The Cunlijicun City Site and Tomb Cluster

The Cunlijicun City Site and Tomb Cluster

The Cunlijicun City Site and Tomb Cluster is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

A tomb cluster dating from the Western Zhou to the Warring States periods. Located on the terraces along both banks of the upper reaches of the Huangshui River at the northern foot of Mount Aishan and Mount Gushan in Penglai County. It stretches approximately 10 kilometers from north to south and about 3 kilometers across the river from east to west. From 1976 to 1986, cultural heritage workers from Yantai City and Penglai County conducted multiple rescue excavations.

The tombs are all earthen pit vertical shaft types, mostly facing east. The larger ones measure 5–6 meters in length and 3–4 meters in width; the smaller ones are 2.5 meters long and 1 meter wide. Most have second-level platforms, most have coffins and outer coffins, and some have double outer coffins. The bottoms of the tombs often feature waist pits. Many of the second-level platforms contain human sacrifices. In 1976, Tomb No. 6 at the Liugezhuang Cemetery was excavated; it is a rectangular vertical shaft tomb, 6 meters long, 4.4 meters wide, and about 3 meters deep, with a single coffin and double outer coffins. Four human sacrifices were found on the second-level platform, and the grave goods included nine bronze chime bells as well as other bronze and pottery artifacts. Most of the tombs had been looted. Artifacts unearthed include bronze ware, pottery, and jade artifacts. A few tombs also contained stone tools, lacquerware, wooden items, and one tomb even had a chariot and horses. The bronze items mainly consist of tripods, pots, and plates, while the pottery includes food vessels, dou (bean-shaped vessels), and jars.

There is also one ancient city site dating from the Western Zhou to the Spring and Autumn periods within the tomb area. Surveyed in 1978, the city site is rectangular, measuring 600 meters from north to south and 500 meters from east to west, with only partial remnants of the city walls remaining.

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Further Reading:

· Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units