large amount of
gravel of various sizes unevenly distributed, which is
consistent with the composition of surrounding soil
on the ridge. No evidence of ramming was found in
any of the mounds; they were simply piled up with
the dirt nearby. Bases of the mounds were mostly
leveled by adding padding soil to the lower areas
to build the tombs, and then more dirt was piled
into the mounds.
Mound D69, for example, is located in the central area of the cluster of the mound tombs with its
mound well preserved. It is oval in plan view along
the same direction as the ridge. Its east-west cross
is slightly longer, about 14.6 m, and its south-north
length about 10.5 m with a height of 1.85 m. According to the different soils, soil color tones and
inclusions, the mound consists of three strata. Stratum (1) is more mixed, mainly consisting of loose,
yellowish-brown fine sandy loam in addition to a
small amount of dense, reddish-brown sandy loam
with a small amount of gravel of various sizes, as well
as a large amount of roots. Stratum (2) consists of
loose, yellowish-brown sandy loam with a small
amount of reddish-brown sandy loam containing a
large amount of gravel. This stratum only exists in the
central area of the mound and was severely disturbed
by termite nests. Stratum (3) consists of loose, yellowish sandy clay. It is the padding soil stratum of
Tomb D69M1. Based on the original topography of
the mound, we speculate that the builder of this tomb
prepared the area by cleaning down to the sterile
subsoil, leveled the ground by filling in the lower
spots with padding soil, then dug the burial pit on
top of the padding soil, eventually piling the dirt onto
the mound (Figure 2).
Of the 67 excavated mounds, 43 were singletomb mounds, three were double-tomb mounds, and
two were triple-tomb mounds. In the remaining 19
mounds, no burials or artifacts were found.
N
0
2m
Figure 2: Plan view and profile of Mound D69
7
Chinese Cultural Relics » Issue Number 1, 2014
DESCRIPTIONS OF SAMPLE TOMBS
Except for the 19 mounds where no signs of
burials were found, 55 tombs were excavated in the
other 48 mounds. There are three burial styles in
these tombs: 38 shallow pit burials, nine with gravel
beds, and eight without pits. Most tombs are oriented east-west and are consistent with the direction
of the ridge. Only a few are south-north. No burial
containers or human skeletons were found.
A total of 200 pieces of grave goods were unearthed in these tombs, including stamped hard pottery, coarse sand pottery, clay pottery, proto-porcelain, stone tools, jade, etc. They are predominantly
stamped hard pottery and coarse sand pottery, as
well as a few remnants of bronze objects. Stamped
hard pottery includes guan-jars, tan-jugs, bu-vases,
yu-basins, etc. The decorations consist mainly of
labyrinth fret, triangle lines, mats, thunder patterns,
etc. Both the clay and coarse sand pottery are mainly
reddish-brown in color, mostly broken, and very difficult to repair due to the poor quality of the pottery.
These potteries include curved-handled he-pitchers,
yan-steamers, dou-stemmed bowls and yu-basins.
Proto-porcelains are mainly dou-stemmed bowls
with low stems and everted bellies. The amounts of
grave goods found in these tombs varied widely from
only one piece to as many as 10 pieces. Unearthed
Figure 4: Tomb D13M1 (photo facing south)
8
N
5
8
7 3
1
6 4
2
0
1m
Figure 3: Plan view and profile of Tomb D13M1
t 1, 8. Stamped hard pottery double-eared guan-jars
t 2. Hard pottery yu-basin t 3. Pottery he-pitcher
t 4. Stamped hard pottery guan-jar t 5, 6. Pottery doustemmed bowls t 7. Proto-porcelain dou-stemmed bowl
object sets basically consist of stamped hard pottery
double-eared guan-jars, proto-porcelain (or clay ceramic) dou-stemmed bowls and coarse sand pottery
curved-handled he-pitchers (or yan-steamers).
1. Shallow pit burials consist of pits, mostly
rectangular or trapezoidal in shape with depth
ranging from 0.1 m to 0.3 m, the deepest one measuring 0.46 m. One type was first cleaned down to
the original sterile subsoil, with uneven lower spots
subsequently covered with padding soil.
