The Sijiaodun Tumulus Tomb Cluster

The Sijiaodun Tumulus Tomb Cluster

The Sijiaodun Tumulus Tomb Cluster is a protected cultural heritage site of Jiangsu Province.

The Sijiaodun Tumulus Tomb Cluster is situated on the undulating hills and ridges in the southwestern part of Dantu Town. Six tumulus tombs are arranged in a semi-circular formation on an elevated ridge. About 30 meters to the east of the tomb cluster lies a well-preserved platform-type site, covering an area of approximately 80,000 square meters, with rich cultural layers. This is a Hushu Culture site. The site and the tumulus tombs face each other across a vast depression.

The Sijiaodun Tumulus Tomb Cluster originally consisted of six tumulus tombs. The larger ones are about 6 meters high with diameters of around 50 meters, while the medium-sized ones are about 5 meters high with diameters of around 30 meters. In 1986 and 1991, two excavations were carried out. The Nanjing Museum and the Zhenjiang Museum successively excavated five of them. Currently, one remains, located about 200 meters west of the Sijiaodun site and about 50 meters west of the concrete road from Zhangxu to Dantu Town. The remaining tumulus tomb has a circular, bun-shaped plan, with a base diameter of about 28 meters and a height of 4 meters.

The Sijiaodun Tumulus Tomb Cluster is a typical burial site representing the funerary customs of the Wu State culture during the Western Zhou Dynasty. From the two excavations, unearthed artifacts include primitive celadon bowls, sandy pottery li tripods, red clay pottery basins, gray clay pottery dou stems, geometric-patterned hard pottery jars, as well as bronze spears, swords, and halberds. The “secondary soil sealing phenomenon” observed in the tombs and the construction of “stone coffins” hold significant academic value for studying the evolution of local burial practices and funerary culture from the Western Zhou to the Spring and Autumn periods.

The relationship between the Sijiaodun Tumulus Tomb Cluster and the nearby platform-type site has always been an important topic in the study of Hushu Culture. The dating of the tumulus tombs aligns with that of the cultural remains at the site. The tumulus tombs are likely a form of burial practice of the Hushu Culture. However, the number of tumulus tombs at Sijiaodun is clearly disproportionate to the site. Aside from the Sijiaodun Tumulus Tomb Cluster, the people living at the site may have employed other burial methods or were buried at other, more distant locations.

On December 19, 2011, the People's Government of Jiangsu Province designated it as a cultural heritage site under the seventh batch of provincial-level protection.

Further Reading:

· Seventh Batch of Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Heritage Protection Units