A shallow pit was then dug on top of
the padding soil, sometimes breaking
sterile subsoil. The other type was made
by cleaning the original surface down
to the sterile subsoil and digging pits
directly into the sterile subsoil.
Mound D13, for example, is a single-tomb mound. The mound is nearly
oval in shape, with an existing height of
about 1.6 m, divided into three strata.
Tomb D13M1 is located in the northeast part of the mound, with a rectangular plan view, oriented east-west. The
Western Zhou Dynasty Mound Tombs
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Figure 5: Artifacts unearthed from Tomb D13M1
t 1, 2. Stamped hard pottery double-eared guan-jars (D13M1:1, 8) t 3, 4. Pottery dou-stemmed bowls (D13M1:5, 6)
t 5. Proto-porcelain dou-stemmed bowl (D13M1:7) t 6. Hard pottery yu-basin (D13M1:2) t 7. Pottery he-pitcher
(D13M1:3); (1, 7 scaled approx. 1:8, the rest approx. 1:4)
tomb opening is 1.9 m to 2.1 m, width 1.22 m to
1.24 m, and depth 0.16 m to 0.24 m. The depth from
the opening of the tomb to the mound surface is
1.2 m. The tomb opening is located in Stratum (2),
filled with loose, tessellated fine sandy loam and with
gravel of similar size. There are two termite nests
8 centimeters deep in the eastern part of the burial
pit. Tomb D13M1 was built by first slightly leveling
the ground surface and then piling more soil to level
the area; digging the burial pit into the padding soil;
and then piling up the mound. The burial pit does not
break into the sterile subsoil layer, and the bottom
of the pit is 0.2 m to 0.3 m above the sterile subsoil
layer (Figures 3 and 4).
Unearthed artifacts from the burial pit include
two pieces of stamped hard pottery double-eared
guan-jars, one proto-porcelain dou-stemmed bowl,
one red coarse sand pottery he-pitcher, two fine sand
pottery dou-stemmed bowls, one hard pottery yubasin, and another stamped hard pottery guan-jar
that is severely damaged beyond repair.
Stamped hard pottery double-eared guan-jars (2
pieces): Artifact D13M1:1 is gray hard pottery. The
artifact has a wide opening, high neck and rounded
shoulder; a round belly with a small clay pie attached
on each side of the ears; and a small concave bottom.
The neck of the object is decorated with a string pattern, and the body with triangle and labyrinth fret
patterns. The diameter of the opening is 19.2 cm,
belly diameter 32.4 cm, bottom diameter 17.6 cm
and height 31.6 cm (Figure 5:1 and Figure 6). Artifact D13M1:8 is gray hard pottery. This artifact has
9
Chinese Cultural Relics » Issue Number 1, 2014
Figure 6: Stamped hard pottery double-eared guan-jar
(D13M1:1)
Figure 7: Hard pottery yu-basin (D13M1:2)
Figure 8: Pottery he-pitcher (D13M1:3)
10
a wide opening, high neck, rounded shoulder, oblate spheroidal belly and concave bottom. The neck
of the object is decorated with a string pattern, and
the body with a labyrinth fret pattern. Its opening
diameter is 14.2 cm, belly diameter 22.6 cm, bottom
diameter 11.6 cm and height 17.8 cm (Figure 5:2).
Gray hard pottery yu-basin (1 piece: D13M1:2):
The artifact has an expanding opening, short straight
neck, oblique shoulder, abacus bead-shaped oblate
bulging belly and flat bottom; the bottom and belly
junction has joining marks. Its neck and shoulder are
decorated with several lines of string pattern separated by comb-like short diagonal lines. Its opening
diameter is 10.8 cm, belly diameter 14.8 cm, bottom
diameter 8.2 cm and height 7.2 cm (Figure 5:6 and
Figure 7).
Red coarse sand pottery he-pitcher (1 piece:
D13M1:3): The he-pitcher has a receding opening
and narrow waist, with a round grate embedded at
the waist. Its lower portion resembles the shape of
a li-cauldron, with tripod cylindrical legs and blunt
toes, a curved handle and a small clay pie attached at
both sides of the upper end of the handle. The lower
portion of the pitcher is decorated with a labyrinth
fret pattern. Its opening diameter is 12.4 cm, waist
diameter 9.2 cm, belly diameter 15.4 cm and height
24 cm (Figure 5:7 and Figure 8).
Pottery dou-stemmed bowls (2 pieces): Artifact
D13M1:5 is gray fine sand pottery. It has a receding
opening, receding arc belly, curved bottom and short
ring foot. It is a plain ware. The dou-stemmed bowl is
well made, with fine string pattern traces left on the
surfaces by a retouching process on a slow-turning
pottery wheel. Its opening diameter is 11.2 cm, belly
diameter 11.6 cm, bottom diameter 8 cm and height
5 cm (Figure 5:3). Artifact D13M1:6 is gray fine
sand pottery. It has an expanding opening, receding arc belly, curved bottom and short ring foot. It
is a plain ware. The dou-stemmed bowl is well made,
with fine string pattern traces left on the surfaces
by a retouching process on a slow-turning pottery
Western Zhou Dynasty Mound Tombs
wheel. Its opening diameter is 10.8 cm, belly diameter 10.9 cm, bottom diameter 7.2 cm and height
5 cm (Figure 5:4).
Proto-porcelain dou-stemmed bowl (1 piece:
D13M1:7): The artifact has a grayish-white body
decorated with yellowish-green glaze, which is almost completely peeled off. It has a wide opening,
everted belly and trumpet-like short ring foot. The
inner surface of the bowl bottom is decorated with a
few lines of rough string pattern. The dou-stemmed
bowl is well made, with fine string traces left on the
surfaces by a retouching process on a slow-turning
pottery wheel. Its opening diameter is 12 cm, bottom diameter 5.2 cm and height 5.4 cm (Figure 5:5).
2. Gravel beds for burials were made by first
cleaning the original ground surface to sterile subsoil, with slight leveling, and then adding a layer of
unevenly sized gravel, forming beds; then artifacts
were placed on the gravel beds. The plan views of
the stone beds are mostly rectangular.
Mound D28 is an example.
The existing height is 1 m and N
its mound is piled in two strata.
Stratum (1) is yellowish-brown
fine sandy loam containing a
small amount of gravel and
roots, piled in a wavy style.
Stratum (2) is yellowish-brown
fine sandy loam with much
small gravel, but fewer roots.
The opening of Tomb D28M1
is below Stratum (1), located
in the southwest part of the
mound. On top of Stratum (2)
rests a layer of well-defined distribution of evenly sized small
gravel. Tomb D28M1 contains
densely distributed small grav-
el to form a rectangular gravel bed, about 2.6 m in
length, 0.65 m in width, oriented east-west. In the
surrounding area of Tomb D28M1, there is also a
very dense distribution of gravel within an oval area
of 2.6 m radius. The gravel here is slightly larger
than the particle sizes inside Tomb D28M1. One
hard pottery yu-basin was unearthed from the tomb
(Figure 9).
Gray hard pottery yu-basin (1 piece: D28M1:1):
The artifact has an expanding opening, short and
straight neck, arc shoulder, oblate spheroidal belly
with knife cutting traces noted on the lower belly
area, and flat bottom. Its neck and shoulder are decorated with several lines of string pattern separated by
comb-like short diagonal lines. Its opening diameter
is 9.9 cm, belly diameter 10.8 cm, bottom diameter
4.9 cm and height 5.5 cm (Figures 10 and 11).
3. Burial sites without pits were made by first
cleaning the original ground surface to sterile subsoil,
1
Figure 9: Plan view of Tomb D28M1
t 1. Hard pottery yu-basin
0
1m
11
Chinese Cultural Relics » Issue Number 1, 2014
Figure 10: Hard pottery yu-basin (D28M1:1)
(scale approx. 2:3)
Figure 11: Hard pottery yu-basin (D28M1:1)
leveling slightly, and then placing artifacts directly
and piling up the mounds.
Mound D14 is an example. The mound was
piled into (1) reddish-yellow coarse sandy loam,
(2) yellowish-brown fine sandy loam, and (3) loose
grayish-brown loam containing gravel. At the center
of the mound below Stratum (2), a tomb (designation number D14M1) was discovered. Seven pieces
of artifacts are aligned east-west, with about 2.6 m
between the artifacts on the far ends. The bottom
of the tomb has a layer of padding soil, with sparse,
unevenly sized gravel. It is speculated that it was built
by paving a level plane on the original ground, then
performing burial in this plane and piling dirt into a
mound (Figures 12 and 13).
One stamped hard pottery tan-jug and three
stamped hard pottery guan-jars were unearthed in
the southeastern side of Tomb D14M1. One pottery
dou-stemmed bowl was unearthed in the north side
of the tomb’s central area. One proto-porcelain doustemmed bowl and one hard pottery yu-basin were
unearthed in the west side of the tomb. The pottery
yu-basin was found upside down in the bottom of the
tomb, which is quite different from the positions of
other artifacts unearthed; it was likely deliberately
positioned.
Hard pottery tan-jug (1 piece: D14M1:1): The
artifact is dark brown hard pottery, with uneven color
tone. It has a wide opening, arc shoulder, deep round
bulging belly and concave bottom. Its neck is decorated with a string pattern, and its body with a labyrinth fret pattern. Its opening diameter is 21.6 cm,
belly diameter 36.4 cm, bottom diameter 18.8 cm
and height 37 cm (Figure 14:1).
N
1
5
3
6
7
Figure 12:
Plan view of Tomb D14M1
2
4
t 1. Hard pottery tan-jug
t 2-4. Hard pottery
0
12
40 cm
double-eared guan-jars
t 5. Pottery dou-stemmed
bowl t 6. Proto-porcelain
dou-stemmed bowl
t 7. Hard pottery yu-basin
Western Zhou Dynasty Mound Tombs
Figure 13: Tomb D14M1 (photo facing north)
Hard pottery double-eared guan-jars (3 pieces):
Artifact D14M1:2 is dark brown hard pottery. It has
a wide opening, high neck, rounded shoulder, round
belly and concave bottom. Its neck is decorated with
a string pattern, and its body with a labyrinth fret pattern. Its opening diameter is 14.8 cm, belly diameter
3
2
5
1
4
6
Figure 14: Artifacts unearthed from Tomb D14M1
t 1. Hard pottery tan-jug (D14M1:1) t 2-4. Hard pottery double-eared guan-jars (D14M1:2-4) t 5. Proto-porcelain
dou-stemmed bowl (D14M1:6) t 6. Hard pottery yu-basin (D14M1:7) (scale approx. 1:6)
13
Chinese Cultural Relics » Issue Number 1, 2014
Figure 15: Hard pottery double-eared guan-jar
(D14M1:2)
Figure 16: Proto-porcelain dou-stemmed bowl
(D14M1:6)
Figure 17: Hard pottery yu-basin (D14M1:7)
14
23.9 cm, bottom diameter 13.2 cm and height 20 cm
(Figure 14:2 and Figure 15). Artifact D14M1:3 is gray
hard pottery. It has an expanding opening, narrow
neck, oblique shoulder; an obliquely tapering lower
belly with a small clay pie attached to each ear; and a
small concave bottom. Its neck and shoulder are decorated with several lines of waves separated by a comblike short diagonal line pattern. Its opening diameter is
7.6 cm, belly diameter 12 cm, bottom diameter 8.2 cm
and height 8.2 cm (Figure 14:3). Artifact D14M1:4
is dark brown hard pottery, with uneven color tone.
It has a wide opening, small curled rim, rounded
shoulder, round belly and flat bottom. The neck of
the object is decorated with multiple lines of string
pattern, and the body with a labyrinth fret pattern.
The junction area of the bottom and the lower belly
has several lines of irregular scored marks. Its opening
diameter is 13 cm, belly diameter 20.6 cm, bottom
diameter 12.6 cm and height 16 cm (Figure 14:4).
Proto-porcelain dou-stemmed bowl (1 piece:
D14M1:6): The artifact has a grayish-white body
decorated with yellowish-green glaze, which is almost
completely peeled off. It has an expanding opening
(slightly deformed), narrow neck, everted belly, trumpet-like short ring foot and slightly outward bottom.
The wall and neck of the bowl are decorated with a
coarse string pattern. Its opening diameter is 9.5 cm,
belly diameter 10.2 cm, bottom diameter 4.8 cm and
height 5.5 cm (Figure 14:5 and Figure 16).
Hard pottery yu-basin (1 piece: D14M1:7):
The artifact is made of gray hard pottery, with an
expanding opening, straight neck, oblique shoulder,
oblate spheroidal belly and small concave bottom. Its
neck and shoulder are decorated with several lines of
string pattern separated by comb-like short diagonal
lines. Its opening diameter is 10.2 cm, belly diameter
12.4 cm, bottom diameter 6.2 cm and height 7 cm
(Figure 14:6 and Figure 17).
In addition, one fine sand pottery dou-stemmed
bowl (D14M1:5) was unearthed. It is very difficult
to reconstruct due to severe damage.
Western Zhou Dynasty Mound Tombs
CONCLUSIONS
Judging by the characteristics of unearthed artifacts at the Longtou Mountain mound tombs, they
resemble those artifacts unearthed at the Qianfeng
Mountain mound tombs[1] in Nanling County excavated in 1985 and the Guniu Mountain site[2] excavated in 1997 by the Anhui Provincial Institute
of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. Similar pottery
assemblages include the stamped hard pottery double-eared guan-jars, tripod flat-bottomed pottery yansteamers, curved-handled he-pitchers, everted-belly
porcelain dou-stemmed bowls, etc. The preliminary
time period of the findings was determined to be the
Western Zhou Dynasty.
The Longtou Mountain mound tombs are mostly
single-tomb mounds, which is one of the main characteristics of mound tombs in southern Anhui Province.
The majority of tombs contain few grave goods, and
the most commonly used utensils in daily life. No ritual objects symbolizing social status were found, and
these tombs should be classified as common civilian
burials. It is noteworthy that there are 19 mounds that
did not have any indication of tombs or burials, and
yet these mounds were piled exactly the same as the
other mounds, with no obvious signs of disturbance
either. This warrants further investigation.
The Zhang River basin is the most concentrated region of mound tombs in southern Anhui
Province.[3] More than 52 mound tombs of the Zhou
Dynasty were found and registered during the third
nationwide cultural heritage survey in Nanling County alone.[4] The investigation and excavation of the
Longtou Mountain mound tombs reveals the unique
cultural characteristics of the region and provides us
with valuable information toward our understanding
of this type of remains.
Drawings: Shunli Hao
Prepared by: Xiaochun Chen
References Cited
[1] Anhui Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology. 1989. “Nanling Qianfengshan tudun mu”
南陵千峰山土墩墓 (Mound Tombs at Qianfeng Mountain [aka Wannan (Southern Anhui) Mound
Tombs – Trans.] in Nanling County). Kaogu 考古 (Archaeology) No. 3.
[2] Excavation data at Anhui Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology.
[3] Gong, Xicheng. 2002. “Wannan diqu tudun mu chubu yanjiu” 皖南地区土墩墓初步研究 (Preliminary Study
of Mound Tombs in Southern Anhui). In Changjiang liuyu qingtong wenhua yanjiu 长江流域青铜文化研究
(Studies of Yangtze River Bronze Culture). Science Press, Beijing.
[4] State Administration of Cultural Heritage. 2011. Zhonghua renmin gongheguo bukeyidong wenwu mulu (anhui
juan) 中华人民共和国不可移动文物目录 (安徽卷) (Unmovable Cultural Heritage Directory of the People’s
Republic of China [Anhui Volume]).
Wenwu (Cultural Relics) Editor: Yuanyuan Li
Translated by Garry Guan
This article was originally published in Wenwu (Cultural Relics) No. 10, 2013, pp. 4-10, 76.
15